UE4 – Python – Importing assets

Posted on by Oded Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.20

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Importing assets into a project is done using the import_asset_tasks() function which is a member of the unreal.AssetTools class.
A reference to the AssetTools class is created by calling the get_asset_tools() function which is a member of the unreal.AssetToolHelpers class.
The import_asset_tasks() function requires a list of unreal.AssetImportTask objects as an argument, each unreal.AssetImportTask object in the supplied list represents the import action of a single asset, and contains properties needed for the import operation.
Asset import properties are set using the set_editor_property() function which is called through the AssetImportTask object.
Available asset import properties are listed here:
https://api.unrealengine.com/INT/PythonAPI/class/AssetImportTask.html

In the following example a specified texture file is imported into the project and stored in the Content(Game) > Textures folder.
* If the folder doesn’t exist it will be created.

import unreal
AssetTools = unreal.AssetToolsHelpers.get_asset_tools()
AssetImportTask = unreal.AssetImportTask()
AssetImportTask.set_editor_property('filename', "D:\Wood_Red_A.jpg")
AssetImportTask.set_editor_property('destination_path', '/Game/Textures')
AssetTools.import_asset_tasks([AssetImportTask])

The following example imports all the JPG files from folder: D:\ into the project, stores the new assets in Content(Game)\Textures folder and saves them:

from os import listdir
from os.path import isfile, join
import unreal
dir = "D:\\"
files = [f for f in listdir(dir) if isfile(join(dir, f)) and f[-3:]=='jpg']
AssetTools = unreal.AssetToolsHelpers.get_asset_tools()

import_tasks = []
for f in files:
     print join(dir, f)
     AssetImportTask = unreal.AssetImportTask()
     AssetImportTask.set_editor_property('filename', join(dir, f))
     AssetImportTask.set_editor_property('destination_path', '/Game/Textures')
     AssetImportTask.set_editor_property('save', True)
     import_tasks.append(AssetImportTask)

AssetTools.import_asset_tasks(import_tasks)

* note that when copying and pasting a script from this example, the indentation may not be pasted correctly.

Get started with Python in UE4

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UE4 – Python Scripting – how to start

Posted on by Oded Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.20

  1. Go to:
    Edit > Plugins > Scripting
    And enable the Python Editor Script Plugin.
    * also recommended to enable Editor Scripting Utilities,
    And Sequencer Scripting plugins
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  2. Restart the UE4 Editor.
  3. Open:
    Window > Developer Tools > Output Log
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  4. Switch the command-line mode from Cmd to Python, write Python commands and press Enter to execute them:
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  5. Or in Cmd mode, write ‘py‘ with a path to a Python script file, and hit Enter to execute the script:
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Links:

  1. Scripting the Editor using Python:
    https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-us/Editor/ScriptingAndAutomation/Python
  2. UE4 Python API reference:
    https://api.unrealengine.com/INT/PythonAPI/

UE4 – Bump Map

Posted on by Oded Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.21

To use a ‘Bump Texture’ in UE4, or in more geeky terms, derive Normal data from a supplied height map, use the NormalFromHeightMap Node.

Notes:

  1. The height map textured is supplied via Texture Object node and not Texture Sample, and is connected to the NormalFromHeightMap‘s Height Map input.
  2. A numeric vale is connected to the NormalFromHeightMap‘s Normal Map Intensity input to control the intensity of the resulting Normals/Bump.

bump

 

UE4 – Animated texture using a Flip-Book node

Posted on by Oded Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

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A ‘Flip Book’ node in UE4 is the way to create an animated texture using a Sprite-Sheet.
Its very simple to use:

  1. Import a Sprite Sheet texture containing the animation frames.
  2. In the UE4 Material, Create a Texture Object node, and set it’s Texture property to be the Sprite Sheet texture you imported.
  3. Create a Flip Book node and connect the Texture Object Node to its  Texture input.
  4. Connect numeric value constants to the Flip Book node’s Number of Rows and Number of Columns inputs to set the layout of the Sprite Sheet.
  5. Connect the outputs of the Flip Book node to the wanted material inputs.

Runner_Atlas

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The following example shows a way to create a custom Flip Book material to animate textures.
Q: Why would you do that???
A: Well the truth is I created it without knowing there is a built-in option, and found out about the Flip Book node right after I finished my own.. 😀
But it’s also a useful example of locating tile coordinates within a plane..

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UE4 Blueprint Delay node

Posted on by Oded Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

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The Delay node serves as a timer that will execute the connected blueprint after a predefined time in seconds.

An example of usage could be triggering a game event at a set time after the player entered a location.
You can use random values or other expressions connected to the Duration input to create a richer and less predictable interaction.

UE4 – Enable input for a Blueprint

Posted on by Oded Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

By default, Blueprint Actors are set not to receive player input.
* If every Blueprint would be listening to player input events it would hurt game performance.

To enable input events for a Blueprint:
In the Blueprint’s Event Graph,
Connect an Enable Input node to the BeginPlay Event,
Create a Get Player Controller node and connect it to the Player Controller parameter of the Enable Input node to set which player input events to listen to.

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