Blender To Unreal Portal

Updated 30-August-2009

Note: This section is a “work in progress” as I am still learning Blender. it’s meant to be a community created site, so i need as much help as i can get. anything and everything in this section can and may change. feel free to help out by posting in this thread (official epic forums) or e-mail me.

While people have been visiting this page, I haven’t received much help (except from one person) to help it grow. i can only so so much by myself, so take a few minutes and contribute.

News: Blender 2.5 is currently being finished up and should be ready sometime in October/November. The core of Blender (the way it works) won’t change that much. What will change is the interface. So the tutorials listed will still be useful, but you will need to be familiar with how to find do a specific action. You can preview the latest “beta” version here.

The purpose of this page is to help others learn how to use Blender to create static meshes to use in Unreal Tournament 3. It’s important when learning something new to have a little success early on and that will be the main focus of this section. It will also provide additional information to expand your Blender skills.

Navigation tip: Select a section title to go back to the Table of Contents.

Note: Any [red text] is an outdated link. I am keeping them on the page in case they come back online.

Table Contents

Expanding Your Blender Skills

-Introduction [This will cover the very basic process of creating models in blender and getting them into the editor. It will prepare the person for the next section “The Basic Process (Blender to Unreal)”]

-Frequently Asked Questions [These are questions a level designer may ask before trying Blender]

-The Basic Process (Blender to Unreal) [This will go over a more detailed description of the process. It may contained links to existing specific tutorials for certain steps.]

Expanding Your Blender Skills

-Community Sites [These are sites or pages that contain Blender info, usually tutorials]

-Frequently Asked Questions [After you have begun]

-Techniques [These links will cover specific techniques or skills that may be useful to level designers]

-Projects [These links will show you step-by-step how to create specific looking models that may be useful to level designers]

-Unreal Related [These links deal directly with Unreal Editor specific topics]

-Character’s [These links are related to character creation.]

Other stuff

-Show case (level design) [Maps that have Blender create static meshes]

-Assorted Stuff [Stuff that might not fit into the other sections]

Introduction

Blender is a free program built by assorted people to allow people to create models, animations, and other assets that can be used in many ways. You will need to download the program and a script (to allow exporting the mesh into a file format that can be read by the editor). After setting up and getting familiar with the program, you will need to learn how to create a model. Once you do this, you will need to set it up so materials can be placed on it when it reaches the editor. Depending on the mesh’s purpose and size, you may need to create a collision model.

Once you have it in the editor, you will need to assign materials to it. It’s also possible to assign basic shapes as the collision model in the static mesh actor. Now, your model should be ready to be used in your level.

Patience and practice are keys to making models and levels. Take your time and learn the basics, don’t get ahead of yourself. Create a good foundation in which you can then add to.