Epic Games has published Automotive Substrate Materials as a free download on Fab. The pack is built entirely on Substrate and is positioned as a production-ready material foundation for automotive visualization, with the explicit goal of delivering consistent results across Lumen and Path Tracing workflows. In practical terms: it is a big, curated library meant to reduce the amount of time artists spend reinventing “car paint, but again” in every new project.

Compatibility is spelled out, too: the materials are compatible with Unreal Engine 5.7.3 and later. If your studio is still emotionally attached to an older engine branch, this pack is not going to negotiate with you.

What is inside the pack

Epic’s own breakdown is specific, which is always a good sign on a Monday (We prefer small words in the Mornings, and even smaller words and easy, short sentences on a Monday Morning.). Automotive Substrate Materials includes 280 automotive-focused materials covering common vehicle material types. It also includes 150 material setup assets and roughly 50 reusable material templates (Fab’s listing calls this 47 templates).

On top of the materials themselves, there are two maps meant to serve as reference and validation spaces: a “zoo-style” overview map organised by material type, plus a calibrated look-development map built for high-quality automotive rendering.

The pack is not just a dump of nodes and textures. Epic frames it as a ground-truth reference for game development as well, meaning you can use it as a baseline for physically plausible values and repeatable results, even if the end product is not a configurator shot of a hyper-polished BMW coupe turning slowly in a void, without any other cars, which is the preferred state of being for BMW drivers. Otherwise, I can’t explain their behaviour on the streets.

Why Substrate matters here

Substrate is Unreal Engine’s newer material framework, designed to support more modular and expressive material authoring than the older fixed shading model approach. In this pack, Epic leans on that flexibility to cover surface and layering behaviour that was described as difficult or impractical with previous material systems. The examples are the usual automotive suspects, but done with the kind of detail that tends to break “generic” shaders: multi-coat car paints (single-, dual-, and triple-coat), waxed leathers, and advanced translucent materials with renderer-specific behaviour. (Indicators, which is useless if you render BMWs, but useful for all other cars.)

Epic also calls out complex surface responses, including glints and coloured glints, thin-film interference, anisotropy, perforation with masking, plus controlled imperfections such as fingerprints and scratches. There are also production-friendly controls for colour (tint and HSV) and map-driven parameters such as roughness and specular, alongside flexible mapping options, including UV and triplanar workflows. That is a long list, but the short version is: the pack is built to survive close-ups and does not assume your camera will politely stay far away. And this time, we are avoiding the BMW-in-the-rearview-mirror-joke.

One detail that will matter for pipeline sanity is that Epic says the materials are built on a shared library of reusable material functions encapsulating common behaviours such as base colour handling, roughness and specular control, triplanar projection, imperfections, anisotropy, emissive behaviour, and perforation. That modular architecture is presented as a way to keep results consistent and reduce duplication, which is the unglamorous kind of promise that actually saves teams money. Money you could spend on a company car, like a BMW.

Measured data, Blueprint lookup, and the “trust me, it’s calibrated” problem

Epic states that material parameters are derived from lab experiments and real-world measurements, providing physically accurate defaults for automotive scenarios. For metals specifically, measured data is exposed through a Blueprint lookup tool intended to help teams select and compare metal presets while keeping values consistent across a project.

The calibration story continues on the environment side: Epic says the lighting in the look development map has been cross-checked using luminance and colour temperature meters, along with photogrammetry-based measurements, and calibrated for both Lumen and the Path Tracer. The stated intent is that you can use the map as a reproducible validation environment for automotive visualisation and game development.

This is the quiet subtext of the whole release: the pack is not only “free materials” but it is also Epic handing you a reference lab in project form. Your future self, debugging why a clear coat looks different between render modes, may send you a thank-you card. Or a passive-aggressive Jira ticket. And I’ve run out of BMW jokes.

Fab listing: Automotive Substrate Materials on Fab (Fab.com)

Additional Notes:

Uses standard texture samplers (Virtual Textures not enabled by default).

Substrate must be enabled with Adaptive GBuffer.

Separate materials provided where Lumen and Path Tracing differ.

Includes calibrated physical camera exposure based environment for validation.

Emissive values support physically accurate luminance (nits).

Decals suggest using Decal Actors.

The post 280 free automotive Substrate materials for UE 5.7 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has released the Ancient Temple Ruins asset pack as part of its time-limited free content on Fab. The pack includes 80 modular environment assets for creating ruined temple scenes and will remain free to download until 13 January 2026.

Created by Shapefarm Senior Environment Artist Rasmus Bagner, the set provides modular architecture (walls, roofs, floors), vegetation (trees, palms, rubber plants) and a range of small scatter props. The assets are built for Unreal Engine 5, making full use of Nanite virtualised geometry. All textures ship at up to 4096×4096px resolution.

Lumen lighting and engine flexibility

The included sample project demonstrates the assets within a Lumen lighting setup, featuring four predefined lighting environments. According to Epic, only the main tree asset includes LODs; all other models rely on Nanite for rendering efficiency. The pack is compatible with Unreal Engine 5.2 or newer.

Although designed for Unreal, the assets are released under the Fab Standard licence, which allows use in “any engine or tool”, including for commercial projects, as long as users comply with the Fab EULA.

Download and production notes

The Ancient Temple Ruins pack can be claimed from Fab’s listing page before the deadline. Once added to a user’s library, the assets remain available permanently. The models can be imported into other tools such as Blender, Maya, or 3ds Max through standard file export.

As with any new asset pack, we recommend testing performance and compatibility within active pipelines before using the models in production scenes. Seriously. Remember your New Year’s resolutions!

The post Epic drops 80 free temple assets on Fab first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

KitBash3D has released its DieselPunk environment kit—normally priced at US $245—for free download via Epic Games’ Fab marketplace. The offer runs until 18 November 2025. The kit targets artists building cinematic-quality, retro-futuristic environments in Unreal Engine 5, and is described by the studio as a “high-poly asset collection intended for use in cinematics within UE5.”

The DieselPunk kit channels Edwardian and interwar industrial design: cathedrals and palaces meet refineries and fuel stations. The architecture is “darkly beautiful,” filled with “greasy machinery, rugged materials, and industrial spires,” according to the official KitBash3D description.

Inside the kit

The package contains 316 unique actors built from 1,395 unique meshes, totalling approximately 17.8 million polygons. Mesh collision is enabled and automatically generated, but no LODs are included. There are 90 materials and 637 textures, all at 4K resolution. Texture and mesh quality clearly target cinematic or offline rendering rather than performance-constrained realtime scenes.

Formats provided include FBX and OBJ (on kitbash3d.com), and the Unreal build supports UE 4.26–4.27 and UE 5.0–5.4. Supported platforms are Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, and Xbox One. The DieselPunk release date for this update is 8 November 2025; distribution is via the Fab marketplace as an “Asset Package.”

World-building details

The kit’s scope covers both civic and industrial architecture. Included are hotels, palaces, distilleries, apartments, mansions, towers, oil derricks, fuel stations, factories, pubs, stores, trams, bridges, storage tanks, walkways and chimneys. KitBash3D describes it as ideal for “retrofuturistic dystopias or grungy post-modern noir,” designed to help artists “make cohesive fuel-powered worlds.”

Licensing and restrictions

The Fab release uses the Fab Standard Licence, which allows both personal and commercial use across engines and tools, within Fab’s terms.

By contrast, KitBash3D’s own “free asset” policy states that assets downloaded via its Cargo app are for personal use only, whereas kits obtained directly from kitbash3d.com can be used commercially. Because DieselPunk is distributed through Fab, users should confirm commercial rights under Fab’s EULA before production use.

Technical notes for production artists

The assets are high-poly, built for cinematic fidelity. Artists targeting realtime or VR projects should expect to retopologise or create custom LODs. The automatic collision setup is adequate for blockouts, but may require manual refinement for gameplay environments.

Since materials are 4K, expect heavy texture memory use; production teams should test streaming and compression settings within Unreal Engine.

Why it matters

For concept, film, and cinematic environment work, this kit provides a time-saving foundation of consistent industrial architecture. The cohesive design language can accelerate set-dressing, look-dev and lighting passes for any diesel-era or noir-futuristic aesthetic.

Reminder

As always, test all assets in your pipeline before relying on them in production. Confirm file format compatibility, check materials and UVs, and validate licence terms before commercial deployment.

The post KitBash3D’s “DieselPunk” kit free till 18 Nov – retro-futurism ahoy! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Unreal Engine educator and plug-in creator William Faucher has launched EasyToolbag, a new in-engine menu for Unreal Engine 5 designed to simplify repetitive scene setup tasks. The add-on, compatible with versions 5.1 through 5.6, appears as a toolbar icon in the editor and provides one-click access to common scene components and viewport controls.

The tool is organised into three main panels: Create, Viewport Helpers, and EasySuite.

Click Once, Get a Scene

Under Create, EasyToolbag automates tasks that typically require multiple steps. Artists can spawn a Post-Process Volume with sensible defaults—unbound, manual exposure, and lens flares off. Other buttons generate a Level Sequence and CineCamera, create a complete Sky System (directional light, skylight, sky atmosphere, and fog included), or drop a ready-made Lighting Reference Sphere blueprint into the scene.

The latter contains four spheres—black, 18% grey, white, and chrome—standard references for lighting calibration. Layout options let users switch between vertical and horizontal placement directly in-engine.

Viewport Helpers: Smarter Screens

The Viewport Helpers section addresses real-time performance tuning. The Cap FPS toggle limits frame rate to reduce GPU load and heat. Screen Percentage and Exposure Compensation (EV) controls provide quick viewport adjustments, while a Viewport UI Type switch lets users revert to the pre-5.6 layout if the new interface feels unfamiliar. Anti-aliasing methods can be toggled directly from the same menu.

According to the official documentation, these tools aim to “improve viewport performance, reduce GPU temperatures, and improve visual quality”—a practical focus, though exact performance gains were not independently verified at press time.

EasySuite Integration

EasyToolbag also connects with Faucher’s other plug-ins sold on Fab: EasyFog, EasyRain, EasyAtmos, and EasySnow. When these are installed, EasyToolbag adds dedicated buttons for each, spawning their blueprints directly in front of the camera rather than hunting through the Content Browser. EasySnow includes both cinematic and real-time blueprints selectable from the same menu. A community Discord server supports the full “EasySuite,” offering peer assistance for installation and troubleshooting.

Under the Hood

EasyToolbag ships as a Blueprint-only add-on, with no C++ classes required. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and supports the standard Unreal Engine target platforms, including Win32. The tool is distributed through Fab, with documentation available via bit.ly/EasyToolbagDocumentation.

The pricing is exceeedingly reasonable, with a professional License going for 80€ on Fab.com As always, test new utilities in a controlled environment before integrating them into production workflows.

The post One Toolbag to Rule Your Clicks first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

DocHardGames has released UE Organizer, a desktop utility built for Unreal Engine 5 users who are drowning in Epic Games Vault assets. The tool’s free version lets artists and developers browse, tag, and preview their locally stored Vault items. A Pro subscription, priced at $5 per month, unlocks direct engine integration, dependency resolution, one-click import into Unreal, and a plugin that links the tool live to the Unreal Editor.

The program addresses a long-standing workflow gap: Epic’s launcher downloads content efficiently but provides little control over what’s inside your Vault or where those assets go next. UE Organizer shifts that process to a local database under your control. All data stays on your own system—no cloud storage, telemetry, or external sync.

What you get for free

The free edition provides everything needed to browse and organise Unreal Vault assets outside the engine. You can view asset thumbnails, search by name or type, and create your own metadata tags to categorise models, materials, and environments. The software allows you to filter assets by tag or type, apply bulk tags, and preview items before import. It supports Unreal Engine versions 5.0 to 5.4, runs on Windows, and stores all metadata locally.

For artists maintaining large personal libraries, this alone can turn the Vault from a blind folder hierarchy into a searchable library. You still have to import assets manually into your Unreal projects, but finding the right item becomes far less painful.

When you pay the $5

Subscribing to UE Organizer Pro adds the features that make it feel truly connected to Unreal. The Pro plugin hooks directly into the Unreal Editor, allowing one-click import of any Vault asset. During import, the tool automatically resolves dependencies, ensuring linked materials and textures come along for the ride.

The Pro version also adds real-time synchronisation between UE Organizer and open Unreal projects. Any changes made in one environment reflect in the other. Bulk tagging becomes faster, and the tool supports metadata propagation between the Vault and project folders.

Perhaps the most intriguing addition for us lazy people is AI-based part tagging, powered by OpenAI’s vision model. The software analyses asset previews and suggests descriptive tags automatically. It can also scrape tags from the Unreal Marketplace, importing existing metadata into your local library. These AI features are currently listed as part of the Pro subscription, with no data leaving the local environment beyond API calls necessary for tag generation.

Practical limits and production caution

Even with the Pro version, UE Organizer does not manage versioning or project-wide dependency audits. If you import the same asset into multiple projects, each copy remains distinct. The developer does not promise conflict detection, nor does it handle team-wide asset databases.

Also, while AI tagging is clever, it depends on both image clarity and consistent naming. Metadata imported from Marketplace listings might include vendor-supplied keywords that don’t always match your studio taxonomy. As with any automatic classification system, manual review is recommended before final archiving. In short: it’s a powerful librarian, not a pipeline engineer. Teams should test the plugin in controlled conditions before adopting it in production, especially when dependencies or engine versions diverge.

Small tool, big relief

The elegance of UE Organizer lies in its narrow focus. It doesn’t try to be Perforce, nor does it need a server backend. For solo developers, content creators, or small studios balancing multiple Unreal projects, a five-dollar subscription may be a reasonable price for sanity. The free version already adds serious usability to Epic’s Vault ecosystem; the Pro edition finishes the bridge into Unreal itself.

Watch the introduction videos here

And for those who have spent evenings scrolling through hundreds of downloaded assets from the Fab.com marketplace, take comfort: after years of collecting “free for a limited time” materials, you can finally sort them. Because if your workstation is anything like ours, that Vault folder stopped being organised somewhere around Unreal 5.1.

Reminder: Always test new workflow tools on non-critical projects before integrating them into production.

The post UE Organizer: Taming the Unreal Vault Jungle first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has made another large-scale Unreal Engine environment available for free download. The Abandoned Cathedral pack by creator RagTarock is part of this month’s free content on Fab, Epic’s online marketplace for 3D assets. It remains free until 21 October 2025.

The set includes 210 modular meshes designed to build a derelict cathedral and its surroundings, with support for Unreal Engine 5.3 and newer. The collection is targeted at real-time artists developing games, cinematic sequences, or VFX environments.

Over 200 Assets, All Modular

The Abandoned Cathedral Environment comprises over 170 unique meshes covering architectural components, interior furniture, and exterior vegetation. Every model is optimised for game use, with collision data generated automatically. According to the Fab listing, the assets are game-ready, high-quality, and built with a focus on detail. They ship with a finished demo map, pre-lit using Lumen, Unreal Engine’s real-time global illumination system.

Technical Breakdown

The pack features five master materials and 79 material instances, along with 249 textures at a maximum resolution of 4,096 x 4,096 pixels. Poly count ranges from 8 to 3,370,000 triangles, depending on the asset. No Level of Detail (LOD) models are included. The asset supports both Nanite and Lumen, Epic’s real-time geometry and lighting systems. Lumen is enabled by default. The pack runs on Windows and is compatible with Unreal Engine versions 5.3 through 5.6. Distribution is via Fab as a standard asset package, last updated on 23 September 2025.

Licensing and Compatibility

As stated under the Fab Standard License, users may integrate the assets into any engine or tool, including commercial projects, within the restrictions outlined in the Fab EULA. The Abandoned Cathedral pack will revert to paid status after 21 October 2025, at which point the free offer expires.

Practical Note

Production teams should test the materials, Nanite settings, and Lumen performance in their own pipeline before deployment. Bous points, if you mash this Asset collection with the Washington DC collection from last week into a postapocalyptic game.

The post Free 3D Cathedral Kit Lands on Fab first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Another month, another pile of free stuff from Epic’s Fab marketplace, and this one’s for everyone who’s never set foot on a real construction site (which, let’s face it, probably covers 98 percent of us in VFX and game production). Environment artist Marcos Frazao, better known as Brasileirisses, has released a bundle of 120 free 3D construction-site assets, available until 4 November 2025.

The pack includes everything you need to turn your shiny Unreal level into a dusty work-in-progress: pipes, girders, bricks, breeze blocks, foundations, pillars, and all those half-finished walls that make your scene look appropriately unsafe. There are also generators, skips, and portable toilets — so, everything a proper building site requires, minus the coffee truck.

The release includes five pre-built actor components, three wall setups, and a set of decals for adding that authentic layer of grime, tape, and warning signage. There’s even an asset-showcase map, because no collection of industrial debris is complete without a guided tour. A materials variation system lets you swap finishes and tones, so your scaffolding can look either freshly delivered or appropriately neglected.

Under the hood, the numbers tell a story of genuine production quality. The pack ships with 246 unique meshes, each with custom or automatically generated collision geometry, and vertex counts ranging from 44 to 115,544 tris. There are three LODs per non-Nanite mesh, and for the rest, Nanite handles the heavy lifting. A total of 11 base materials, 169 material instances, and 590 textures in resolutions from 512 to 4,096 pixels cover every surface from rusty metal to concrete dust.

The assets are designed for Unreal Engine 5.3 to 5.6 and run on both Windows and Mac. They’re mid- to high-poly models suitable for visualization and games, and they include blank template textures if you want to roll your own material library. If you notice any weird black splotches, the documentation even offers a fix: open the console and type r.Raytracing.Shadows.EnableTwoSidedGeometry 0. (Because sometimes, realism in lighting just goes a little too far.)

All example scenes are built with Nanite-enabled meshes stored neatly inside the “Nanite” folder, so you won’t have to dig through the rubble to find them. The assets are distributed as a standard Fab Asset Package under the Fab Standard License, which means you can use them in any engine or DCC tool like Unreal, Unity, Blender, Omniverse, as long as you respect the no-redistribution clause.

And for anyone reluctant to download gigabytes of rebar and rubble into their project browser: there’s a free playable demo (11 GB via Google Drive) where you can stroll through the digital construction zone before committing.

So if you chose a career in VFX precisely because you didn’t want to spend your days in steel-toed boots surrounded by dust and concrete mixers — here’s your chance to change your mind. Digitally. No hard hats required.

The post No hard hats mandatory: 120 Free Construction-Site Props for Unreal & Beyond first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Studios, Exhibition, and Light

Before FAB 2025 officially kicks off on September 26, Berliners can get insights into the local animation scene with a  bus tour of Berlin animation studios on Thursday, 25 September, from 12:00 to 18:00. Participants visit four local studios, meet artists at work, and share conversations over drinks and snacks. In parallel, artist Maya Yonesho launches Daumenreise #48: Berlin from 15:30 to 19:00 in Kleines Kino at silent green Kulturquartier. Participants draw flipbook sequences inspired by favourite Berlin locations and assemble them into a collaborative animation. The evening opens with the vernissage of FAB Dimensional at 19:00 in Betonhalle, silent green. This fifth edition exhibits animation beyond traditional screens. At 20:30 in Betonhalle, Maxime Lethelier and Asako Fujimoto perform Floating Levels, a live mix of animated laser projection and music.

Berlin Animation Hub – Professional Exchange

Since 2023, the Berlin Animation Hub has been FAB’s dedicated professional programme. In 2025 it returns with a dense schedule of masterclasses, workshops, pitching sessions, and networking events.

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Why This Matters for DP Readers

The Berlin Animation Hub offers rare technical deep dives in a festival setting. For production artists, it means direct access to the workflows of internationally recognised directors: from stop-motion material exploration with Yashiro to Yamamura’s study of sound-image interplay. The workshops bridge analogue craft and digital pipelines, making them directly relevant for animators, compositors, and TDs.

For studios, the Hub is a testing ground for new methods and a chance to hear how colleagues approach specific challenges—whether anime-style 2D pipelines, life-sized charcoal animation, or mobile stop-motion rigs. Unlike trade fairs, the Hub’s scale allows actual exchange: participants can ask questions, show reels, and discuss solutions with the experts themselves.

For DP readers, the Berlin Animation Hub offers what is usually missing at major film festivals: hands-on technical insight and business networking in one place. Events such as the Elevator Pitches, the FAB Pitch, and specialist brunches (including the Panimation Brunch and AG Animationsfilm Get-together) are explicitly aimed at connecting artists, studios, and commissioners. For anyone working in VFX, CGI, or postproduction pipelines, this is the rare Berlin event where artistic experimentation, production technique, and international co-production opportunities meet under one roof.

The Festival!

26 September: Workshops and German Competition

Friday starts with “Animation im Ohr!”, a workshop on audio description for animation, from 09:30 to 14:00 in Atelier 1 at silent green. Together with facilitators, participants create an accessible version of the animated short Jeijay.

At 10:30, children and young audiences get their share: Pink Panda I: Primary School screens at City Kino Wedding, while Pink Panda II: Teens runs in the Kino at silent green.

Later, Neue Talente I screens at 17:00 in City Kino Wedding, presenting student shorts from international film schools.

The official festival opening begins at 19:00 in City Kino Wedding with the Deutscher Animationsfilm competition. The Animanga Choir performs anime music before screenings of German shorts. A champagne reception follows.

27 September: Japan in the Spotlight

Saturday’s schedule extends FAB’s Japanese focus. Daumenreise #48 continues from 14:30 to 20:00 in Atelier 1 at silent green, allowing participants to contribute drawings to Yonesho’s Berlin project.

In the evening, Floating Levels returns for a second performance at 20:30 in Betonhalle. Meanwhile, Japanese directors Lina Machida, Takeshi Yashiro, and Kōji Yamamura host screenings, workshops, and talks (exact slots listed in FAB’s printed catalogue), ranging from stop-motion material explorations to sound-image experiments.

International short films, curated Japanese programmes, and a “best-of” screening by the visiting Factual Animation Film Festival (FAFF) round out the day.

28 September: Hands-on Finale

Sunday closes FAB with a participatory focus. From 13:00 to 16:00 in the Porter’s Room at silent green, Stefan Schomerus’ Mini-Mitmach-Trickfilmstudio invites families and children to build their own stop-motion animations.

Additional Pink Panda screenings return for preschool audiences, while the International and Feature Film Competitions run through the day at City Kino Wedding.

The festival concludes with an award ceremony on 28 September in City Kino Wedding, honouring winners across six categories, including International, German, Commissioned, New Talent, Pink Panda, and Feature Film.

The post Berlin Animates: FAB 2025 Full Daily Programme first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has released a new Sports Broadcast | Motion Design Sample, available free on the Fab marketplace. Built in collaboration with Capacity Studios, the package provides broadcast artists with a complete set of sports graphics assets designed entirely with Unreal Engine’s Motion Design toolset.

The release is positioned as both a practical starter kit and a guided showcase of Motion Design workflows inside Unreal Engine.

What’s in the Box

Epic lists more than 40 animated, rigged, and pre-designed elements. These include templates for scoreboards, player line-ups, match statistics, and other staples of sports broadcasting. All are fully rigged and built to demonstrate reusable setups rather than complex, one-off solutions.

According to Epic, the assets avoid heavy reliance on Blueprints or advanced scripting. The stated goal is to keep the learning curve low (relativly speaking of course. We are still comple neophytes in that thing!) and highlight the Motion Design system itself.

Motion Design Features in Action

The sample makes use of a wide range of Motion Design features now embedded in Unreal Engine’s core. Epic lists:

• Transition Logic
• Rundown
• Cloners and Effectors
• Remote Control
• Material Designer
• Masking
• Animators and Modifiers
• Motion Design’s Custom Outliner

Each of these features is applied in context, so broadcast artists can see real-world usage rather than abstract demos.

Engine Version and Update Path

This initial release is built in Unreal Engine 5.6.1. Epic has confirmed a Unreal Engine 5.7 version is planned. That update will incorporate functionality and refinements developed as a result of building this sample. No release date for the 5.7 version was given.

Teaching by Example

The package is not only about graphics delivery but also functions as a structured tutorial. Because it sticks to core Motion Design features, it offers an accessible entry point for those new to Unreal’s procedural motion workflows. Artists can dissect and repurpose the included rigs without first needing extensive Blueprint experience.

Epic describes the sample as a way to “jumpstart” projects. The implication is that the company continues to court not just game developers and VFX teams, but also broadcast graphics departments.

A Reminder for Production Use

As always, new samples and assets should be tested carefully in actual production environments before deployment. Stability, integration into existing broadcast pipelines, and rendering performance under real-world conditions were not independently verified at press time.

The post Ready-Made Hype: Epic Ships Free Sports Broadcast Motion Design Sample first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has released MetaHuman for Houdini, a free collection of Houdini Digital Assets (HDAs) designed to streamline MetaHuman workflows inside SideFX Houdini. The add‑on allows artists to assemble a rigged, textured MetaHuman character using the MetaHuman Character Rig HDA, provided the character is exported from Unreal Engine via the DCC Export pipeline. The result: a ready‑to‑animate model within Houdini.

The package supports procedural hairstyling directly on MetaHuman head geometry—artists can craft complex hairstyles such as ponytails, knots, buns, braids, and donuts by leveraging Houdini’s procedural toolset.

Strand-Based Grooming and Unreal Export via Alembic

The add‑on includes tools for grooming within Houdini using strand-based workflows, designed to be MetaHuman‑compatible. Once styled, these grooms can be exported via the Alembic (.abc) format for use in Unreal Engine. The integration offers a structured procedural workflow to create and export hair grooms without leaving Houdini.

Availability, Installation, and Metadata

The tool is free and available through Epic’s Fab marketplace. The listing includes essential metadata such as “Not Mature” age rating, and indicates promotional content. It clarifies that AI use is not allowed, and that the content was not generated via AI.

Installation instructions and technical details are available in accompanying documentation on Fab, though specific versions of Houdini supported are not detailed in that listing.

What This Means for Production Pipelines

For compositors, riggers, grooming artists, animators, and technical directors, MetaHuman for Houdini offers a notable reduction in software round‑trips. The combination of fully rigged rigs, procedural hair workflows, and lockdown export to Unreal Engine via Alembic streamlines digital‑human workflows.

That said, production teams should test thoroughly in their own environments to confirm compatibility and performance before adopting the tool in live pipelines. This applies especially to aspects like grooming fidelity, export integrity, and automation reliability—none of which are independently verified at this time.

The post MetaHuman Meets Houdini first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Cleaning out the junk in the cellar or the back room of the studio has never been easier—at least digitally. Epic Games is giving away ScansMatter’s Warehouse Environment asset pack via the Fab marketplace until 26 August 2025.

The ScansMatter Warehouse contains 165 modular, production-quality 3D assets ranging from full building structures and racking systems to pallets, crates, drums, forklifts and hand carts. No idea if you can certify on that forklift, but … that’s a different topic. Designed for high-end game, cinematic, and VFX workflows, all assets are fully optimised for Unreal Engine 5.1+ with Nanite geometry streaming and Lumen lighting. Textures are physically-based (PBR) at up to 4096×4096px resolution.

The Fab Standard licence allows use in “any engine or tool”, including commercial projects, though users must still comply with Fab’s EULA.

About the maker

ScansMatter is a specialised 3D-asset provider and outsourcing studio, delivering premium modular environments, props, materials, and complete 3D scenes. Its work is aimed at real-time games, cinematics, advertising, architectural visualisation, and other content-driven industries.

The Fab listing for this Warehouse Environment highlights additional features: an advanced master material system with controls for surface variation, dust, and roughness; blueprint-based lighting; a fully playable demo scene; ray-traced plastic materials (toggleable); and full fallback support for non-Nanite or non-Lumen projects. Assets are modular, enabling flexible assembly through blueprints, and performance is documented, on an RTX 3090 the demo scene runs at roughly 40–50 fps. The package includes documentation and direct support via ScansMatter’s Discord server.

Why production artists might care

For environment artists, art directors, or anyone tasked with building an industrial backdrop in a hurry, the pack offers a ready-to-use, consistent set of assets that can be dropped straight into a scene or tweaked for custom layouts. The Nanite and Lumen setup ensures fidelity for both real-time and cinematic work, while the inclusion of blueprint-based lighting and modular building components makes scene iteration straightforward.

Performance optimisation and fallback compatibility mean the pack can slot into a range of hardware setups without excessive pipeline changes. The offer’s time-limit—free only until 26 August 2025—gives teams a short window to grab it before it returns to its standard Fab price.

A reminder before you roll in the forklifts

As with any third-party resource, review the Fab Standard licence carefully before deploying in production. Test assets thoroughly in your target pipeline to verify performance, compatibility, and visual match before committing them to a live project.

The post Cleaning out the studio back room? The ScansMatter warehouse kit might help first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games’ Fab marketplace has rolled out a historically inspired treat for Unreal Engine users. The Traditional Chinese-Style Park asset pack, designed by Chen Jian, delivers 205 modular meshes for assembling rural Chinese architecture. Available free until August 12, 2025, this pack equips you to build everything from pagoda temples to riverside viewing decks. If your production has ever needed a Ming-era makeover, now is the time.

Every Module You’d Expect (and Some You Wouldn’t)

The pack’s modular pieces include doors, windows, railings, columns, Dougong bracket sets, and Que ti corbels. Full structures can be assembled using these modules to create temples, shrines, tombs, bridges, and classic waterside platforms. Rock formations and farmland props round out the environment, and, because every ancient village needs a spot of melancholy, two weeping willows are included. Also on the list: a ceremonial fish shrine and a decorative bridge.

Not Just Static—Dynamic Niagara FX Included

Version 2.0 brings dynamic visual upgrades. The scene includes a schooling fish system, rain effects, and volumetric fog, all built with Niagara for real-time flexibility. For full function, you’ll need the HDRIBackdrop and Niagara Fluids plugins enabled in Unreal Engine.

Ultra-High Textures, Nanite-Ready Meshes

All assets require Unreal Engine 5.3 or newer. Each mesh is built for Nanite, which means you get millions of vertices and no LODs to wrangle. Texture maps clock in at up to 8K resolution. For studios on older versions, Nanite can be toggled off (but expect some potential compatibility workarounds).

What’s Actually Included? Here’s the Roster

• Modular building blocks: doors, windows, railings, columns, Dougong brackets, Que ti corbels
• Fully constructed scene assets: temples, bridges, viewing platforms, tomb, ceremonial shrine, farmland, rock pieces, two weeping willows
• Dynamic scene FX: schooling fish (Niagara), rain, volumetric fog

One caveat: any Quixel assets pictured in promo shots are not part of the download. Only the bespoke Chen Jian pieces are included.

Licensing and Availability

The kit is distributed under Fab’s Standard License, which allows commercial use in any engine or tool, as long as you follow Fab’s EULA. Download is free until August 12, 2025. After that, pricing is at the mercy of market forces or Epic’s next PR push.

Fact Check: Test Before You Render

As with any marketplace asset, users should rigorously test in production pipelines before adopting in client work. No vendor will take responsibility for missed deadlines caused by bracket-misalignment or errant willows.

The post Free UE5 Pack: 200+ Ways to Build Your Own Dynasty (In Unreal) first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Anderson Rohr, known for ultra‑realistic photogrammetry assets, has gifted the Unreal Engine community a free pack of 17 scanned meshes via Fab Marketplace. Compatible with Unreal Engine 5.0–5.6, the pack includes high‑resolution textures (4K–8K) and fully functional Blueprints.

A Feast of Meshes

The pack comprises a diverse set of assets: food, decor, plants, rocks, and wood. Among the highlights are two food items—bread and chocolate panettone—alongside plant vases, ceramic figures, rocks, wood logs, crochet cacti, and more.

Texture and Material Power

Rohr has included 34 textures (Base Color, Normal, etc.) with ultra‑high resolution and material instances allowing artists to quickly adjust contrast, roughness, and specular values. The Blueprints also enable swapping of mesh tops and bottoms—such as switching between bread, rock, or wood tops.

Nanite-Enabled with No LODs

Each mesh is optimized for UE5’s Nanite technology. The pack requires no traditional LODs, thanks to Nanite’s handling of micro‑geometry. Small‑scale scene testing on moderate hardware proves viable, though users are advised to monitor GPU performance on heavier scenes Epic Developer Community Forums.

Community Gesture

Anderson Rohr releases these assets as a gesture of appreciation to the community. The pack is free, accessible on Fab.

Production Use Advice

UE artists looking to drop high‑detail scanned props into cinematic sequences, real‑time scenes, VFX setups or product visualizations can benefit from this pack. Test performance per mesh, especially with Nanite enabled; disable Nanite on problematic assets if necessary.

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Testing Reminder: Always prototype assets in your build and verify GPU performance before use in production environments.

The post Photogrammetry Parlor: Free 17-Mesh UE5 Asset Pack first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has published a limited‑time freebie on its Fab marketplace: George Shachnev’s Flying Fantasy Town asset pack, a modular kit comprising 358 meshes for constructing stylised medieval or fantasy floating‑island towns. The pack covers both macro and micro design elements: modular buildings, floating islands, environment props such as barrels, carts, benches, crates, cooking pots, trees, and plants. All assets include LODs and high‑resolution textures up to 4096 × 4096px, to suit production requirements in Unreal Engine 4.27+ and 5.0+.

Licensing and Compatibility

The assets are distributed under the Fab Standard license, which permits integration into any engine or tool—including Unreal Engine or third‑party pipelines—for both personal and commercial use, subject to the Fab End‑User Licence Agreement.

Timing for Downloads

This kit is available free until 15 July 2025. After that, it reverts to commercial pricing on Fab. Artists working on games, realtime scenes, fly‑throughs or VFX environments might find this a practical plug‑and‑play resource, pending evaluation against existing art direction and texture pipeline standards.

Testing Required

Despite being production‑quality, assets like these should be reviewed within one’s own toolchain. Artists must validate mesh topology, texture fidelity, and LOD transitions within their CAVEs, VFX compositing scenes, or game engines before deployment.

All assets are directly downloadable from Epic’s Fab marketplace until July 15, 2025. Thorough toolchain testing is advised before using in active production pipelines.

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The post Unreal Engine Freebie: 350‑Piece Flying Fantasy Town Kit first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

After four years in the waiting room, Epic’s MetaHuman framework has dropped the “early access” tag and now ships directly inside Unreal Engine 5.6. Creator, Animator and Mesh to MetaHuman sit side by side in the engine, share one asset library, and even expose C++ source for studios that enjoy tinkering under the hood. Cloud services still shoulder autorigging and texture synthesis, so a decent broadband line remains your silent teammate.

Licensing – Free(ish) Love, But Read the Small Print

The toolkit now obeys the standard Unreal Engine EULA: under-$1 million outfits keep every cent, bigger studios need an $1,850 per-seat annual licence, and no 5 % revenue cut applies when you export characters to other engines. You may animate characters with AI, but feeding MetaHumans back into training data is off-limits – the digital doubles like their privacy.

Unity and Godot Get a Piece of the Pie

Thanks to the new licence, finished characters count as “non-engine products”, so they slip into Unity or Godot builds without Epic’s tollbooth ever noticing. For teams juggling multiple engines, that ends the engine-lock headache.

Bodies by Numbers – From Ankles to Ape-Index

Face sliders were yesterday’s party trick. A fresh parametric body system now unlocks height, chest, waist and leg length controls, driven by real-world scan data. Tailoring keeps pace: the new Outfit Asset fuses garments and accessories into one file and auto-resizes them to whichever superhero physique you dial in. Mesh-based clothes built in external DCCs slot straight in, turning wardrobe malfunctions into ancient history.

Animator Swaps Helmet-Cams for Webcams – And Even Hears You

MetaHuman Animator no longer insists on stereo HMC footage or iPhones. A humble webcam or Android handset plugged through LiveLink delivers real-time facial capture, while an audio-only option lipsyncs from a WAV and guesses emotional nuance in one pass. Manual keyframes stay available when the algorithm puts a grin on a funeral speech.

Live from space… Blu is Cory? Cory is Blu? MetaHuman Animator makes it all possible…in real time! But whatever you do – don’t let Blu do his standup.

Want to know what else is out of this world? MetaHumans are being added to the Unreal Engine License. You can use MetaHumans… pic.twitter.com/T7Rc0UB4nl

— Unreal Engine (@UnrealEngine) June 3, 2025

Maya & Houdini Plug-Ins – Grooming Without the Grass-Fire

The free MetaHuman for Maya and MetaHuman for Houdini plug-ins expose meshes to native sculpt tools, let artists grow XGen or Houdini grooms, and export them as Alembic – sample starter kits included for quick follicle testing. Compatibility: Maya 2022-2025 and Houdini 20.5 with SideFX Labs.

Retail Therapy – Fab Marketplace Opens Its Doors

Characters, clothing and animations now qualify as saleable goods on Fab – Epic’s merged asset store – letting creators monetise every eyebrow and bootlace. Revenue share remains an asset-friendly 88 %, and the licence explicitly allows commercial resale.

System Specs and Reality Checks

The Unreal Editor runs on Windows 10+, macOS 14 and Rocky Linux 8, while Animator’s mono-camera route values frame-rate over exotic hardware. Before dropping MetaHumans into a live show, production artists should test local-cloud latency, verify seat-licence thresholds, and confirm Unity or Godot export paths in their current pipeline – stability beats novelty every day.

Final Frame – Digital Extras With a Side Hustle

MetaHuman’s graduation delivers one-stop character authoring, cross-engine freedom, and a built-in revenue plan. Tools remain free for indies, licensable for the big dogs, and cautious for AI. Whether you plan to dress a sci-fi epic or sell space-pirate beards on Fab, remember: verify latency, check version compatibility, and only trust new tech after a blunt in-house shakedown. Your digital actors – and your schedule – will thank you.

Get Meta Human here

The post MetaHumans Graduate: Ready for Unity, Godot, and the Fab Cash Register first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has released a free modular 3D environment pack on its Fab marketplace, aimed at users of Unreal Engine. The set contains 50 assets, all themed around a generic urban back alley. Think static meshes like trash bags, dumpsters, brick walls, aircon units, busted pallets, pipes, fences, street signs, and all the cable clutter needed to make your real-time backlot look less staged.

The pack is free to download and use in both personal and commercial projects. And yes, you can use it outside of Unreal Engine too – as long as you’re okay downloading the FBX versions manually.

Technical Details: No Nanite or Lumen Required

Unlike some asset drops, this one doesn’t lean on Unreal Engine’s newer features like Nanite or Lumen. That means the models can be used in older or lighter-weight projects. All 50 assets are static meshes – no rigging, no animation.

Textures are provided in 2K resolution, and come in standard PBR (physically based rendering) format. That covers base color, roughness, normal, and ambient occlusion maps. There’s no mention of displacement or metalness, so don’t expect hero shaders.

Each model is available in both FBX and native Unreal Engine format. If you download through the Fab plugin in Unreal Engine 5.4 or higher, it’s a straight shot into your project. If you’re still hand-loading files like it’s 2015, the FBX versions are right there in the listing.

Licensing: Free Means Free

According to the Fab listing, these assets are released under Epic’s standard End User License Agreement. That allows use in commercial and personal projects, including mods and educational work. Redistribution as a competing product is not allowed – you can use it, not resell it. No price to mention, because it’s free. Fab accounts are free, too, though registration is required.

Final Word: Junkyard-Tested, Production-Ready?

These assets are as production-friendly as they get – assuming you’re aiming for stylized grime, not photogrammetry-level fidelity. With 2K textures and basic static meshes, they’re well-suited for pre-viz, background dressing, or any realtime project that doesn’t demand Pixar-grade assets. As always, test in your current pipeline before deploying them in active productions. No one wants to debug UVs mid-delivery.

The post Free Fab? Epic’s Giving Away a Back Alley first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has made its Project Titan Unreal Engine project available as a free download. Developed during one of the largest collaborative game jams to date, the project offers a vast 8km x 8km open-world environment alongside unique tools, assets, and training materials.

A Massive Collaborative Effort

From March 28 to June 7, 2024, over 1,400 participants contributed to Project Titan, producing more than 10,000 meshes, 200 skeletal meshes, 5,000 materials, and 180 Niagara particle systems. The result is a sprawling open-world landscape, now optimized for platforms ranging from mobile devices to high-end PCs.

Learning Unreal Engine 5 Technologies

The project serves as a learning resource for Unreal Engine 5’s cutting-edge technologies, including Nanite for virtualized geometry, Landmass for terrain manipulation, and Mover for character handling. Alongside these, the release includes custom plugins and tools developed during the jam.

Epic emphasizes that the project is not a showcase of “best practices” but a practical example for exploring world-building with Unreal Engine 5.5+. Training videos, mini-tutorials, and critiques by game industry professionals accompany the download, providing valuable insights for developers.

Licensing and Availability

Project Titan is available under Fab’s Standard license, allowing commercial use of its assets. Developers can download the project for free and start exploring the extensive resources it offers. For more details, visit Epic Games’ blog and download the project from Fab Marketplace.

The post UE Project Titan: Open-World Learning Resource first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Epic Games has launched Fab, a content marketplace targeting 3D asset creation for VFX, post-production, and game development. The platform allows users to access and sell assets designed for real-time engines, promising cross-platform compatibility and a simplified purchasing model. With assets spanning multiple disciplines, Fab merges features from previous Epic marketplaces, creating a central hub for everything from 3D models to sound packs.

Fab provides content compatible with multiple game engines and offers a diverse range of asset types, licensing options, and more. Users can browse an extensive content library filled with top-quality 3D assets, VFX, and environments. The platform’s “Channels” help users find content compatible with Unreal Engine, UEFN, and Unity. Additionally, users can choose licenses that best fit their project needs and make informed purchasing decisions using Fab‘s next-gen real-time 3D viewer. There’s also an age rating system, allowing creators to find assets suited to their audience’s requirements.

When Fab was unveiled / introduced, it was revealed that Quixel Megascans will no longer be available for free starting in 2025. In response, Jamie Phan created a script allowing users to save all Quixel assets to their account before the end of 2024. Epic later announced an official tool for downloading the entire free Megascans library, with over 17,000 assets, directly from Fab. According to Epic, any Megascans claimed on Fab before the transition will remain in users’ accounts, even after they become paid assets.

At launch, users will find Fab integrated with Unreal Engine, providing seamless integration for Unreal Artists. However, the platform also supports other engines like Unity, making it a versatile option for diverse pipelines. While Fab is positioned as a one-stop-shop for asset needs, it’s clear that the system is still finding its feet. Artists should expect tweaks and improvements in the coming months, as the marketplace evolves based on feedback from early users.

Epic highlights the easy-to-navigate interface as one of Fab‘s strengths, but real-world application will reveal if it holds up under the pressure of production schedules. Documentation for Fab is available on the Epic Games site, where users can dive into technical details and compatibility notes.

In short: Fab is live, promising to centralize asset acquisition, but it’s still a work in progress. If you’re excited about new tools, jump in; if you’re cautious, maybe wait for the dust to settle.

The post Fab Marketplace by Epic Games first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.