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Load SGS Mesh Layers in Unreal Engine

Yaniv Dayan
  • Updated

With the new support for Cesium 3D Tiles recently added to Unreal Engine, Unreal Engine users can now combine the high-fidelity rendering power of Unreal Engine with high-quality 3D geospatial data. Mesh data can be loaded not only from Cesium ion, but also from SkylineGlobe Server, which exposes the mesh layers as 3D Tiles for the Unreal Engine user.

To load SGS mesh layers in Unreal Engine, follow the steps below. Most of the information below is also included in Skyline's SGS webinar.

 

Step 1: Download and install the free Cesium for Unreal plugin:

  1. Install and run the Epic Games Launcher. 
  2. On the left side menu, click on Unreal Engine.
  3. In the Marketplace tab, search for Cesium for Unreal.
  4. In Content Detail, click Install to Engine to install the plugin on your Unreal Engine account.
    2022-03-07_17_49_17-Epic_Games_Launcher.png

Step 2: Activate the Cesium for Unreal plugin

  1. On the top-right corner, click Launch to Launch the Unreal Engine. The Unreal Project Browser is opened.
  2. Select Games, and create a new Blank project.
    mceclip0.png
  3. In the Edit menu, select Plugins, and then search for “Cesium for Unreal" and Enable it. Wait a couple of minutes till the Unreal Engine is restarted.
    mceclip1.png

Step 3: Add a Cesium 3D Tileset

  1. In the Unreal Engine's Cesium panel on the left, click the plus plus_unreal.png icon next to Blank 3D Tiles Tileset.
    mceclip2.png
  2. This adds a new blank Cesium3DTileset entry to the scene, under the Outliner tab.
    mceclip3.png

  3. In the Details section, under Cesium, select:
    1. Georeference = CesiumGeoReference
    2. Source = From URL
    3. URL = Enter the SGS URL. Use the following format: https://[ServerName]/SG/skyline/b3dm/[LayerID]/tileset.json
      Note:  An alias can be used in the URL instead of the layer ID. 
      E.g., Https://cloud.skylineglobe.com/SG/demos/b3dm/Auburn/tileset.json
      mceclip5.png

Step 4: Point the Viewport at Your 3D Tileset

  1. Double-click your Cesium 3D Tileset in the Outliner to point the viewport at your tileset. 
    mceclip6.png
  2. Note: The model may not be oriented correctly because the Unreal Editor camera uses “+Z direction is up” orientation. To correct the orientation, set the origin in the georeference to the location of the 3D Tile.
    mceclip9.png
    To place the georeference origin at the camera's current location, in the Outliner, select the CesiumGeoreference. Then, in the Details section, click Place Georeference Origin Here.
    mceclip11.png
  3. If the scene turns black, this is likely because it is night in the location of your tileset. In the Cesium panel, click the plus_unreal.png button to add the Cesium SunSky item. In the Outliner, select CesiumSunSky, and modify the Date and Time properties.
  4. Click the green Plan button to play the simulation.
    mceclip12.png

Step 5: Adding global context

  1. To add terrain, sign in to your Cesium Ion account from the Cesium panel.
  2. In the Cesium panel, click the + next to Cesium World Terrain + Bing Maps Aerial imagery, or another Cesium World Terrain option of your choosing. 
    mceclip13.png
    For Bin Maps, you can use the Default token.
    mceclip14.png

 

For more information, see https://cesium.com/learn/unreal/unreal-datasets/.

 

 

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