UNREAL ENGINE 5 | BLENDER | 3DS MAX | SUBSTANCE PAINTER

Find out how James Brady revamps an old asset into a model fit for Epic Games’ latest release

Asset creation has become vastly dif ferent in Unreal Engine 5 ( UE5) when compared to the last-generation work flows we’ve previously used. In this tutorial, I’ll give you a rundown on how we can upgrade a high- qualit y asset using Blender and 3ds Max for extra touches and polishing, before bringing it into the new and improved UE5.

We’ll be using an asset of a pair of boxing gloves I created two years ago for last-gen technology and upscaling the resolution of both the textures and geometr y for UE5 and next-gen hardware. Our aim is essentially to have the Unreal Engine 5 version of our asset matching the fidelit y of the original high-poly sculpt inengine with the tex tures applied.

By the end of the tutorial, you should have a strong grasp of UE5, along with an awareness of the dif ferences from its predecessor and how the industr y has shif ted to new hardware. You’ll also develop an understanding of the up-to-date work flows involved, and get an introduc tion to the brand new Nanite and Lumen systems.

The original downloadable files we’re using are available for both 3ds Max and Blender, while I’ve also supplied the Substance Painter file for the asset, which we’ll cover when talking about expor ting tex tures and set ting them up with materials in UE5. So open up either the 3ds Max or Blender file, and let’s get going !

AUTHOR

James Brady

James is a senior environment artist at Tripwire Interactive. He has worked on Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, Red Dead Redemption 2, and many more. bradyart.xyz

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01 SUBDIVISION

We want to take the existing asset created for Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) and up-res it to match the fidelit y we expec t with UE5. It’s impor tant to be aware of the UV seam locations so we maintain the current layout for the asset, thus not af fec ting the tex tures.