Smart Actor Align & Distribute

Smart Actor Align & Distribute

Module: Design · Category: LevelDesign · Tool ID: SmartActorAlignDistribute

DCC-parity alignment and distribution tool for level actors. Aligns selected actors along any axis (Min / Center / Max), distributes evenly, snaps to ground surface via raycast, matches rotation, snaps to grid, and randomizes offset within a configurable range. Same operations you’d run in Maya / Blender, applied to the selected level actors.

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When to use it

• Aligning a row of placed kit pieces to a shared plane
• Distributing actors evenly along an axis (street lights, columns, fence posts)
• Snapping actors to terrain / ground surface in batch
• Randomizing offset to break visual repetition

When not to use it

• Don’t use this for spline-based distribution — see Spline Asset Placer
• Don’t expect this for procedural scatter — see Procedural Scattering & Placement Suite

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Opening the tool

1. Open the EQLabs Hub and search for Align (or browse to Design → LevelDesign)
2. Click the tool card
3. Select multiple actors in the viewport
4. Use the panel buttons to apply operations

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Interface tour

Align

Per-axis (X / Y / Z), per-mode (Min / Center / Max). 9 buttons total.

Mode	What it does
Min	Align all selected to the lowest value on this axis
Center	Align all to the average center on this axis
Max	Align all to the highest value on this axis

Distribute

Per-axis (X / Y / Z). Spaces selected actors evenly along the chosen axis.

Utilities

Action	What it does
Ground to Surface	Raycasts down from each actor and snaps to the hit surface
Match Rotation	Sets every selected actor’s rotation to match the active actor’s
Snap to Grid	Snaps every selected actor to the configured grid size
Randomize Offset	Adds a random ± offset within the configured range

Settings

Field	Default
Grid Size	100.0
Random Range	50.0

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Workflow

Aligning a row of objects

1. Select the actors
2. Click Align Y Center (or whichever axis is the row)
3. Click Distribute X to space them evenly

Snapping to terrain

1. Select the actors above terrain
2. Click Ground to Surface — they snap to the raycast hit point

Breaking visual repetition

1. Select identical actors
2. Click Randomize Offset
3. Tune the Random Range slider as needed

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Settings reference

Field	Range	Default
Grid Size	1 – any	100.0
Random Range	0 – any	50.0

Settings file: [Project]/Saved/EQLabs/Settings/SmartActorAlignDistribute.json

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Output

• In-place transform changes — modifies selected actors directly
• Undo — every operation is wrapped in ScopedTransaction. Ctrl+Z reverses
• No level edits beyond actor transforms — no spawn/delete

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Tips & gotchas

• Distribute requires at least 3 actors — fewer doesn’t give a meaningful distribution
• Match Rotation uses the active actor’s rotation — make sure the active actor (last-selected, highlighted) is the reference
• Ground to Surface uses visibility-channel raycasts — make sure terrain is on that channel
• Randomize Offset is per-actor, not relative — each actor gets its own random ± offset

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Related tools

• Modular Kit Auditor — for grid-snap validation across a kit-built level
• Measurement & Annotation Tool — verify alignment with measurements

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