Working with Unreal Engine UI

Unreal Engine is a powerful game engine developed by Epic Games. It is widely used to create video games, virtual reality, animation, architectural renderings, and other interactive visual projects.



Let's analyze what the UE interface consists of and what you can find there.

Viewport

This is the main window where you can create and edit game levels, place objects, adjust lighting and other visual elements. Here you can also view the game world in real time.

Details Panel

This panel shows properties and settings of the selected object in the scene. Here you can adjust object parameters, add components, control animation and other aspects of the object.

Content Browser

Here you can manage all resources, such as materials, textures, models, audio files and other files that are used in the game. You can also organize and structure project resources here.

Blueprints

In the Blueprints window, you can create and edit scenarios using visual programming tools like Blueprints. Here you can create game logic, control object behavior, create events, and more.

Material Editor

The Material Editor lets you create and customize the materials that define the appearance of objects in the game. Here you can create complex shaders, textures, lighting, and other visual effects.

World Outliner

The world editor displays the hierarchy of objects in the scene. Here you can control the order and structure of objects, create hierarchical relations and manage their properties.

Output Log

This is where messages and debug information is displayed, helping developers keep track of errors, warnings and other information related to the execution of the game.

What is UMG?

An inherent advantage of Unreal Engine as an engine in terms of interface is the ability to create various widgets. Unreal Motion Graphics UI Designer (UMG) is designed to create any user interface elements within the game.

At the heart of this system are Widgets. These are sets of features that are used to build interface elements. These are, for example, various sliders, buttons, etc. They are edited in the Widget Blueprint, which works in two modes:

• Designer - for configuring the visual arrangement of interface elements.
  
• Graph - for describing how the interface elements work.
  

More articles:

• What is BSP geometry in Unreal Engine? - link
  
• How Unreal Engine is used in cinematography - source
  
• Unreal Engine 5 features - why explore it now? - read here