BlenderFactory Pro

Remove the "export → import → tweak → re-export" cycle forever.

BlendFactoryPro is a powerful UE4 plugin that enables seamless, bidirectional integration between Blender and Unreal Engine 4. Import .blend files directly into UE4 with automatic material translation, live sync, and intelligent reimport workflows.

Features:

Phase 1 - Core Features (Implemented):

1. Direct .blend File Import:
- Import .blend files directly into UE4 without manual FBX export
- Automatic mesh extraction with vertices, normals, UVs, and faces
- Native support for Blender's mesh structure

2. Intelligent Material Translation:
- Principled BSDF → PBR Material automatic conversion
- Translates Blender material properties:
- Base Color → BaseColor
- Metallic → Metallic
- Roughness → Roughness
- Emission → EmissiveColor
- Normal Maps (auto-detected)
- Automatic Texture Linking: Imports and links textures from Blender
- Material Instance Creation: Creates UE4 material instances automatically
- Custom Naming Conventions: Configurable prefixes/suffixes (e.g., M_Rock01_Master)

3. Selective Reimport:
- Right-click context menu in Content Browser
- Reimport options:
- Mesh Only - Update geometry without touching materials
- Materials Only - Refresh materials without rebuilding mesh
- Animations Only - Update animations independently
- Reimport All - Full refresh
- Saves time by only updating what changed

4. Live Sync Mode:
- Real-time file watching: Detects when .blend files are saved in Blender
- Automatic reimport: Updates assets in UE4 instantly
- Auto-viewport refresh: See changes immediately in the viewport
- Thread-safe implementation: Non-blocking background monitoring
- Enable/disable via Project Settings

5. Headless Blender Integration:
- Runs Blender in background mode (blender --background)
- No UI overhead - pure data extraction
- Python script execution: Custom scripts for mesh/material/animation extraction
- JSON-based data exchange: Structured data pipeline
- Auto-detection: Finds Blender installation automatically

6. Blender Python Bridge:
- Executes Python scripts inside Blender
- Extracts structured data as JSON:
- ExtractMeshData() - Vertices, normals, UVs, faces
- ExtractMaterialData() - Node graphs, textures, properties
- ExtractAnimationData() - NLA tracks, actions, keyframes
- BMesh support: Accurate mesh topology
- Node tree parsing: Deep material analysis