Mesh Compositing

So. Mesh compositing. Are we going to have access to it this generation? From the few sparse details I’ve heard about it in UE3, it seemed like the superior solution to modular pawns. But it was closed off to regular UDK devs, b/c of the need for native access. With this hurdle now surpassed, will we be able to use mesh compositing at all? Or is there a far more robust third multi-mesh option in the works?

If I understrand you corretly, the thing you need is perfectly doable inside Blueprints.
All you need to do is to add Mesh variables/components (static/instanced/skeletal), I actually tested it with modular skeletal mesh and I was suprised how easy it was.

No magic or special setup involved. I just added the components I needed and it just worked.

We do not have a mesh-composting feature in UE4, but you can easily make a modular character using multiple SkeletalMeshComponents and the ‘MasterPoseComponent’ feature. This is a much more flexible solution because you don’t have to worry about texture layout/atlasing, a single material for all parts etc. The only downside is it uses a draw call per component, but this should not be a big problem unless you have hundreds of modular characters.

Actually, mesh compositing is available in UE4. Search the source code for “FSkeletalMeshMerge.” You are correct that it requiring texture atlasing though, and this can be a lot of work. Here’s the thread over on the UE forums where I got my answer: Does UE4 have mesh compositing? - World Creation - Unreal Engine Forums

Can you please elaborate on this? I couldn’t figure out how to get ‘Set Master Pose’ to work. Where does it go? Blueprint pic? :slight_smile:

Hello,

This is a question from the beta version of the engine. We are marking this answered for tracking purposes. If you are experiencing an issue similar to this please post a new question.

Thank you.