WindowCast

WindowCast streams the contents of a desktop window - a browser, a video player, a tool, another game - into Unreal Engine as a regular Texture2D. Capture runs on a background thread through the Windows Graphics Capture API, so the window keeps updating even when it is partly covered by other windows.

You pick the window by its title: exact match, starts with, contains, ends with, or a regular expression. Set a frame rate between 1 and 120, call Start, and bind the Change Texture event; whenever the captured window changes size a new texture is created and handed to you. Two ready-made samples are included: a plane actor that shows the window on a mesh in the level, and a UMG widget that shows it in your UI.

Use it for in-world monitors and screens, virtual production and broadcast overlays, streaming a companion app into a training simulator, or showing a desktop tool inside a VR scene.

WindowCast is part of the Alpha XP utilities collection for Unreal Engine 4.27 and 5.8. Every feature is exposed to Blueprints and C++, it ships with styled HTML documentation, and it is compiled and verified warning-free against clean UE 4.27 and UE 5.8 projects.

Key features

• Real-time capture of any top-level desktop window into a Texture2D
• Window search by title: Perfect Match, Forward Match, Partial Match, Backward Match or
• Adjustable capture rate from 1 to 120 frames per second
• Background-thread capture through the Windows Graphics Capture API
• Change Texture event that delivers a new texture whenever the window is resized
• Actor class (WindowCastActor) and UMG widget class (WindowCastWidget) ready to
• Capture object (WindowCastMachine) for custom setups in Blueprint or C++
• Sample plane actor Blueprint with mesh and material
• Sample UMG widget Blueprint with material
• Capture stops automatically when the actor ends play or the widget is released

Blueprint & C++ API

Every call is reachable from more than one place — pick the entry point that fits your project:

Callable runs when executed · Pure no exec pin, returns a value

Events & delegates

Bind these in Blueprint (drag off the object → Bind Event) or with AddDynamic in C++.

Options & enums

Compatibility

One ready-made build per engine version is included in the download — copy the one that matches your project.

Technical details

Third-party components

• C++/WinRT (cppwinrt) projection headers (2.0.220110.5), Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, MIT License

The headers ship as source and are compiled into the plugin's Win64 module; they send no data to their authors. The full attributions accompany the Third Party Software declaration submitted to Epic.

What's in the download

Quick start

1. Unzip the download and pick the build that matches your engine (4.27 · 5.8).
2. Copy the WindowCast folder into your project's Plugins/ folder (create it if needed).
3. Open the project, enable WindowCast under Edit › Plugins and restart the editor.
4. Right-click in any Blueprint graph and search WindowCast — or include the public headers from C++.
5. Package for your target platform (Windows).

Good to know