3D models in UE5 are called Static Meshes.
Nearly all environments use Static Meshes to create levels in UE5; this doesn't include things like landscapes, lighting, atmosphere and particles.
There are two ways to create 3d models for UE5 or UE4:
In this in-depth study guide I'll show you 4 different options for exporting your Static Meshes from Maya and import them into UE5.
There are 4 ways to export models from Maya for UE5:
There are 2 additional ways to work with Maya data in UE5 but they are best used for animation and scene creation/management.
Setting the grid up in Maya to match UE5 is very important prior to modeling any prop or environment. This will ensure that everything you create will match 1:1 ration between Maya and UE5.
Maya/UE5: How to Match Grid Size and Dimensions in Maya to UE5 – EXPLAINED
Choosing File > Export Selection will be the most often used option and will export only selected geometry.
Important steps to make this method work:
Step 1: Pivot Point
Control the pivot point on thex object. Place it where you want it. It will be in the same position when imported into UE5.
Press Insert to toggle pivot point modification in Maya or hold D. See this tutorial to modify pivot points in Maya.
Step 2: World Origin
Place the object you are exporting at the World Origin, in (0,0,0) world space at its pivot point.
This is very important. The pivot point will always be moved to World Origin on export, even if the object is somewhere else in the world. So you must manually move the object to the (0,0,0) world space at its pivot point.
Now you can export.
Step 3: Export Options
In Maya, Delete History on the object prior to export to avoid any issues. Select everything and go to Edit > Delete by Type > History.
Also helps to Freeze Transformations so you can always bring this object back to (0,0,0) World Origin to re-export.
Steps to exporting selected Static Mesh geometry from Maya for UE5 (environment assets and props):
Everything else is default.
Note: Having Smooth Mesh ON will always export the low-poly version of the mesh when you have Smooth Mesh Preview (3) enabled. Having Smooth Mesh OFF will export whatever view you have enabled in the viewport at the time.
Use one of the latest version of FBX if you have the latest version of UE5. If you get incompatible FBX version upon import, re-export again but use earlier FBX version.
During export you can check under FBX export Information: FBX Plug-In version:
Importing Into UE5 Options
In UE5 Content Browser, inside the Content folder, select where you want to import your Static Meshes:
You can create your own folder inside the Content Browser by Right-Clicking and choosing New Folder:
Select the folder you want to import into and click Add and select Import, then navigate to the exported FBX files:
Or Left-Click and drag the exported FBX Static Mesh into any Content Browser folder:
FBX Import Options window will open. Enable Show All Advanced Detail:
Few important options to know about:
Everything else should be kept default.
Settings I Use:
Choosing File > Export All will export the entire Maya scene into an FBX file.
Great Option to Use For:
Great export option for large scenes. Where you are creating the entire scene in Maya and want to quickly bring it into UE5 without having to construct it again.
You can drag all the Static Meshes from the Content Browser and the entire scene will be recreated in UE5:
Important part of this option is disabling Combine Meshes on import into UE5 so all meshes in the scene are kept as separate objects:
The downside to this option is all objects will have their pivot point in the World Origin:
It's not the method you should use if you are going to construct more of the environment in UE5.
If you are going to expand to create larger environment, use Export Selection instead and export individual meshes.
For each mesh, the pivot point will be in World Origin (0,0,0). You can type in 0,0,0 in the Location Transform in UE5 and place that mesh exactly where it was in Maya:
Quickly Generate Missing Collisions on imported meshes and you can have a playable environment right away. As long as you didn't use Combine Meshes on import.
You should combine certain meshes in Maya so they are treated as a single mesh upon import in UE5, such as stairs for example.
As long as you maintain the same names for objects in Maya and for exported FBX file, you can re-export and re-import very quickly.
Downsides of This Method:
If you decide to enable Combine Meshes upon import into UE5, the entire scene will be treated as a single Static Mesh. Probably not something you want. And if you also Generated Missing Collisions then you won't be able to walk around the environment as it is usually a big bounding box of simple collision.
You can fix this problem by using Complex Collision as Simple (this is expensive to use but works if it's not a playable environment):
Export Options
In Maya, Delete History on all the objects in the scene to avoid any issues. Select everything and go to Edit > Delete by Type > History.
Steps for Export All:
Everything else is default.
Import Options
In UE5 Content Browser, inside the Content folder, select where you want to import your Static Meshes. Left-Click and drag the exported FBX file into Content Browser folder.
Choose the following options:
Everything else should be kept default.
Choosing File > Send to Unreal will export the entire scene or selected meshes into an FBX file and place it into specified UE5 project directory.
Before using Sent to Unreal option; you will need to set a project folder where the exported objects will go into.
Setting UE5 Project to Use Send to Unreal
You can now use File > Send to Unreal option. You can either export Selection or All objects within the scene:
Upon export, Maya will place all exported FBX files into Import folder inside the UE5 project directory:
Send to Unreal keeps things more organized and you will always know where the exported FBX files were placed.
You still have to import all exported Static Meshes into UE5 manually like in previous options.
Export Options
In Maya, Delete History on any objects you are about to export to avoid any issues. Select everything and go to Edit > Delete by Type > History.
Everything else is default.
Import Options
In UE5 Content Browser, inside the Content folder, select where you want to import your Static Meshes.
Navigate to UE5 Project directory and into Import folder. Left-Click and drag the exported FBX file into Content Browser folder.
Choose the following options:
Everything else should be kept default.
Game Exporter is a great way to export a large number of Static Meshes from Maya, place them at the world origin, at their pivot points automatically. Perfect a large amount of modular assets or props being exported at the same time.
See this post for all detailed notes: In-Depth Overview: How to Batch Export Using Maya Game Exporter for UE5/UE4.
There will be times when you'll need to have multiple materials applied to the same Static Mesh. You will see multiple ID slots inside UE5 to assign those materials:
This setup is first done in Maya:
There are two options of assigning Materials in Maya:
Applying a Material on faces example:
When you import the Static Mesh into UE5, you will have multiple Material slots to assign onto the mesh:
Two ways to assign Materials in UE5 on Static Meshes:
Learn Maya UVing completely from the start so you can begin texturing your models in this Maya Home-Study Course...
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