Media Input Wizard

A wizard for instantly setting up clean media inputs into Unreal Editor with audio and alpha channel

Written by Off World Live

Updated 5 days ago

In Unreal Editor select the Off World Live drop down in the Editor UI and select 'Media Input Wizard':
A pop-up will appear in which you can select the Media source you want as well as where you want to display the media:
There are currently five input options:
1. Spout: This is zero-latency/ compression video (including alpha channel) shared from the same machine's GPU. For example sharing from OBS, TouchDesigner or Resolume.
  1. Please select the Spout sender you want from the drop-down list.
2. NDI: This is over-the-network video/ audio (including alpha channel) shared either from your local network or from a global network using NDI Bridge. This will receive both 8bit and 10bit video.
  1. Please select the NDI sender you want from the drop-down list.
  2. Please select if you want audio input. If so, this will automatically be added as an audio cue which will play in runtime.
3. Window and Display Capture: These are zero-latency video feeds capturing either a specific window or the whole monitor of your machine. They include cursor capture.
  1. Please select the Window or Monitor you want from the drop-down list.
4. Media Source: This is direct playback of a video file on your machine such as an MP4 with support for video and audio but not alpha channel.
  1. Please use the dots to navigate to the media file on your machine you want to play.
There is an option to select Alpha Channel support. When "Yes" is selected, the Material used for your media is automatically modified so your media shows correctly in your scene.
You can then select how you want your Media to display in Unreal. There are three options:
1. Media Plate: This is a plate which is specifically for presenting clean media. It doesn't have to be displayed on a plane, it can be used with any mesh (sphere, custom mesh etc).
  1. It has a component called the Holdout Composite which avoids elements of the Unreal rendering pipeline like Anti-Aliasing, Motion Blur and Depth of Field so that the media isn't distorted like on a standard plane.
  2. This means that your media will not be responsive to all lighting and post-process effects and there will be some anti-aliasing artefacting on the edges of the media (this is less noticeable in real-time content).
  3. However, the colors and fidelity of your media will be the same as your input source which is a major advantage
  4. See comparisons below between the Media Plate and a standard Unreal Plane.
2. Unreal Plane: This is a standard plane in Unreal. It will be affected by all anti-aliasing and post processing effects.
3. Material: This is an Unreal Material which you can add to different Static Meshes if you want to display your media on surfaces throughout your scene.
Now press 'Create' and your media will instantly appear in your scene!
Media Display Comparisons:
1. Original Media Source:
2. Media Plate with Holdout Composite and Alpha Channel:
3. Standard Unreal Plane:
4. Source:
5. Media Plate with Holdout Composite (no Alpha Channel):
6. Standard Unreal Plane:

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