Unreal Engine Take Recorder Guide: Record Cameras and Animation in Sequencer

In Unreal Engine, Take Recorder is used to record scene actors, camera movements, and other supported sources for editing in Sequencer. The workflow described in Epic Games’ official documentation is based on managing recordings as takes and reviewing them in a sequence. The steps below are intended for Unreal Engine; the documentation does not specify a version number. Menu names are given as they appear in the documentation.

Before you start recording

1. Enable the Take Recorder plugin. From the main menu, go to Edit > Plugins, find Take Recorder, and check the box beside it. Restart Unreal Engine to make the plugin available. If you plan to record performance or motion via Live Link, you can also optionally enable the Live Link plugin in the same section. Enabling this plugin also requires a restart.

2. Open a project with actors to record. The documentation lists a project containing a playable character and actors to record as a prerequisite. A project created from the Third Person Template can also be used. Don’t assume every property in the scene will be recorded automatically: Take Recorder records a source only if it has a recording component and a corresponding track that Sequencer can play. A property that cannot be keyed cannot be recorded as a track.

3. Open the Take Recorder panel. Go to Window > Cinematics > Take Recorder. If no sequence is open, the tool creates an empty one. In the panel’s Slate area, you can set details such as the take name and number, frame rate, description, and recording rate. Sources to be recorded are listed in the Sources section. Setting the name and number before the first recording makes takes easier to tell apart later.

Configure sources and recording scope

1. Add sources and check that they’re enabled. Select available source types from the +Source button. The official documentation lists Any Actor, Camera Cuts, Level Sequences, Live Link, microphones, Nearby Spawned Actors, the Player actor, and World/Level sources. You can also drag an actor from the Outliner into the Source panel. An orange icon beside a source means it’s enabled; a gray icon means it’s disabled. Check this before recording.

2. Set actor recording behavior. For an Any Actor source, you can choose to record the actor as Spawnable or Possessable. You can use the project default or select a different recording type in the source settings. If the actor is attached to another object, consider the effect of the Record Parent Hierarchy option. When this option is disabled, the transforms of a Possessable actor are recorded in local coordinates, while those of a Spawnable actor are recorded in world coordinates.

   When Reduce Keys is enabled, Simplify is applied to keyframes after recording. To limit the animation scope, enter bone or curve names in Include Animation Names; if names are listed there, only those are recorded. Exclude Animation Names specifies bone or curve names to leave out of the recording. This lets you define in advance which animation data the recording will contain.

3. Configure camera and Live Link sources. The Camera Cuts source tracks the cameras active during recording. When the active camera changes, a new camera actor and camera cut section are created. If you use a Live Link source, select an active session and specify the subject to record in the Subject Name field. Save Subject Settings stores the Live Link subject’s preprocessor, translation, and interpolation settings. Use Source Timecode determines whether recording uses the subject’s timecode or the system clock.

Record and manage takes

1. Use the record button. Start recording with the red button in the Take Recorder panel or the record button in Sequencer’s playback controls. The button in Sequencer records the selected actor to the current sequence; the Take Recorder panel does not need to be open. During recording, use Add Marked Frame to add a marker at the current time. To stop recording and save the current take, press the record button again or use Esc.

2. Review the result and keep variations separate. Review Last Recording opens the most recently recorded sequence, while Takes Browser lets you browse recorded takes. Take Recorder also lets you start a new recording based on the currently selected take. If a source is invalid, an error icon appears in place of the record button; before recording, check the selection and enabled status in the Sources list again.

If a take number has already been used, the tool warns that a take with the same number exists and shows the location of the previous recording. Clicking the warning automatically advances the take number to the next available one, rather than requiring you to change it manually. Keep this behavior in mind when trying to create a new recording with the same number.

Sequencer’s timeline is the main workspace for reviewing and editing recordings. You can add custom markers to the timeline and edit details such as the frame number, label, comment, and color. Markers with Is Determinism Fence enabled at important frames ensure that Sequencer components are evaluated at that point. Since these markers cannot be passed with a single evaluation, they can be used to ensure accurate evaluation, but should be set according to your needs.

Impact on architecture and visualization workflows

Teams producing architectural animation can record in-scene actor movements and camera changes as takes, then edit them in Sequencer. Trying different camera behavior or scene performances as separate recordings can help with comparing alternatives and preserving previous recordings. Live Link and performance capture support can also be used in workflows that rely on these sources.

Real-time recording performance depends on hardware and setup; the documentation does not specify a hardware requirement or Unreal Engine version. For this reason, test recording behavior on the system you plan to use in demanding scenes, and confirm that critical actors create tracks. The documentation also does not explain pricing or licensing terms. Before implementation, check that the plugins are available in your Unreal Engine version and that the sources required for the project are configured correctly.

Common mistakes

• Enabling Take Recorder but not restarting Unreal Engine. A restart is required for the plugin to work.

• Trying to start recording without selecting a valid source. In this case, the tool displays an invalid source icon instead of the record button.

• Assuming a property will be recorded simply because it’s present in the scene. The source must have a recording component and a track that Sequencer can play.

• Leaving sources disabled. Check the orange and gray icons before recording.

• Ignoring a warning that the take number is already in use. Clicking the warning automatically changes the number to the next available one.