VAT Management Suite

Module: Tech · Category: TextureGenerators · Tool ID: VATImportManagementSuite

Four-tab Vertex Animation Texture toolkit. Import Wizard loads pre-baked VAT data from external tools (Houdini, Blender OpenVAT). VAT Manager scans the project for VAT assets. Preview & Settings previews playback. VAT Baker bakes from UE sources (SkeletalMesh + Anim, Alembic, Geometry Collection, Niagara cache) into VAT textures + a static mesh.

Six VAT types are supported: Bone, Vertex, Soft Body, Alembic, Fluid, Sprite. Each has expected source types and matching parent materials.

Suite open on VAT Baker tab with a SkeletalMesh + AnimSequence source loaded, viewport showing baked VAT preview.

A running mannequin baked to textures: every frame sampled — about 68 KB at 512 × 17, known before the bake — the result playing beside its source as a static mesh, then found by the Manager.

When to use it

• Baking expensive animations (cloth, destruction, fluid) into static meshes that play back via texture lookup
• Importing pre-baked VAT data from Houdini SideFX ROPs / Blender OpenVAT
• Managing a project’s VAT asset library
• Creating per-particle camera-facing sprites from Niagara

What it isn’t for

• Don’t use this for runtime skeletal animation. VAT is for baked animation; runtime animation goes through AnimBP / IK Rig.
• Don’t expect this to handle complex retargeting. That’s the IK Retargeter’s job.

Opening the tool

1. Open the EQLabs Hub and search for VAT (or browse to Tech → TextureGenerators).
2. Click the tool card.
3. Use the tab bar: Import Wizard / VAT Manager / Preview & Settings / VAT Baker.

VAT types

Type	Source	Use case
Bone	Houdini Bone VAT ROP	Skeletal bone animation, LOD-independent
Vertex	Houdini Vertex VAT ROP	Direct per-vertex offset animation
Soft Body	SkeletalMesh + Anim, or Alembic	Cloth, deformation
Alembic	.abc (UGeometryCache)	Cloth, destruction, VFX with constant topology
Fluid	.abc	Fluid surfaces with changing topology
Sprite	Niagara cache, or Alembic points	Camera-facing particle sprites

Tab 1: Import Wizard

Load pre-baked Houdini or Blender VAT data.

Field	What it does
Import VAT Type	Pick the type matching the Houdini ROP that produced the data
Base Mesh	Static mesh exported from the DCC alongside the textures
Position Texture	Position VAT texture
Normal Texture	Normal VAT texture (called “Rotation” in SideFX terms)
Lookup Texture	Fluid-only — lookup indirection table
Bone Weight Texture	Bone-only — bone influence weights
Sprite Color Texture	Sprite-only — per-particle color
Base Color / Normal Map	Standard surface textures (NOT VAT rotation)
Frame Count	Auto-detect from mesh data, or override
Playback Speed	Material parameter
Import & Generate	Creates the VAT material instance + binds the textures

Tab 1 with Houdini-baked Bone VAT data loaded across all required slots.

Import Wizard configured for Fluid type — Position + Normal + Lookup textures bound, base mesh loaded, preview viewport playing the imported simulation back inside the editor.

Example: importing Houdini exports

The stills below import two example exports from Houdini. Set VAT Type, assign the base mesh and its baked textures, then click Import & Generate Material.

Rigid Body import: VAT Type set to Rigid Body (Houdini) and the exported simulation mesh assigned.

The rigid-body destruction playing back on the generated material.

Cloth import: VAT Type set to Soft Body (Houdini), with the cloth mesh and its position and rotation textures assigned.

The cloth deformation playing back on the generated material.

Tab 2: VAT Manager

Scan and browse VAT assets in the project.

Action	What it does
Scan Project	Walks /Game for VAT assets
Scan Folder	Walks a specific folder
Open Asset	Opens the selected VAT
Regenerate Material	Re-creates the VAT material instance
VAT list	Per-asset row: name, path, VAT type, frame count

Tab 2 showing a populated project-wide VAT inventory — multiple VAT assets with type, path, frame count, and per-row Open / Regenerate Material actions.

Tab 3: Preview & Settings

Live preview playback.

Field	What it does
Preview Mesh / Material pickers	Drop a baked VAT mesh + material
Scrub Frame	Manual frame scrubber
Total Frames	Display
Playback Speed	Speed multiplier
Loop	Toggle
Play / Pause / Stop	Playback controls
Preview viewport	Embedded SVATPreviewViewport

Tab 4: VAT Baker

Bake VAT from UE sources.

Source types per VAT type

VAT Type	Available Sources
Bone	SkeletalMesh + Anim
Vertex	SkeletalMesh + Anim
Soft Body	SkeletalMesh + Anim, or Alembic
Alembic	Alembic (UGeometryCache)
Fluid	Alembic
Sprite	Niagara System (live capture) or pre-recorded SimCache

Shared baker settings

Field	What it does	Default
Output Resolution	VAT texture size	512
Output Path	Where to save	(configurable)
Export Static Mesh	Bake rest-pose static mesh alongside	true
Frame Sampling combo	Per-VAT-type sampling mode

Niagara sprite baker specifics

Field	What it does	Default
Niagara System	Source — live capture
Niagara SimCache	Optional pre-recorded override
Emitter Index	Which emitter to bake	0
Frames	Total frames to capture	120
FPS	Capture frame rate	30

Bake outputs

For each bake:

• Position texture. Per-frame vertex positions.
• Normal texture. Per-frame normals (or rotation for Bone VAT).
• Static mesh. Rest pose with VAT-specific UVs (UV1/UV2 for bone indices, etc.).
• Material instances. One per skeletal-mesh material slot, parented to the VAT master with parameters configured.

Workflow: Bone VAT from SkeletalMesh

1. Switch to VAT Baker tab.
2. Pick Bone type.
3. Drop the SkeletalMesh + AnimSequence.
4. Set Output Resolution and Output Path.
5. Click Bake VAT Textures.
6. New asset set appears in the Content Browser.

Baker tab with a SkeletalMesh + AnimSequence loaded, progress dialog visible during the bake, output path field showing where the asset set will land.

Settings reference

Per-tab parameters persist to [Project]/Saved/EQLabs/Settings/VATImportManagementSuite.json.

Output

• UTexture2D assets. Position + Normal (+ Lookup / BoneWeight / SpriteColor as needed).
• UStaticMesh rest-pose mesh. With VAT-specific UV/VertexColor encoding.
• UMaterialInstanceConstant. One per source material slot, parented to the appropriate VAT master.
• Skeleton sockets copied to the static mesh as static-mesh sockets
• Texture format. 16-bit half-float for high-precision encodes; 8-bit for low-precision.

Runtime support

The VAT Runtime module (EQLabsVATRuntime) ships a tracker component + Blueprint function library so gameplay can query baked bone / vertex positions at runtime. Use cases: spawning effects from baked-bone sockets, snapping actors to baked vertices, attaching props to bone-VAT animations.

Level viewport with an actor following a baked Bone-VAT bone in real time via the runtime tracker component. Tracker properties visible in the Details panel showing the bound socket name + animation phase.

Tips and gotchas

• VAT bakes a fixed-frame animation. Once baked, the VAT has the frame count you configured; re-bake to change.
• Bone VAT uses UV channels for bone indexing. UV1 / UV2 store bone indices; the static mesh has these auto-set by the baker.
• VAT materials must be parented to the right VAT master. The baker handles this, but if you author manually, use the matching master.
• Niagara live capture spawns a temp component, runs N frames, captures, destroys. Entirely in-editor, no PIE required.
• Algorithm inspired by OpenVAT (Blender open-source tool)

Full walkthrough

The full workflow, start to finish.

Related tools

• Material Layer Studio — for the VAT master material parent chain
• Niagara Profiler — for Niagara performance analysis on Sprite VAT sources