Unreal Engine 5 Quickstart Guide

This guide is designed to assist users in configuring Unreal Engine (UE5) to implement warp and blend files generated from a Scalable calibration using the nDisplay Plugin in Unreal. It is assumed that the user has completed a Scalable calibration with perspective enabled and is content with the warp and blend outcomes.

Exporting/Creating the nDisplay File

1. Select the Unreal radio button.
2. Select either EasyBlendSDK or MPCDI as the desired output.
   

   NOTE

   DirectX 12 SDK is bundled in UE 5.4 and later. You no longer need to use MPCDI.

    
3. When all appropriate selections have been made, select Update Calibration.
4. Scalable.ndisplay will be written to the Scalable installation directory. The default path is C:\Program Files\ScalableDisplay\DEI\SystemData\DefaultSystem\LastCalibration
5. You can now close Scalable. The rest of the setup will be configured in Unreal Editor and Unreal Switchboard.

Configuring Unreal Editor

To configure Unreal Editor we will need to enable the relevant plugins, package the project, and set up Switchboard and Switchboard Listener. To start, open or create a new Unreal project.

ENABLE PLUGINS

1. In the Film / Video & Live Events tab on the “New Project” window, select nDisplay as your project type.
2. From the Main Menu Bar, follow the path: Edit > Plugins.
   
3. Search for and enable the nDisplay plugin. (This should be enabled, but if you started a blank file it may not be).
   
4. Search for andenable the Switchboard plugin.
   
5. You can now close Scalable. The rest of the setup will be configured in Unreal Editor and Unreal Switchboard.

LAUNCH/CONFIGURE SWITCHBOARD

1. In the main menu, follow the path: Edit > Editor Preferences > Plugins > Switchboard and select Install Dependencies.
2. (Optional Alternative) If you are using Windows as your OS, you can choose to install a desk- top shortcut for Switchboard. In the main menu, follow the path: Edit > Editor Preferences > Plugins > Switchboard and select Add Shortcut. For more information on both options, please utilize the Switchboard Quick Start from UE (https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/switchboard-quick-start-for-unreal-engine?application_version=5.6)
   
3. If you are launching Switchboard for the first time, you will be prompted to add a new switchboard configuration. The easiest way to set this up is to browse for your ".uproject" file. After completing the configuration, select OK.
   
4. Add the nDisplay Configuration to Switchboard. This will be the Scalable.ndisplay file that we generated earlier, located at C:\Program Files\ScalableDisplay\DEI\SystemData\DefaultSystem\LastCalibration.
   
5. The Switchboard window will now populate with a node for each client PC running Switchboard listener.
6. Finally, connect to the nodes and launch your Unreal application by selecting the icons circled in red below. The plug icon connects to the nodes, and the arrow icon launches your app on all nodes.
   

PACKAGE THE PROJECT

1. In Unreal Editor, package the project for Windows. This process can take some time depending on your hardware and the size of your project.
2. Once packaging is complete, copy the project folder (including the .uproject file) onto the client ma-chines.
3. It is critical that the Unreal project folder has the exact same file path on ALL machines. If the file path contains a username that is not shared by another machine then you will get "file not found" errors when you try to launch your project. A good practice is to create a folder on the C drive that has a very short and simple file path such as "C:\Unreal Projects". A file path such as "C:\Users\USER-NAME\Documents\Unreal Projects" can cause issues if the host and client machines have different windows usernames.

Troubleshooting Updates:

• Color and Intensity: Utilizing UE with MPCDI (to get DX12 working) will cause color corrections to not work. Intensity corrections made on the color page WILL still work. The output of the color and intensity page when exported to MPCDI and imported into UE turns out grayscale, so any red, green, blue shading is not visible in UE. Color works fully and normally if you use our SDK integration instead.
• Socket Error: If you encounter a socket error, please ensure that the listener for UE is activated.
• UE 5.3 Scaling Issues: EasyBlend projection policy "scale" parameter needs to be left at 0.1 for POL files to work correctly.
• UE 5.4-5.5 Scaling Issues: UE scales down the value specified in easyblend_origin by a factor of 1/100 before it is passed into mplEasyBlendSDKDX1164.dll (or the DX12 equivalent). The 5.3 issue with the "scale" parameter also persists
• UE 5.6 Scaling Issues: The "scale" parameter issue, such that any change to this parameter is applied to easyblend_origin before it is passed into mplEasyBlendSDKDX1164.dll (or the DX12 equivalent), has been resolved. UE still applies the additional factor of 1/100.
• UE 5.5 Compatibility Issue with SDM, MPCDI Output: The root cause is that UE5.5's MPCDI file parser corrects a typo that was expected in the word "unknown" in the following XML:
  <geometricUnit>unknown,/geometricUnit>
  <interpolation>unknown</interpolation>
  <originOf3DData>unknown</originOf3DData>

To address this issue, SDM 11.5 introduces the advanced option: MPCDIUnrealCompatibilityMode | Int | Default=1. If using UE 5.4 and earlier, leave the option at its default value. For UE 5.5, set the option to 0, or to 2. 2 is a minimal fix based on the root cause. 0 generates XML that adheres more closely to the MPCDI specification. Either value is acceptable, as long as UE interprets the MPCDI file without an error.