The procedure: Blender to a playable level in Unreal 5.8

Part A In Blender — the kit

Already turned in as Canvas Assignment 1. Fix anything that is not right here, before you export.

1. One grid for every piece

   Units stay Metric at 1.0 — one Blender unit is one meter. Pick a module (2 m wide × 3 m tall is a good wall), turn on snapping (the magnet icon), and build every piece to that grid.

2. Model in quads, silhouette first

   Block the big shapes, then add detail with loop cuts (Ctrl+R) and inset (I). Keep the Statistics overlay on and watch the triangle count.

3. Check that it tiles

   Duplicate a piece (Shift+D) and slide the copy one module over. The seam should vanish. If it doesn't, the edges are not on the grid — fix the original.

4. Scale it to real size

   Press N and read Item → Dimensions. A wall should read about 2 m × 3 m; a doorway about 1 m wide × 2.1 m tall. If your piece reads 0.02 m or 200 m, it was built at the wrong scale — select it and scale it (S) until the dimensions are real-world, before you go any further. Unreal will show it at exactly the size Blender reports here.

5. Name it, set the origin, apply transforms

   Name each object SM_Wall_A, SM_Corner, SM_Floor, SM_Door. Put the origin at the bottom-back-left corner of every piece, the same way each time. Then select all and Ctrl+A → All Transforms so Rotation reads 0 and Scale reads 1.

6. Do not unwrap

   Skip seams and UVs for this project. If Unreal later warns about lightmap UVs, ignore it.

Part B Export

Blender thinks in meters, Unreal in centimeters: one Blender meter must land as 100 Unreal units, standing up.

1. Export one FBX per piece

   Select one piece. File → Export → FBX. Tick Limit to: Selected Objects, Object Types Mesh only, leave the transform settings at their defaults (Scale 1.00, Apply Scalings FBX All, -Z Forward, Y Up, Apply Unit ticked). Save it as SM_Wall_A.fbx into an Export/ folder next to your .blend. Repeat for each piece.

2. Trust the check, not the checkboxes

   You will confirm scale in Unreal in Part C, step 3. If a piece comes in 100× wrong, it is units; lying on its face, it is the axis. Fix the export and re-export — never scale it in Unreal.

Part C In Unreal 5.8 — the playable level

This is Canvas Assignment 1a Extended. The Third Person template gives you a player for free.

1. Make the project

   Epic Games Launcher → Library → Launch 5.8 → Games → Third Person → Blueprint → name it FMX320_P1_YourName, in a folder you control. It opens with a playable character already set up. (Already on a Blank project? Add → Add Feature or Content Pack → Third Person, then Project Settings → Maps & Modes → Default GameMode: BP_ThirdPersonGameMode.)

2. Import the kit

   In the Content Browser make a folder Content/Kit and drag all your FBX files into it. In the import window tick Generate Missing Collision, leave Import Uniform Scale at 1.0, and click Import All.

3. Check scale

   Drag a wall into the viewport next to the template's grey cube (100 units). A 3 m wall is three cubes tall and standing. If not, go back to Part B.

4. Fix collision on doorways

   Walls and floors got box collision on import. A doorway did too — which fills the opening. Double-click the doorway mesh, and in its Details panel set Collision Complexity → Use Complex Collision As Simple. Save.

   If something still fails when you play

   1. You fall through the floor — open that mesh, Collision → Add Box Simplified Collision.
   2. An invisible wall blocks a doorway — Use Complex Collision As Simple on that mesh.
   3. You walk through a wall — same fix as the floor.
5. Start a new level

   File → New Level → Basic. Save it right away as Content/Maps/P1_Level.

6. Snap the kit together

   Set the grid snap in the viewport toolbar to 100 and keep it on. Drag pieces from Content/Kit into the level and build a corridor or a room with a start and an end. Alt+drag duplicates a placed piece along the grid.

7. Move the Player Start into your build

   The Basic level already has a Player Start (find it in the Outliner). Drag it inside your level, just above your floor, and rotate it to face down the route. Do not add a second one — with two, the character spawns at whichever Unreal picks.

8. Play it

   Press Play (Alt+P) and walk the route end to end. Fix what fails, play it again. The test: someone else at the keyboard can get from start to end without being told how.

9. Set the default map and save all

   Edit → Project Settings → Maps & Modes: Editor Startup Map and Game Default Map both P1_Level. Then File → Save All. Now it opens straight into your level on my machine at crit.

Part D Submit on Canvas

1. Record the walk and zip the project

   Press Play and screen-record 30–60 seconds walking the route (Windows Win+Alt+R, Mac Cmd+Shift+5). Close Unreal. In the project folder delete Intermediate, Saved and DerivedDataCache, then zip the folder.

2. Upload to Assignment 1a Extended

   Canvas → FMX 320 → Assignments → Assignment 1a Extended: Playable Level. Upload the zip and the recording, and write your process log in the text box: what you built, what broke, what you fixed. Due Wed Oct 7, 2:00 pm. If the zip is too big for Canvas, put it in your UT OneDrive and paste a share link.

Before you submit

Where each step is taught

• Week 02 · Modeling I — quads, the triangle budget, the wall panel on the grid.
• Week 03 · Modeling II — origins and naming, the export contract, first import and walk at scale.
• Week 04 · Walls catch-up — every piece standing in one level with a player start and collision.
• The Project 1 brief — what is graded and how the crit runs.