CompuGraphic Unreal Engine Custom Tools – BP CGToolbar
While working at CompuGraphic, I developed a custom Blueprint-based toolbar inside Unreal Engine to streamline level building, scene setup, and asset management for real-time visualization projects. These tools saved hours of repetitive work and ensured consistency across complex environments.
Custom Spline Tool – Advanced Path System
An extended spline actor with powerful editing and control features for camera paths, object animation, and interactive tours.
Key Features:
Precise Positioning:
Move attached actors along the spline by distance or percentage.
Loop Control:
One-click toggle between open and closed splines.
Reset & Alignment:
Quickly reset shape, snap to ground, or return to origin.
Subdivision Tools:
Add or remove evenly spaced spline points for smoother curves.
Ground Snapping:
Automatically aligns spline points to terrain or floor surfaces.
Replication Support:
Fully network-ready for multiplayer or streamed experiences.
Spline-Connected Camera & Vehicle Rig – Cinematic and Interactive Movement
A modular rig system that attaches to the custom spline and moves along it for cinematic flythroughs, vehicle simulations, and guided tours.
Core Settings:
Attached Actor:
Swap between cinematic cameras, vehicles, drones, or props.
Speed Control:
Adjustable movement speed with acceleration/deceleration curves.
Spline Orientation:
Rig rotates naturally along curves for smooth motion.
Suspension Simulation:
Adds physical spring-like movement for realism.
Ground Alignment:
Keeps wheels or rigs flush with the terrain when needed.
Hover Height:
Set height above ground for drones or elevated cameras.
Center of Mass Offset:
Fine-tunes physics behavior for stable or dynamic movement.
Workflow Benefits:
Instant Setup:
Created directly from the toolbar, pre-linked to the spline.
Rapid Iteration:
Adjust the spline shape for immediate changes in rig path.
Reusable Asset:
Works across multiple projects without modification.
Clone System, multi-actor spawner along a spline
A utility that duplicates and manages actors along the active spline. It mirrors the movement and orientation features of the base rig, with batch spawn and update controls.
Core actions
UpdateActors:
Rebuilds or refreshes all spawned clones after any parameter change.
Actor to Spawn:
Chooses what class to duplicate. Works with StaticMeshActor, custom Blueprints, cameras, lights, or vehicles.
Placement controls
TransformOffset:
Offsets every clone from the spline position without editing the spline.
Amount:
Number of actors to place along the spline.
Spacing:
Distance or normalized step between clones supports even distribution along the spline length.
Attached Actors Ref:
Runtime registry of the spawned instances for later updates, deletion, or per-item overrides.
Motion and physics parity with the default rig
Speed
Per clone movement rate when animating along the spline.
UseSplineOrientation
Aligns each clone to the tangent of the spline for natural heading through curves.
Use Suspension
Adds spring like smoothing to vertical motion for vehicle style clones.
CenterOfMassOffset
Shifts perceived weight for stable motion or intentional tilt.
SetGroundRotation
Per clone in the spawn block
Workflow
Select the spline, set ActorClass, Amount, and Spacing.
Choose orientation, suspension, and ground alignment settings to match the scene.
Press UpdateActors to spawn or refresh.
Adjust TransformOffset for global tweaks, or edit items through Attached Actors Ref for targeted changes.
Typical use cases
Showroom rows:
evenly spaced products, vehicles, exhibits that share one motion profile.
Light and prop runs:
lineups along corridors, stages, or pavements.
Multi-camera rails:
Several cameras follow the same path at different offsets for quick alternative takes.
Crowd or convoy:
synchronized actors that inherit the same spline logic and physics smoothing.
Add Spline Point in Camera Position
Purpose: Adds a spline point at the exact position of the active viewport camera.
Use Case: Perfect for interactively plotting camera paths or movement routes while visually navigating the scene.
SquareSpread [ ]
Purpose: Evenly distributes selected objects into a square grid formation.
Use Case: Ideal for arranging exhibition assets, props, or architectural elements with consistent spacing.
SpreadActors --
Purpose: Evenly spaces selected actors along a line or axis.
Use Case: Useful for quickly aligning lights, furniture, or display items in straight lines.
Create Camera Rig
Purpose:
Automatically sets up a cinematic camera rig, complete with spline path and adjustable parameters.
Use Case:
Speeds up virtual production shots and presentation camera movements.
Fix Texture Pool Size
Purpose:
Adjusts Unreal Engine’s texture streaming pool size for the project.
Use Case:
Prevents low-resolution texture streaming issues in high-quality visualization scenes.
Hide Screen Messages
Purpose:
Disables on-screen debug messages during runtime.
Use Case:
Cleans up the viewport for client presentations or recording cinematic sequences.
Impact
Reduced repetitive manual tasks in Unreal Engine.
Enabled faster prototyping and iteration in complex real-time visualization projects.
Improved consistency in scene setups across multiple deliverables.
