How to deepcopy an asset ?

Development Rendering
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1

How do I deepcopy an asset?

For example, imagine I have a static mesh called TreasureChest which references some materials. I want to create a copy of the static mesh as well as the materials it references. If I just copy it, I get a copy of the static mesh but it references the old materials and textures. I know that I can go through the new mesh and change everything by hand, but that can be kind of a pain.

There are two use cases for this:

  1. If I want to create a variation of an object including the textures.
  2. If I want to create a directory called MyItemPackage which I can migrate to other projects without worrying that the materials in MyItemPackage will clobber similar materials in the project I am migrating too.

I am working with a pure blueprint project.

Thanks,
-X

2

I am not aware that a deep copy feature exists, but I’m running into similar issues and I agree it would be very useful.

My approach for now is to use Migrate to an empty throwaway project, and move the content back in: Migrating Assets | Unreal Engine Documentation

3

There is no in-editor option for deep copying as far as I know, as this would bloat your asset pool when used.

If you want to migrate an asset to another project, Unreal has a feature built in for this, and it copies dependencies too. Right click on the asset and go to Asset Options, you can then migrate or export that asset and dependencies.