Modeling Tools

Learn about the different tools for in-engine modeling.

Modeling Mode provides various tools for creating and editing geometry. These tools are organized into specific categories to help guide you through your modeling process.

The Create category can get you started with building a new mesh. To edit and inspect properties of your mesh you can use the following categories:

  • Select: Edit element selections.

  • Transform: Adjust the placement or representation of a mesh.

  • Deform: Sculpt or distort a mesh as a whole or in specific areas.

  • Model: Perform granular mesh editing.

  • Mesh: Mesh processing for inspecting, optimizing, and editing a mesh's geometry.

  • Voxel: Convert a mesh into voxels to perform volumetric operations before converting it back into a mesh.

  • Bake: Generate textures and vertex color data for meshes.

  • UVs: Edit the UV coordinates of a mesh.

  • Attribs: Inspect and adjust the secondary properties of a mesh.

  • Misc: Additional utility tools such as managing LODs and volume conversion.

Each tool per category opens a specific toolset and settings in the Tool Properties panel. Refer to the categories below to learn how to implement them in your workflow.

The modeling tools are usable when working on various types of actors in Unreal Engine, for example, a static mesh, dynamic mesh, or volume. These are collectively referred to as "a mesh" or "meshes", except when a tool is only usable for a specific actor type.

Create

Build new meshes from predefined primitives, paths, or splines. The following predefined primitives are available:

  • Box

  • Sphere

  • Cylinder

  • Cone

  • Torus

  • Arrow

  • Rectangle

  • Disc

  • Stairs

To learn more about these primitives, see Predefined Shapes.

Several tools, such as Extrude Polygon and Extrude Path, use a grid to draw shapes. To control the position of the grid, Ctrl + Click your desired location.

Tool

Description

CubeGrid

Create blockout meshes using a repositionable grid. To learn more about this tool, see the CubeGrid overview.

Extrude Polygon

Draw and extrude polygons freehand or from a selection of predefined shapes.

Extrude Path

Draw and extrude PolyPaths to create new meshes such as walls and ramps.

Revolve Path

Draw and revolve pathways around an axis to create a symmetrical mesh.

Revolve Path

Draw and revolve 2D paths to create a new mesh.

Revolve Spline

Revolve a spline to create a new mesh.

Draw Spline

Draw a spline in the level.

Mesh Spline

Triangulate the spline components of the selected actors to create new meshes.

Select

Edit element selections.

Mesh Element Select must be enabled in the Modeling Mode Quick Settings.

Tool

Description

Delete

Removes the current mesh selection.

Extrude

Extrudes geometry from the set of selected faces by moving and stitching them.

Offset

Offsets geometry from the set of selected faces. Mouse movement controls the offset distance. Click in the viewport to complete the offset.

PushPull

Faces can cut away the mesh or bridge mesh parts.

Inset

Insets the current set of selected faces. Mouse movement controls the inset distance. Click in the viewport to complete the inset.

Outset

Expands the set of selected faces out. Mouse movement controls the outset distance. Click in the viewport to confirm the outset distance.

Cut

Triangulate the spline components of the selected actors to create new meshes.

Bevel

Slants the edge loops around the selected faces.

Insert Loop

Inserts a chain of edges across quads in a mesh. You can not insert edges on non-quad faces.

Clean

Retriangulate the current mesh or mesh selection.

Xform

Adjust the placement or representation of a mesh.

Tool

Description

Transform

Transform different aspects of the selected mesh.

Align

Repositions the selected meshes in relation to one another.

Merge

Combines multiple meshes into one, keeping intersecting geometry.

Duplicate

Duplicates a single mesh, creating a new actor.

Edit Pivot

Edit the pivot point placement on the selected mesh. To learn more about this tool, see the Edit Pivot overview.

Bake Transform

Bakes the scale and rotation values into the mesh. By default, scale is uniformly set to 1, while rotation is uniformly set to 0.

Transfer

Transfers the data of one mesh to a target mesh or a specific LOD used by the target mesh.

Convert

Change the Output Type of a mesh between a Static Mesh, Dynamic Mesh, or Volume.

Split

Takes a mesh with disconnected geometry and splits them into separate mesh.

Pattern

Tile one or more selected meshes along a Line, Grid, or Circle oriented on a movable 3D plane.

ISMEd

Edit instances in Instance Static Mesh Components.

Deform

Sculpt or distort a mesh as a whole or in specific areas. To learn more about this category, see the Deform Category overview.

Tool

Description

Vertex Sculpt

Sculpts the selected mesh (adjusting its vertices) using various brushes.

Dynamic Sculpt

Sculpts the selected mesh using various brushes and dynamically adds new geometry to the mesh through remeshing.

Smooth

Even out the surface of the mesh, helping remove jagged artifacts.

Offset

Adjust the positioning of the mesh's vertices by a specified amount along their normal.

Warp

Reshape a mesh using non-linear transforms such as Blend, Flare, and Twist.

Lattice

Edit a mesh via its vertices using a structure of points.

Displace

Distort the vertices of a mesh based on preset algorithms, user-generated weight maps, or texture maps.

Deform PolyGroups

Opens tools to deform meshes via their PolyGroups. To learn more about this tool, see the Deform PolyGroup overview.

Model

Perform granular mesh editing.

Tool

Description

PolyGroup Edit

Opens tools, such as Extrude, Bevel, and Edge Loop, to edit meshes via PolyGroups. To learn more about this tool, see the PolyGroup Edit overview.

Subdivide

Increase the resolution of a mesh by PolyGroups or triangles. To learn more about this tool, see the Subdivide overview.

Boolean

Subtract or add mesh pairs. To learn more about this tool, see the Boolean overview.

PolyCut

Cuts the selected mesh with extrude polygon and open tools to define the new mesh.

Plane Cut

Cut the selected mesh on a plane.

Mirror

Reflect a mesh along a given plane to create new geometry.

Mesh Cut

Split one mesh into parts using a second mesh. To learn more about this tool, see the Mesh Cut overview.

Trim

Trim or cut selected meshes with a second mesh.

Mesh

Mesh processing for optimizing and editing a mesh's geometry.

When using the following tools for optimization, it is helpful to change the View Mode and enable Mesh Edges under Show > Advance.

Tool

Description

Tri Select

Quickly select triangles to edit a mesh and adjust secondary properties.

Triangle Edit

Opens tools to edit the mesh via triangles.

Fill Holes

Fills any holes in your mesh.

Weld

Automatically combines disconnected edges of the selected mesh within a given tolerance.

Union

Combines multiple meshes into one, resolving self-intersections.

Jacket

Removes hidden triangles from the selected meshes.

Simplify

Attempts to reduce the triangle density of the selected mesh.

Remesh

Retriangulate and increase triangle density on the selected mesh.

Project

Map or re-mesh one mesh onto the targeted mesh (the second selected mesh).

Voxel

Convert a mesh into voxels to perform volumetric operations before converting it back into a mesh.

Tool

Description

Voxel Wrap

Wrap a selected mesh using voxels—helping remove holes as well as removing self-intersections and hidden triangles.

Voxel Blend

Blend selected meshes using voxels.

Voxel Offset

Offset or inset the surface of the selected meshes using voxels.

Voxel Boolean

Perform boolean operations on selected meshes and then wrap the result with voxels.

Voxel Merge

Merges selected meshes and then voxelates the result.

Bake

Generate textures and vertex color data for meshes.

The source mesh(es) and target mesh must overlap for proper baking.

Tool

Description

Bake Textures

Bake the source mesh's details to a target mesh as textures.

Bake All

Bake textures for a single mesh from multiple source meshes.

Bake Vertex Colors

Bake a source mesh's details to a target mesh as vertex colors.

Bake RC

Bakes textures for a target mesh from multiple source meshes via a virtual photo or render capture.

UVs

Edit the UV coordinates of a mesh, changing how textures are mapped to the surface. To learn more about this category, see the UVs Category overview.

Tool

Description

AutoUV

Automatically unwrap and pack UVs for the selected mesh.

UV Unwrap

Recompute UVs for existing UV islands or PolyGroups, helping minimize stretched and squashed areas.

Project UVs

Creates UVs from casting a predefined shape or point onto your mesh.

Edit UV Seams

Interactively separate edges in the Viewport to create seams.

Transform UVs

Interactively scale, rotate, and translate UV islands in the Viewport.

Layout UVs

Transform, stack, or repack existing UVs.

UV Editor

Launch a dedicated Editor for creating and editing UVs.

Attribs

Inspect and adjust a mesh's secondary properties, such as normals and PolyGroups.

Tool

Description

Inspect

Inspect mesh attributes.

LOD Manager

Opens the LOD Manager to define and create LODs for the selected static mesh asset.

Normals

Recomputes the normals and opens tools to set Normals calculations by toggling options on and off and setting the Normals Topography.

Tangents

Edit the mesh's lines and tangents.

Generate PolyGroups

Generates PolyGroups for your mesh.

Paint PolyGroups

Paint PolyGroups onto a mesh using brushstrokes.

Edit Attributes

Edit the mesh's different attributes, including UVs, and add new attributes.

Edit Materials

Assign multiple materials and new material elements to triangles selected via brushstrokes.

Paint Vertex Colors

Adds color values to the vertices of a mesh (including nanite meshes). To learn more about this tool, see the Paint Vertex Colors overview.

Paint Maps

Paint on specific Weight Map Layers, which you first must generate with the Edit Attribute tool. To learn more about this tool, see the Paint Maps overview.

Inspect Collision

Inspect physics geometry for the selected mesh.

Simple Collision Editor

Edit the simple collision shape of the selected mesh.

Mesh To Collision

Convert the selected mesh to Simple Collision Geometry for the last selected mesh.

Collision To Mesh

Converts Simple Collision Geometry to a new mesh actor.

Misc

Additional utility tools such as managing LODs and volume conversion.

Tool

Description

AutoLOD

Opens a toolset to generate and define static mesh LOD Assets.

Pivot Actor

Add an actor to act as a pivot for the child components.

Revolve Boundary

Revolves the mesh boundary loops to create a new shape.

Volume To Mesh

Define and convert a volume actor to a static or dynamic mesh actor.

Mesh To Volume

Defines the conversion of a mesh to a new volume.

Convert BSPs

Convert Binary Space Partitioning geometry to a mesh.

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