Beyond Basics: 25 Unreal Engine Tips That Will Change How You Work

Dive into 25 game-changing Unreal Engine tips from VR Division that will supercharge your workflow. Learn essential shortcuts, organizational hacks, and powerful editor features to boost your productivity.

Are you an Unreal Engine artist or developer looking to streamline your workflow and boost productivity? Look no further! In a fantastic video titled ’25 Essential Unreal Engine Tips (Must-Know)’, the experts at VR Division, led by the talented Yahya Jasem, share a treasure trove of shortcuts and techniques designed to make your Unreal Engine experience smoother and more efficient. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, this tutorial guarantees you’ll learn something new to elevate your game development or architectural visualization projects. Yahya Jasem’s insights are invaluable, promising to transform how you interact with the engine.

Don’t just take our word for it; watch the full video:

Mastering Viewport Navigation & Selection

VR Division’s tutorial kicks off by showing how to master your viewport with several clever tricks:

• Custom Shortcuts for Isolation: The creator highlights customizing shortcuts for “Show Only Selected,” “Hide Selected,” and “Show All Actors” to quickly manage visibility in complex scenes.
• Marquee Selection: Use Ctrl+Alt for precise marquee selection in the viewport, making it easier to grab multiple objects.
• Orbiting Selected Objects: Enable “Orbiting around selected objects” in editor preferences for more intuitive camera control, especially when focusing on a specific asset.
• Focused Views: The video demonstrates using Ctrl+Tab to switch between open assets, similar to Alt+Tab for applications. The ‘F’ key, of course, quickly focuses the view on your selection.
• Orthographic View Power: The tutorial demonstrates manipulating orthographic views with the middle mouse button, measuring distances, and panning with Ctrl+Shift when nothing is selected.
• Camera Speed Adjustment: Easily adjust viewport camera movement speed by scrolling the mouse wheel while holding the right mouse button, adapting to different scene scales.

Efficient Asset Management & Organization

Keeping your projects tidy is crucial, and the video offers excellent advice:

• World Outliner Folders: Organize your scene by creating folders in the World Outliner, moving selected objects into them, and using “Select Immediate Children” for quick hierarchy management.
• “Paste Here” Shortcut: Yahya Jasem recommends creating a custom shortcut (like Shift+V) for “Paste Here” to rapidly duplicate and place actors at your cursor’s location.
• Quick Folder Movement: The creator shows how to use “Make Current Folder” in the World Outliner, then Ctrl+X (Cut) and Ctrl+V (Paste), to swiftly move selected actors into that folder.
• Folder Favorites & Coloring: Utilize Ctrl+Space for folder favorites and color-code folders for better visual organization and quick access to important assets.

Advanced Editing & Lighting Techniques

Beyond basic navigation, the tutorial dives into more powerful features:

• In-Engine Modeling Mode (Shift+5): Access the modeling mode to make quick mesh adjustments (e.g., Triangle Edit tool for vertices) without leaving Unreal Engine. This is a game-changer for iterative design.
• Light Mixer (Window > Light Mixer): This powerful tool allows bulk adjustments to intensity, color, and other properties of all lights in your scene. He also shows how to filter lights by type or group for fine-tuned control.
• Light Channels: Isolate which lights affect specific objects for nuanced lighting effects, adding depth and realism to your scenes.
• Randomizing Rotations: In orthographic views, hold Ctrl and right-click to randomize object rotations, perfect for natural-looking foliage or scattered elements.
• “Replace Selected Actors With”: An invaluable function for swapping out multiple actors with a new one, ideal for asset iteration and quick design changes.
• Selecting Similar Actors: Use Ctrl+Shift+A to select actors of a specific type (like spotlights) or Shift+E for actors with similar properties. Custom shortcuts like Alt+M can select actors with the same material.

Editor Customization & Optimization

Optimize your Unreal Engine experience with these practical tips:

• Adjusting Camera Previews: Manage screen real estate by adjusting camera preview sizes in editor preferences (Level Viewports > Look and Feel).
• Unit Measurements: Switch between centimeters, meters, and kilometers for better readability, especially in large-scale projects like those often handled by VR Division’s team.
• Arc Ball Rotation: Enable this setting for more organic, multi-axis object rotation, particularly beneficial for organic models or foliage.
• Favorite Settings in Details Panel: Add commonly used properties (e.g., post-process volume settings) to the Details panel favorites for quick access, saving clicks and time.
• Preventing View Clipping: Use the console command r.SetNearClipPlane to prevent objects from clipping when you get very close in the viewport, ensuring clear visibility.
• Saving Disk Space: The video advises disabling unnecessary target platforms (Android, iOS, Linux) during installation and clearing the FAB library’s vault cache to save valuable disk space.
• Toggle Translucent Selection: The ‘T’ key allows you to toggle the selection of translucent objects, making interaction with transparent surfaces much easier.

Conclusion & Further Resources

These 25 tips from VR Division and Yahya Jasem are more than just shortcuts; they’re workflow enhancers that can significantly reduce development time and frustration. By incorporating even a few of these into your daily routine, you’ll find yourself working smarter, not harder. The creator’s dedication to sharing such practical advice truly benefits the Unreal Engine community.

Yahya Jasem is not just a content creator; he’s the founder of VR Division Academy, a platform dedicated to teaching Unreal Engine Blueprint architecture. His expertise is evident in every tip he shares. For those looking to dive deeper into Blueprint, consider exploring the Academy. If you’re new to Unreal Engine, he also offers a free 10-hour beginner course on YouTube – an excellent starting point!

Unreal Engine, developed by Epic Games, continues to be a powerhouse in various industries, from AAA games to virtual production and architectural visualization. Tools and insights like those shared by VR Division are crucial for anyone leveraging its capabilities. Stay connected with VR Division and Yahya Jasem on LinkedIn and Instagram for more behind-the-scenes content and updates.

Source:
VR Division – 25 Essential Unreal Engine Tips (Must-Know)