Unreal Engine Modeling Mode: A Guide to Creating and Editing 3D Geometry

What you’ll learn in this guide

Unreal Engine Modeling Mode offers a range of tools for creating 3D geometry and editing existing meshes directly in the editor. This guide covers how to switch to the mode, the main parts of its interface and how to start working with a new shape. It then explains the basic steps for editing existing geometry, accepting or canceling changes, and moving on to UV tools.

The tools are not limited to creating new shapes. The official documentation also lists tools for editing topology, preparing UVs, assigning multiple materials, editing collision geometry and baking textures. Defining your goal before you begin can help you find the right category more quickly.

Requirements and getting started

This guide follows the workflow described in Unreal Engine’s Modeling Mode and Modeling Tools documentation. Since the sources do not specify an Unreal Engine version number or hardware requirements, no assumptions are made here about version compatibility or system requirements. The documentation describes Modeling Mode as a beta feature and recommends caution when using it in production. The sources do not explain account or license requirements either.

With a project and the Level Editor open in Unreal Engine, select Modeling from the Select Mode menu. Alternatively, use the Shift+5 shortcut. If the Modeling option is not visible, go to Edit > Plugins > Modeling Tools Editor Mode and check whether the plugin is enabled.

When the mode opens, the interface includes tool categories, a tool palette for the selected category, Tool Properties for tool settings, and the Modeling Mode Quick Settings section for frequently used options. Use the Tool Properties panel to change tool settings. For shortcuts and tooltips, refer to the Help Line in the Level Editor’s bottom toolbar.

Step by step: creating and editing geometry

1. Start a new mesh. Open the Create category and select a primitive shape. The documentation lists shapes such as a box, sphere, cylinder, cone, torus, rectangle, disk, stair and capsule. Move the preview into the viewport and click where you want to place it. The shape’s creation parameters are available in the Tool Properties panel.

2. Create a shape by drawing or extruding. With Extrude Polygon, you can draw a boundary and turn it into a 3D form. Extrude Path lets you draw and extrude paths to create meshes such as walls or ramps. Some of these tools use a drawing grid. To move the grid, Ctrl-click the desired point. The sources do not describe a ready-made architectural measurement or template; define the shape and settings according to the needs of your project.

3. Work on an existing mesh. Select the mesh you want to edit, then choose a tool suited to your goal. PolyGroup Edit works with geometry through PolyGroups and offers operations such as Extrude, Bevel and Edge Loop. Triangle Edit is intended for more direct topology editing using triangles and vertices. The Vertex Sculpt and Lattice tools in the Deform category can also be used to reshape the overall form or specific areas.

   Unreal Engine processes mesh surfaces as triangles. PolyGroups organize these triangles into groups that tools can work with; some editing operations can offer a workflow similar to traditional surface modeling. However, these groups do not change the fact that the mesh is made up of triangles.

4. Check the preview and finish the operation. Most tools in Modeling Mode show a preview before applying changes. You can undo or redo changes while an operation is in progress. Select Accept to apply the result to the mesh, or Cancel to discard the edit. Exiting the tool session or switching to another tool may also apply changes. Check the result before switching: after the session is accepted, undo tracks the mesh state before and after the session, rather than each individual action within the tool.

5. Choose the output type deliberately. When creating a new mesh, Output Type determines the target actor type. A Static Mesh is stored in the Content Browser, with an instance placed in the level. A Dynamic Mesh and Volume are stored only in the level. You can use the Convert tool to change the type of an existing mesh. Transfer serves a different purpose: it transfers data from one mesh to a target mesh or to a specific LOD of the target mesh; it is not described as a tool for changing mesh type.

6. Move on to UV and surface preparation. Use tools in the UVs category to adjust how textures map onto a surface. AutoUV automates UV unwrapping and layout for the selected mesh. UV Unwrap helps recalculate existing UV islands or PolyGroups; Edit UV Seams creates seams by splitting edges in the viewport. Transform UVs is used to scale, rotate and move UV islands. When baking textures, keep in mind that the source and target meshes need to overlap.

7. Save settings you use repeatedly. If you often work with similar settings in the same tool, use Presets to save the current settings and load them again later. The documentation also notes that you can manage which preset collections are enabled for a project or user. This lets you use saved options instead of re-entering settings for recurring tool workflows.

Common mistakes and things to watch out for

Exiting a tool before finalizing a change: Many tools show edits as a preview first. Exiting the mode or selecting Cancel may discard work in progress. Review the result before choosing Accept or Cancel.

Confusing PolyGroups with quad faces: Unreal Engine processes geometry as triangles. PolyGroups organize triangles into groups; they do not convert the model’s underlying surface representation into quads.

Editing a high-resolution mesh without making a copy: The official documentation recommends using the Duplicate tool to make a copy before editing a high-resolution mesh. This preserves the original asset while you work on a separate mesh.

Mixing up Convert and Transfer: Convert is used to change a mesh’s Output Type between Static Mesh, Dynamic Mesh and Volume. Transfer moves data to another mesh or to a specific LOD of the target mesh. Choosing the right tool helps prevent unexpected results.

Overlooking how a mesh is stored: Keep in mind that Static Mesh is stored in the Content Browser, while Dynamic Mesh and Volume are stored only in the level. When creating a new mesh, choose the Output Type based on how the project needs to store the asset.

Impact on architecture and visualization workflows

Architecture, interior design and archviz teams can use Modeling Mode to build geometry quickly or edit existing meshes in the Unreal Engine editor. Create tools are intended for producing new shapes; PolyGroup and deformation tools modify geometry; and UV tools adjust texture mapping. Mesh processing, baking and collision editing tools are also listed as separate tasks in the sources.

Before starting work as a team, decide whether the mesh should be a Static Mesh or a Dynamic Mesh stored in the level. Edit high-resolution assets on a copy and agree on when tool sessions should be accepted. Also check the beta warning, the plugin’s status in your Unreal Engine installation and whether the relevant tools fit your project workflow. Since the sources provide no hardware requirements or pricing information, do not make assumptions about these; assess them separately in your project environment.

Next steps

After getting to know the basic creation and editing tools, decide what to tackle next. Look at tools in the Mesh category to inspect or simplify geometry, the UVs category for surface mapping, and options in the Attributes category for mesh properties and collision geometry. Check the selected tool’s settings in Tool Properties and refer to the explanations in the Help Line where needed.

When trying a new tool, test its preview, Accept and Cancel behavior on a small project. This helps clarify when changes are applied to the mesh and how the undo history works. For assets intended for production, make copying, choosing the correct Output Type and taking the beta warning into account part of your workflow.

Sources and license

This guide has been adapted into Turkish from Epic Games’ official Unreal Engine Modeling Mode and Modeling Tools documentation. The source records mark both documents as license=free; no specific license name is given.