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UE3 Home > Static Meshes

Static Meshes

A Static Mesh is a piece of geometry that consists of a set of polygons which can be cached in video memory and rendered by the graphics card. This allows them to be rendered efficiently, meaning they can be much more complex than other types of geometry such as BSP brushes. Since they are chached in video memory, though, Static Meshes can be translated, rotated, and scaled, but they cannot have their vertices animated in any way.

Static Meshes are the basic unit used to create world geometry for levels created in Unreal Engine 3. These are 3D models created in external modeling applications (such as 3dsMax, Maya, Softimage, etc.) that are imported into Unreal Editor through the Content Browser, saved in packages, and then used in various ways to create renderable elements. The vast majority of any map in a game made with Unreal Engine 3 will consist of Static Meshes, generally in the form of StaticMeshActors. Other uses of Static meshes are for creating movers such as doors or lifts, rigid body physics objects, foliage and terrain decorations, procedurally created buildings, game objectives, and many more visual elements.

FBX Content Pipeline

Technical documentation and tutorials over using the FBX pipeline to create content for and import content into UE3. Static Meshes - Skletal Meshes - Materials - Animations - Morph Targets.

Technical Topics

Unreal Rendering Architecture - Guide detailing the rendering architecture of Unreal Engine 3.

Content Creation Topics

FBX Static Mesh Pipeline - Guide to importing Static Meshes using FBX.
Unwrapping UVs for Lightmaps - Best practices over setting up UVs for use with lightmaps.
Normal Map Processing - A guide to properly processing a normal map to use in Unreal Engine.
PivotPainter Tool - Tool for storing model pivot and rotation information in the model's vertex data.
Modular Environment Creation - Guide to designing meshes for use in a modular environment.
Static Mesh Editor User Guide - Guide to using the Static Mesh Editor in UnrealEd.
Mesh Simplification Tool - Guide to creating parametrically simplified meshes within UnrealEd.
Fractured Static Meshes - Guide to creating and using Fractured Static Meshes.
Collision Reference - Reference of collision types for Static Meshes and other geometry types.
Collision Technical Guide - A technical guide on how collision functions within Unreal Engine 3.

Level Creation Topics

StaticMeshActors - Information over using StaticMeshActors in UnrealEd.
Using InterpActors - Information over using movers in UnrealEd.
Using KActors - Information over using rigid body actors in UnrealEd.
Static Mesh Mode - Guide to using the Static Mesh Mode for placing meshes.
Massive LOD - Guide to using the Massive LOD system to create open vistas in UE3.
Interactive Static Meshes - Information over using InteractiveStaticMeshActors in UnrealEd.
ProcBuildings - Guide to creating and using the procedural building system.
Procedural Buildings Tutorial - Tutorial over setting up an example ProcBuilding.
Interactive Foliage Actor - Guide to setting up and using interactive foliage actors.