Demo guide

See it work, then try it yourself.

Twelve short chapters from the demo, each with Blender on the left and the Unreal Editor on the right. Under every clip: what you are seeing, and the steps to do it in your own level.

Before you start

Set up once, in five minutes.

Install in Unreal

  1. Copy BlenderLiveLink and BlenderLiveLinkFoliage into <YourProject>/Plugins/.
  2. Start the editor. The plugin switches on the engine plugins it needs; restart if it asks.
  3. The link starts by itself. Tools → Blender Live Link has Start, Stop and Print Status.

Install in Blender

  1. Edit → Preferences → Get Extensions, then the ▾ menu → Install from Disk…
  2. Pick the add-on's zip.
  3. In the 3D View press N and open the Unreal Link tab, or click Unreal in the top bar.

Connect & activate

  1. Open your level in Unreal.
  2. In Blender click Connect to Unreal.
  3. Open Setup → License, paste your key and click OK. The card says Activated and the level starts mirroring.
01

Connect

Live level mirrorBoth apps as one
Blender connects to Unreal and the same level, trees and all, appears in both apps.

In the demo

Blender connects to the level that is open in Unreal, and the same world appears in both apps at the same transforms: the ground, the trees, the props. Unreal's toolbar shows that Blender is linked. When a .blend already holds this level, a card first asks which side wins, so nothing is overwritten by surprise.

Try it

  1. Open your level in Unreal.
  2. In Blender, N → Unreal Link → Connect to Unreal.
  3. The level arrives in the collection Unreal: <Level>; Outliner folders become child collections.
  4. Meshes show as boxes first, then the real mesh and textures.
02

Move things

Live level mirrorBoth apps as one
A chest is lifted, spun and scaled in Blender and moves the same way in Unreal.

In the demo

Selecting the chest highlights it in both apps. Lift it, spin it and scale it in Blender, and the actor in Unreal moves while you drag, not after. Push it in Unreal and Blender follows. Show in Unreal and Show in Blender jump straight to the selection in the other app.

Try it

  1. Select any object in the level collection and press G, R or S.
  2. Right-click in the 3D View → Show in Unreal to frame it there.
  3. In Unreal, right-click an actor → Show in Blender.
03

Add new things

Live level mirrorMeshes & object data
A red box added in Blender appears as a new actor in Unreal.

In the demo

A box added in Blender becomes an actor in Unreal at once. A copy becomes a real Unreal duplicate, and a new name renames the actor. Barrels added in Unreal appear in Blender, an existing Blender object is sent across with one click, and custom properties travel as actor tags in both directions.

Try it

  1. With the level collection active, Shift+A adds straight into Unreal.
  2. Shift+D duplicates; F2 renames the actor too.
  3. For an object you already have: Object tab → Send to Unreal, or drag it into the collection.
  4. Add a custom property: it shows up as a tag on the actor.
04

Build and bend

Curves & textScatterBlueprint splines
A fence Blueprint's spline is bent in Blender and the fence rebuilds along it in Unreal.

In the demo

3D letters typed in Blender appear in Unreal as you type. A mesh edit updates the asset in place, so every copy changes; an edit to one of Unreal's own meshes makes a safe copy instead. Mushrooms scattered with Geometry Nodes arrive as instanced meshes, and bending a fence Blueprint's spline rebuilds the fence along it.

Try it

  1. Shift+A → Text, then Tab and type. Extrude and bevel as you like.
  2. Edit a mesh in Edit mode; Unreal's copy follows when you pause.
  3. Add Geometry Nodes: Distribute Points on Faces → Instance on Points.
  4. Click a Blueprint, Tab into its spline and move points (needs the Foliage Helper).
05

Lights and camera

Live level mirror
A lamp added in Blender changes colour in both apps inside a crystal cave.

In the demo

A lamp added in Blender lights the crystal cave in Unreal. Its colour changes from pink to blue to gold in both apps, and when Unreal moves it or turns it green, Blender follows. A camera added in Blender becomes a Cine Camera in Unreal, with its preview.

Try it

  1. Shift+A → Light → Point, Spot, Area or Sun.
  2. Change colour, power, radius or spot angle: intensity converts to Unreal's units.
  3. Shift+A → Camera; its focal length goes across too.
06

Look together

Both apps as one
Flying the camera in Unreal moves Blender's view to match.

In the demo

View Sync keeps the two viewports together. Fly in Unreal and Blender's view follows; turn in Blender and Unreal follows; or let either one lead. Field of view can match too, and one-off jumps send either app to what the other is looking at.

Try it

  1. View tab → View Sync: Follow, Drive or Both.
  2. View Options → Match Field of View.
  3. Copy the View Once: Get Unreal's View or Move Unreal Here.
07

Colours and paint

Materials & texturesExact Materials
A smiley face painted on a box in Blender appears on the same box in Unreal.

In the demo

Material colours and values reach Unreal in about a millisecond. A smiley face painted in Blender appears on the box in Unreal while the brush moves. Exact Materials carry procedural swirls and wood grain across as the node tree itself, procedural bakes and height maps turn into textures and real bumps, and masks grow moss up a wall.

Try it

  1. Mats tab → Material Mode: Exact or Fast PBR.
  2. Drag any material value and watch Unreal.
  3. Switch to Texture Paint and paint; the texture is re-imported in about 8 ms.
  4. Give meshes UVs for painting and Procedural Bake.
08

Hills and trees

LandscapesFoliage editing
The landscape is sculpted in Blender and the hill rises in Unreal.

In the demo

The landscape is the same ground in both apps, with Unreal's exact heights. Pushing it up with a sculpt brush raises the hill in Unreal, painting a snow layer paints Unreal's real paint layer, and smoothing puts it back. A single tree can be picked, copied and removed as a foliage instance.

Try it

  1. Select the terrain and enter Sculpt mode; each stroke lands in Unreal as one undo step.
  2. Land tab → click a paint layer's card and paint. Done Painting when finished.
  3. Select a foliage instancer, Tab into Edit mode, and move, Shift+D or X its points.
09

Characters and rigs

Rigs & animation
An animated character imported in Blender plays the same animation in Unreal.

In the demo

A Mixamo character imported in Blender becomes a Skeletal Mesh actor in Unreal, with its skeleton and physics asset. Her animation plays in the Unreal editor viewport, and when a bone is posed in Blender, the actor in Unreal takes the same pose.

Try it

  1. Object tab → Mixamo Characters → Import Mixamo…, or parent your own meshes with Ctrl+P → With Automatic Weights.
  2. Rig (Skeletal Mesh) → Plays in Unreal: Active Action or Current Pose.
  3. Edit keys, weights or shape keys: the rig re-imports a second or two after you stop.
10

Levels and scope

Levels & offline work
Many small boxes are left out of the mirror in Blender while they stay in Unreal.

In the demo

Any level of the project can be opened by name from Blender. Selection sync can be switched off and on. You can mirror only part of a level: what you leave out disappears from Blender but stays untouched in Unreal, and comes back when you include it again. Even the top-bar button can be hidden.

Try it

  1. Level tab → Levels: type to search, then Open Level in Unreal.
  2. Live Sync → Sync Selection Both Ways.
  3. What to Mirror: object types, Only Folders, Skip Folders or Camera Radius for big levels.
11

Undo and safety

Levels & offline work
A gold tower deleted in Blender is brought back by undo in both apps.

In the demo

A gold tower thrown away in Blender comes back with one undo, in both apps. Deleting a big batch at once makes Blender ask before anything goes in Unreal. Then the link is disconnected, the level changes in Unreal, and on reconnecting you choose which side wins.

Try it

  1. Ctrl+Z in either app. Every change from Blender is one undo step in Unreal.
  2. Delete more than 25 linked objects: nothing happens in Unreal until you click Delete in Unreal or Restore.
  3. Close Unreal, keep working, reopen it and choose Merge Changes, Blender Wins or Unreal Wins.
12

Play in Editor

Live level mirror
Unreal plays the level while a box moved in Blender waits, then jumps into place when play stops.

In the demo

Unreal plays the level and the link waits: the box lifted in Blender meanwhile stays put in Unreal until play stops, then jumps into place. Afterwards the demo objects are tidied away, and both apps are left clean.

Try it

  1. Press Play in Unreal. Blender's status card shows the link is paused.
  2. Keep editing in Blender.
  3. Stop playing: your changes land in the level.

Ready to link your own level?

Every feature above, both ways, in real time. The full PDF guide covers each one step by step.