*This article was updated 9/13/2022 to reflect Kits 5.0 updates
We’ve been getting a lot of questions about how our Kits perform with UE5, so we put together this quick guide to help you understand how our Kits can effectively integrate to your UE5 workflow.
Jump Ahead:
Do Kits work with UE5?
Yes! Our Kits can work great with UE5. Actually, the cover art for our recent NEO NYC Kit was brilliantly created by Unreal 5 artist, Lea Kronenberger.
"I used Unreal Engine 5 to create the NEO NYC cover art, and it was working super well with the Kit... importing it into the engine was simply a matter of dragging and dropping it into the content folder and everything was already set up as blueprint actors with materials. This allowed me to start directly with asset placement, skipping any preparation work." — Lea Kronenberger
Another example of an amazing UE5 creation is this piece posted to the KitBash3D Discord Server by Hussien Shalaan.
“A UE5 creation, KitBash packages were used for framing. It was all a nice light study for me, as I got more creative as I went by, thinking of more impeccable tiny details to add and whatnot. Not only did I use KitBash's provided packages, but I utilized Quixel Megascans' Black Elder assets.” — Hussien Shalaan
While we’ve seen incredible work within our community using Kits in UE5, we’ve also seen some interesting challenges creators have faced with new features like Nanite and Lumen. Keep reading for more insight.
How to load a Kit into UE4 & UE5
Unreal is very specific about directory structure in order for it to link up Actors, Geometry, Materials and Textures. We've listened to our community for feedback on how to make loading our Kits into Unreal easier, so in our Kits 5.0 update, we made some big improvements to how we package our Unreal Kits files.
Follow the steps below to load your Kit into Unreal with Linked Textures:
2. Click on your Account icon
3. Click on the Kit you want to download
4. Select Unreal and Native as your 3D Software and Render Engine
5. Choose your desired texture resolution from the dropdown
6. Click on DOWNLOAD
7. Extract contents from the Zip File
8. Open the Ureal project within the Kit file
9. All your assets should be available and properly textured in the Actors folder
Your folder structure should look the same as the image below, following this order:
Content > "kitname"> Actors, Geometries, Materials, Textures
*Make sure the "kitname" file you're using is all lowercase and one word.
10. Start building your world!
Are Kits compatible with Nanite and Lumen?
Yes, KitBash3D Kits ARE compatible with Nanite and Lumen; however, they will potentially need to be optimized to best fit your project needs.
The challenges we’ve seen users have with Nanite and Lumen are new, so we’re still in the process of learning how all our Kits are affected. Thus far, we’ve learned that Nanite doesn’t work with Translucent materials (glass, windows) which means you’ll need to swap these with your own materials.
Quick Tips:
Try downloading the free sample that UE5 gives on the marketplace and swap your glass material to their glass material.
Turn off Nanite on any KitBash3D models you’re using to get them back to normal.
Nanite only works with DX12, so ensure your UE5 project settings are set up correctly.
Are you planning on updating Kits to be more compatible with UE5 and work better with Lumen / Nanite?
We’re always working on optimizing our Kits to work better in every DCC. This is an ongoing process that takes time and requires help from you and our amazing community of creators to identify any issues.
Leave a post on our Feedback Center to let us know which software you'd like to see us support in the future. Or search to see if someone else has already made that request and give it an upvote!
How to get the most out of your KitBash3D Kits with UE5
The best way to learn more about how to create the best visuals with your Kits using UE5 is to join our Discord community! You can ask questions directly to our Unreal experts as well as fellow creators to learn new ways to get the most out of your Kits.
KitBash3D Kits are a great solution for your UE5 projects, but expect to learn some new things along the way. To test out how our Kits will perform with your software, download our free Mission to Minerva Kit to give it a spin.
