Open 3D Stream: Beta test stream

This document describes how to add the Open3dStream plugin to an unreal project.

Overview

Download the latest release from http://open3dstream.com
If you do not have a “Source” folder in your project, add c++ class (any class)
Enable the live link plugin
Create a “Plugins” folder in your project if it doesn’t exist
Add an Open3dStream source to live link, and specify the url you want to connect to.

Copy the Open3DStream plugin into that folder.

Adding a c++ class

Unreal will not compile plugin code if there has not been any code added to the main project. You can check to see if your project has code by looking in the “Source” folder. There should be two files in there that end with “.Target.cs” and “EditorTarget.cs” as well as at least one ..cpp file in one of the folders.

The easiest way to enable compiling is to add a c++ class to your project within the editor.

You need some c++ code in your project, it doesn’t matter what the parent class is. Select Next.

Choose Create Class – the name of the class is not important

Enable the live link plugin

Select Edit -> Plugins

Search for “Live Link” – without the quotes and with a space between the words.

Check the live link plugin and choose “Restart Now” to restart the editor.

Adding the plugin

Close the project if it is running, and create a “Plugin” folder at the root of your unreal project (next to “Content”, “Saved”…)

The “Plugins” folder should be at the root of the unreal project

Launch Unreal

Now you should be able to launcch unreal editor.

The first time you launch the project, it will ask you if you want to compile the code.

Add Open3dStream to Live Link

Open the live link pane. If this menu option is not avaiable you will need to add the live link plugin and restart.

Add the Open3dStream source, and provide the url you want to connect to. The default url will connect to the “beta” test stream.

Add the Beta Assset

The test stream needs to be applied to the “beta_skinned.fbx” asset. If you use a different asset, the orientations will not match up, and the performance will look very broken.

You can download the asset from: here. Unzip it and import it into your project

Import the skeleton mesh.

You can preview the animation by opening the skeleton mesh

and selecting “Live Link Preview Controller” in the “Preview Scene Setup” tab, which is usually located on the right panel.

Preview Scene Setup for the Skeleton Mesh

If there is an active stream currently running (enabled via the live link panel), select the subject name in the list. For the test stream on the “beta” rig, the stream name should also be “beta”.

To see the animation at runtime, create an Animation Blueprint

Do not select a Parent Class, but select “beta_skinned_Skeleton” as the Target Skeleton.

Drag a connection out from “Result” on the Output Pose node, search for “pose” and select “Live Link Pose”.

Driving the pose from Live Link in an Animation Blueprint

If the test stream is active (enabled by the live link panel), you should be able to select “beta” as the subject name.

Selecting the Live Link Subject in an Animation Blueprint

Save and close the animation blueprint, then drag it from the content browser into the scene to add it as a runtime element.

Adding the Animation blueprint from the content browser in to the scene

Hit play, and you should see the animation- you may need to navigate to find it if the animation started playing out of view.