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Connecting Cargo to Unreal

How to activate the Cargo plugin within Unreal Engine and common troubleshooting steps

Maxx Burman avatar
Written by Maxx Burman
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Initial Preparation

To connect Cargo to Unreal, first, make sure you're using a supported version of Unreal Engine before attempting software setup.
See this article for version support: Supported 3D software and render engines

Cargo supports Unreal 5.2 - 5.6.
Cargo no longer supports Unreal 5.0 - 5.1

Install Plugin

Ensure Unreal is completely shut down and follow the Basic Software Setup guide:

  1. Go to Cargo > Account > Software Settings, click Add New Software.

  2. Select Unreal from the dropdown menu

  3. Select the Unreal version you wish to connect to Cargo

  4. Allow Cargo to install the plugin behind the scenes

  5. When you see the message below (Activate Your Plugin) Open Unreal, enable the plugin, then activate it within your project.

Step 1

Step 2 & 3

Step 4
After you have selected the version of Unreal, Cargo will install all necessary files to your computer and prompt you to activate your plugin within Unreal.
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Step 5

Follow the instructions in the next section to configure the Cargo plugin in Unreal

Cargo Plugin Configuration

To access the available settings for the Cargo plugin, navigate to Edit→Project Settings→ Plugins→Cargo by Kitbash3D
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From there, you should be able to see all available options while using the importer

Import Defaults

Default Import Path

This option allows you to specify which location kit folders will be imported to. Each kit will import with its own unique folder holding all related kit contents (Models, Materials, etc.). The default behavior will import each folder into the context folder at the top level. It is recommended to create a folder to import Kitbash3D kits into to keep your project organized

  • We recommend setting the path to /Game/Cargo, which you may also see as Content/Cargo

Auto Connect to Cargo

This option will ensure Cargo remains connected to Unreal so that assets can be imported through the Cargo application.

Skip Existing Assets

During the import of new assets, this option will look within your project to see if a model or blueprint already exists that is being imported, and if present, skip importing it.

  • For example, if a prop is being used in multiple different buildings across a kit, it will not re-import that same prop again.

  • This can save time during the import process by not re-importing assets that already exist within your project

  • It’s only recommended to turn the assets off if you’ve made changes to the assets, and would like to re-import them to change them back to their original state.

Skip Existing Materials

Same as with the “Skip existing assets” option, except this option is specifically for materials and textures. These two options are highly recommended to leave on to save time on importing assets through Cargo.

Advanced

Enable Manual Import

This option will add a new dialogue window that will open when you press the Cargo button on the toolbar. This gives you the option to import USD files manually, if desired.

  • This is not a general USD importer, and is designed to work specifically with our asset pipeline.

  • You can go to the download location set in Cargo, to find the USD files downloaded through Cargo if you wish to manually import them

In addition, any other options that you configure on the Cargo Importer, will still apply during a manual import (Such as Skip existing assets, Default Import Path, etc.)

Manual Import

NEW: The Unreal plugin has a new manual import option in v2.0.

Unreal Engine Import KitBash3D USD dialog box showing 'Cargo connected' status with options to select USD file or folder, texture variant dropdown set to 'PNG 4K', and checkboxes for 'Skip Existing Assets' and 'Skip Existing Materials' both enabled, with OK button to complete the import process.

The new manual import option enables the ability import one or multiple USD assets/materials from disk that have already been downloaded from Cargo.

NOTE: Manual import is only certified to work with KitBash3D assets, which have gone through an extensive validation process to ensure compatibility with our Unreal plugin’s feature set. KitBash3d’s importer is not a generic USD importer.

How To Enable the Manual Import Menu:

  • Click Edit → Project Settings... in the top menu bar

  • Navigate to Plugins → Cargo By KitBash3D

  • Click the “Enable Manual Import” check box

Unreal Engine Project Settings showing KitBash3D USD Tools plugin configuration with import defaults including '/Game' path and enabled options for Auto Connect to Cargo, Skip Existing Assets, Skip Existing Materials, and Enable Manual Import.


How to Manually Import a Single Asset:

  • Click the “Select File” button

  • Choose a Cargo USD file to import

    • Be sure to click the USD file that has the same name as it’s parent folder. This is the root USD asset that references the other USD assets in that folder.
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    Windows file browser showing USD file selection from KB3D_CyberStreets project folder, with KB3D_CPP_BldgLgNewsHub.usd selected among five available USD files including geometry, material, and payload files.

    • Similar to Cargo’s inspector window, select the texture variant you wish to import

    • Enable “Skip Existing Assets” to ensure that static mesh, level, and packed level blueprint dependencies that have already been imported into your Unreal project are not overwritten while importing the currently selected asset.

      • Enabling this option can significantly speed up the import process

      • Disable this option to re-import all traversed asset dependencies

    • “Skip Existing Materials” works similarly to the “Skip Existing Assets” option, but for materials and their associated textures.

    • Click the OK button to start the import process

How to Import a Folder of USD Assets:

  • Click the “Select Folder” button

  • Choose a “Models” or “Materials” folder to import

    • The importer will search the selected directory for asset folders to import.
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      Windows folder browser showing KB3D_CyberStreets Models directory containing multiple assembly asset folders like ACUnit, Barrier, CardboardBoxSet, Dumpster, FireHydrant, PayPhone, and Gramophone, with 'Models' folder selected for USD asset import.


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Gameplay Ready Kits for Unreal Engine

For details on the changes we made for Gameplay Ready Kits for Unreal Engine, review our Help Article: Structural Changes to Kits for Unreal Engine

Watch a Gameplay Ready Kit demo by our VP of Kits, Mike Reese:

Gameplay Ready Kits Demo

Unreal Troubleshooting

Unreal Not Detected by Cargo

If Unreal is still not detected by Cargo, run “Verify” on your installs of Unreal in the Epic Games launcher.
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Once complete, connect Cargo to Unreal using the steps above. That should resolve the issue.

Cargo plugin installation can't find Unreal

Ensure your version of Unreal is supported : Cargo Supported Software

Try Advanced Setup and help Cargo locate your UnrealEditor.exe

If the Cargo Plugin does not show up in the Unreal Toolbar

If the Cargo Plugin does not show up in your toolbar, ensure that the plugin is enabled.

You can access the Plugins settings in Unreal by accessing these menu actions:

Edit > Plugins > KitBash3D


How to delete the Cargo plugin from Unreal

  1. Close Unreal Engine

    • Make sure Unreal Editor is not running before deleting any plugins.

  2. Find Your Unreal Installation Folder

    • This is typically located in these locations:
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      Windows Example

      C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.3\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace\Cargo

      macOS Example

      /Users/Shared/Epic Games/UE_5.4/Engine/Plugins/Marketplace/Cargo
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  3. Navigate to the Plugin Path

  4. Right-click the Cargo folder and choose Delete. Confirm when prompted.

  5. Restart Unreal Engine

    • When Unreal reopens, it will no longer reference the deleted plugin.

Cannot import assets into Unreal

If you've successfully enabled the Cargo plugin within Unreal but are receiving an error message after attempting to import an asset, please review the below steps.

First, ensure you're using a supported version of Unreal.

Completely removing all associated Cargo files will ensure that a reinstallation of Cargo is successful at resolving your issue.

Remove Cargo application files - Windows

  1. Navigate to: C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming

  2. Delete kitbash3d folder

  3. Delete Cargo by KitBash3D folder

  4. Empty Recycle Bin

Uninstall Cargo

  1. From the Start menu, run the Window Uninstaller to uninstall Cargo

  2. Ensure the app has been cleared from your Recycle Bin

Reinstall Cargo

  1. Verify your version of UE through the Epic Launcher (shown above)

  2. Ensure your UE is shut down

  3. Install the latest version of Cargo from https://kitbash3d.com/pages/cargo-download
    (note the file name of the Cargo application is NOT the version number)

  4. Log into Cargo

  5. ACCOUNT > SOFTWARE SETTINGS > ADD NEW SOFTWARE > UNREAL

  6. Allow Cargo to install the plugin into UE

  7. Open UE and enable the Cargo plugin in all locations

  8. Select an asset to import

Retrieve Cargo Logs

If the above steps do not allow you to import an asset into Unreal after a reinstallation, locating and sending our support team the logs will be helpful for the team to see what's going on behind the scenes.
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Windows OS

Take the below steps

  1. In the File Explorer, navigate to: Windows: C:\Users[username]\AppData\Roaming\kitbash3d\Logs\cargo.log
    There are two logs here: cargo.log and cargo-platform-services.log.

  2. Zip up this folder and attach the it to your email (info@kitbash3d.com)

We'll get back to you as soon as our team is able to review the logs.

macOS

  1. In Finder, use CMD+SHIFT+. to reveal hidden folders

  2. In /Users locate the /kitbash3d/ folder

  3. In /kitbash3d/ folder, locate the logs folder

  4. Please email us the cargo.log and cargo-platform-services.log (info@kitbash3d.com)
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Email info@kitbash3d.com

Once our team is able to review the logs, we'll get back to you with more information about the issue you experienced.


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Related Articles
Guide to Using KitBash3D Kits with Unreal Engine
Using Cargo: Sign In and Sign Up
Connecting Cargo to Blender
Connecting Cargo to Cinema 4D (C4D)
Cargo Changelog
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