In this brief tutorial video, we’ll walk you through the process of Merge Materials in Unreal Engine tools. Optimizing your materials through merging can significantly enhance performance. Let’s get started:

1. Introduction
– Merging materials within Unreal Engine can greatly optimize performance.
– Having multiple material slots can lead to additional draw calls, impacting performance.
– By merging materials, you can streamline rendering and improve optimization.

2. Identifying the Need for Material Merging
– Objects with multiple material slots can be less performant due to separate draw calls.
– Imagine having hundreds of objects with multiple materials, this is where optimization becomes crucial.

3. Using Unreal Engine’s Merge Actors Tool
– Right-click on your object within the preview mesh.
– Select “Merge Actors” from the context menu to open the merging panel.

4. Enabling Material Merging Option
– Initially, you might not see the “Merge Materials” checkbox in the panel.
– To access it, use the drop-down and choose “Use Specific Load Level.”

5. Enabling Material Merging Option (Contd)
– The “Merge Materials” checkbox will become visible as a result of this action.
– Subsequently, you can opt to check this box and continue with the process.

6. Merging and Saving
– After making your selections, click on the “Merge Actor” option.
– Opt for “Replace Source Actor” and designate the working directory.
– Name the merged object and save it.

7. Observing the Results
– Once merged, you’ll have a new object, e.g., “Merged Sphere.”
– The new object will possess a different material.
– The material’s parent will be “Base Flattened Material.”

8. Texture Generation
– The merging process generates textures for the new material.
– Note that these textures might be larger than desired.

9. Final Thoughts
– While the generated textures might not be optimal, the merging process greatly reduces objects to a singular texture.
– This approach significantly enhances performance by minimizing draw calls.

Conclusion
Merging materials is a powerful optimization technique in Unreal Engine. You can vastly improve performance by reducing the number of material slots and draw calls, especially when dealing with numerous objects. Remember to fine-tune textures as needed to achieve the best results.

Merge Materials in Unreal Engine | Watch more about it

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