Unreal Engine Connector Plugin Installation

This guide is applicable for both Windows and macOS, depending on what version of Unreal and OS you have, your UI may be different, but the process is the same.

• Video Guide

• Step by Step Instructions

1) Download the Unreal Engine Connector plugin from here.

2) Extract the downloaded "GreyscalegorillaStudioConnectors.zip" file.

3) Browse into the folder and copy the Unreal Engine folder for your version: 

i.e. GreyscalegorillaUnrealConnect_UE_5_4 Win or macOS

4) To ensure that the Connect plugin works the best, confirm that you paste into this path: 

(Windows) C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.x\Engine\Plugins 

(macOS) /Users/Shared/EpicGames/UE_5.x/Engine/Plugins

Activating the Connector Plugin

5) Once you have copied the plugin to that above location you should launch / restart your UE project.

• Now go to Edit→Plugins

From the dialog type-in “Greyscalegorilla” and click checkbox to activate the plugin.

You may be asked to restart UE. (restart message pop-up at right bottom of screen)

6) After restarting Unreal Engine, launch Greyscalegorilla Studio App and select Unreal Engine as 3D Application from settings then close settings window.

7) Click "Connect" button. The button color will change to green and show it's connected to Unreal Engine. Now you can use the assets from GSG Studio App.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

• Project Settings > Engine > Rendering > Virtual Textures needs to be unchecked before importing GSG materials.

• Project Settings > Engine > Rendering > Textures "Texture Streaming" needs to be unchecked for best experience.

Substrate support

Substrate is still considered to be an experimental feature in Unreal Engine.

The plugin works with both Legacy Materials and Substrate Materials.

Note: We recommend using Legacy Materials option in Unreal Engine.

Substrate is not enabled by default for new UE Projects however if you wish you can enable it.

Official documentation at: https://dev.epicgames.com/community/learning/courses/92D/unreal-engine-strata-materials/VXV6/unreal-engine-strata-intro-submitting-feedback

To enable Substrate support:

1. A .uproject's EngineAssociation needs to be changed to 5.x (this only needs to be done if you have moved from 5.1 to higher version 5.x).
2. Substrate needs to be turned on in Project Settings.
   1. Go to Edit→Project Settings
   2. Type in “Substrate” at the top search bar
   3. Enable “Substrate materials (Experimental)

NOTE:

You might get this message after importing GSG materials (Unreal Engine 5.2)

This is not an error message. Rebuilt refers to performing the calculations necessary to determine how to render light and shadows in realistic manner. Building light requires processing power and some time so it could take from a couple of seconds to a minute depending on your scene.

To perform the calculations and conversions in your project go to top Menu > Build and select Build Lighting Only.

You will see the progress of the build in the lower-right corner of the screen and when it's finished, it will let you know that build is complete. The "Lighting Needs to Be Rebuilt" message will disappear.

Notes for macOS users

Unreal engine on macOS requires installation of Apple XCode for Metal shaders compiler.

You can download and install XCode from the Apple AppStore.

However after installation when you run Unreal sometimes it cannot find it and the message below may appear.

In this case run the Terminal and paste the code below and hit Enter, then type your password hit Enter:

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer

Now you can run Unreal without any issues.

Updating the Connector Plugin

When a new update for the Connector is released you will first need to remove the existing

"GreyscalegorillaUnrealConnect_UE_5_4" folder from the installation path.

After removing the previous version you can now follow the Installation steps again to install the new one. Then you can run Unreal Engine and use the new connector immediately.