Ürban PAD to UDK Workflow

Ürban PAD to UDK WorkflowRequirements:UDK does not support special characters. All file names must contain only alphanumeric charactersand underscores, otherwise you won’t be able to use them in UDK. Consider your filenames carefullybefore any export for UDK, and do not forget to rename your city and sectors according to this rulein Ürban PAD.1 Export from Ürban PADThe export button 1 is located in the top left corner of Ürban PAD. You can also hit Ctrl+e to open theexport window.1.1 Export a sector from Sector Editor  Select the UDK format 1.  Chose the folder where you want to export your data 2. By default, the export folder is the “udk” folder located at the root of your root project.  Select the usual export options you want to use 3.  Hit the validation button 4 and wait for the progress bar to disappear. 1

1.2 Export a city from City Editor  Select the UDK format 1.  Chose the folder where you want to export your data 2. By default, the export folder is the udk folder located at the root of your Ürban PAD project folder.  Select the usual export options you want to use 3. You can pack your city on a grid, which allows you to choose the size of the city blocks you will obtain.  Hit the validation button 4 and wait for the progress bar to disappear.2 Import into UDKUDK stores its assets on packages. You must import any asset into a package before you can use it.2.1 Create your packageOpen UDK the asset manager, the Content Browser, by hitting this button 1. You can also hitCtrl+Shift+f to open it.Go into the Packages section at the bottom left of the content browser. Hit the New button 1. 2

If you are following this process in order to import an entire city, you must name 1 yourpackage the same way as your city in City Editor. This is also the name of the .t3d file you haveobtained during the export process. If you dont do this, UDK will be unable to recognize assetsimported by the .t3d file, and will load only blank assets.If not, you can name your package as you want. But do not forget to use only alphanumeric charactersand underscores. Then hit the OK button 2. 3

Close the newly opened window. Your new package should be almost empty, with the exception of adefault Animset object. Do not destroy it now - an empty package would immediately be destroyedtoo.2.2 Import your assetsSelect your package. You can filter packages to find them easily 1. Once your package is selected, hitthe import button 2 and select the .fbx you have exported from Ürban PAD.Do not change the import name 1. Here are the most important options 2. Defaults settings arecorrect and you should never have to change them.  Combine Meshes: specify whether or not you want to create a unique large mesh with all the city parts. Leave it unchecked or your data will be imported as a unique large mesh, and you wont be able to manipulate its different parts.  Import materials: automatically imports the textures referenced by your .fbx, creates the corresponding materials, and assigns materials to meshes.  Import textures: this option is mandatory for the previous one to work. 4

Do not pay attention to the warning message that pops up. You should now have in your contentbrowser three types of assets:  Your imported textures (Texture2D, surrounded by a thin red line)  Your imported materials (Material, surrounded by a thin green line)  Your imported meshes (StaticMesh, surrounded by a thin light blue line). Flat meshes such as roads and crossroads have a black icon because their snapshot is taken from a side view 1. 5

Do not forget to save your package (Right click on your package then Save 1).When a package is notsaved, you can see a * character next to its name.2.3 Add an asset to the sceneCreate a new map: File → New 1 or hit the blank sheet icon 2.Select a StaticMesh 1 in your package and dragn drop it in the scene. Unfortunately, you can’t addmore than one asset at one time. 6

2.4 Import a city all at onceHow it worksAs previously noted, we cant dragn drop multiples assets at the same time from the content browser,so we will use a .t3d files instead.This text file format describes a UDK scene, containing a lot of information (such as position, rotation,scale, components, and more) for its objects. You can find more information about this format here.Import an entire cityHit File → Import 1, choose In existing Map 2 and then select the .t3d file that was created when youexported your city.Wait for the progress bar to finish, and your whole city will be placed in the scene: 7

4 Frequently Asked Questions4.1 Why cant I find an asset in my package?Pay attention to filters: name filter 1, type filter 2, tag filter 3.Don’t forget that UDK does not entirely load every package in use. If some of your content is missing,right click in your package name and hit Fully Load 1.4.2 What about collisions and LODs?Keep an eye on upcoming versions of Ürban PAD. These features will be released soon. 8

Ürban PAD to UDK Workflow

by Lionel Nazaris on Sep 09, 2011

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Ürban PAD to UDK Workflow — Document Transcript