sipherxyz/dynamic-dresser

Dynamic Dresser Tool

Category: Level & World (Green accent) Plugin: Plugins/EditorTools/SipherDynamicDresser/ Engine: Unreal Engine 5.7.1 Platform: Editor-only (Win64)

Overview

Dynamic Dresser is a set dressing tool for VFX artists and level designers. It streamlines the workflow of:

1. Collecting VFX (Niagara) and Blueprint assets
2. Organizing them with customizable tags
3. Previewing with real-time parameter tweaking
4. Dragging to level with applied parameters

Quick Start

Open the tool:

• Tool Hub > Level & World > Dynamic Dresser
• Or console: SipherDynamicDresser.Open

Features

1. Asset Collection

Add assets via:

• Drag-drop from Content Browser to the asset list
• Add button - Opens asset picker (filters to Niagara + Blueprint)
• Folder button - Scans a content folder with Select All/None options

Supported asset types:

• NiagaraSystem - VFX effects
• Blueprint - Actor-based blueprints only

2. Tag System

Tags are defined in Config/Tags.md (markdown format):

# Dynamic Dresser Tags

| ID | Display | Color |
|----|---------|-------|
| ene | Enemy | #E74C3C |
| boss | Boss | #9B59B6 |
| env_bg | Env Background | #27AE60 |
| env_event | Env Event | #3498DB |

Features:

• Auto-refresh: Edit Tags.md and UI updates automatically
• Toggle chips: Click tag buttons in filter bar to filter
• Per-asset tags: Click tag chips on each asset row to toggle
• Max 32 tags (uint32 bitmask)

3. 3D Preview

• Orbit camera: LMB + drag to orbit, RMB + drag to pan, scroll to zoom
• Ground grid: Visual reference plane
• Auto-focus: Camera centers on spawned asset

Preview types:

• Niagara: Spawns UNiagaraComponent in preview scene
• Blueprint: Spawns transient actor instance

4. Parameter Panel

• Shows IDetailsView for the preview object
• Niagara: Edit component properties (User Parameters, etc.)
• Blueprint: Edit actor properties (EditAnywhere, BlueprintReadWrite)
• Real-time updates: Changes reflect immediately in preview

5. Preset System

Save presets:

1. Modify parameters in the panel
2. Click Save button
3. Enter preset name
4. Saved to Saved/DynamicDresser/Presets/{AssetName}_{PresetName}.json

Load presets:

1. Select an asset
2. Click Load button
3. Choose from available presets for that asset

Reset:

• Click Reset to restore CDO defaults

6. Drag to Level

1. Select asset in list
2. Modify parameters as needed
3. Drag from asset row to level viewport
4. Actor spawns at drop location with applied parameters

Drag decorator shows:

• Asset thumbnail
• Asset name
• Number of modified properties

UI Layout

+-------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| FILTERS                 |                                   |
| [All][ene][boss]...     |      3D PREVIEW VIEWPORT          |
+-------------------------+                                   |
| ASSETS                  |                                   |
| +---------------------+ +-----------------------------------+
| | NS_Fire      [ene]  | | PARAMETERS                        |
| | BP_Torch  [env_bg]  | | +- Property1: [value]             |
| | NS_Smoke    [boss]  | | +- Property2: [value]             |
| +---------------------+ |                                   |
|                         | PRESETS                           |
| [+ Add] [+ Folder]      | [Save] [Load] [Reset]             |
| -- Drop zone --         |                                   |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------+

File Structure

Plugins/EditorTools/SipherDynamicDresser/
+-- SipherDynamicDresser.uplugin
+-- Config/
|   +-- Tags.md                    # Tag definitions
+-- Source/SipherDynamicDresser/
    +-- Public/
    |   +-- SipherDynamicDresserModule.h
    |   +-- DynamicDresserTypes.h
    |   +-- DynamicDresserTagManager.h
    |   +-- DynamicDresserPresetManager.h
    |   +-- UI/
    |   |   +-- SDynamicDresserWindow.h
    |   |   +-- SDynamicDresserAssetList.h
    |   |   +-- SDynamicDresserPreview.h
    |   |   +-- SDynamicDresserParams.h
    |   |   +-- SDynamicDresserFolderPicker.h
    |   |   +-- FDynamicDresserPreviewClient.h
    |   +-- Drag/
    |       +-- FDynamicDresserDragDropOp.h
    +-- Private/
        +-- [Implementation files]

Key Classes

| Class | Purpose | |-------|---------| | FSipherDynamicDresserModule | Module + ISipherToolProvider registration | | FDynamicDresserTagManager | Parses Tags.md, watches for changes | | FDynamicDresserPresetManager | Save/load JSON presets | | SDynamicDresserWindow | Main split-panel UI | | SDynamicDresserAssetList | Left panel asset list with drag-drop | | SDynamicDresserPreview | 3D viewport (SEditorViewport + FGCObject) | | SDynamicDresserParams | Parameter panel (IDetailsView) | | FDynamicDresserDragDropOp | Custom drag operation with modified properties |

Data Types

// Tag definition (from Tags.md)
struct FDynamicDresserTagDef
{
    FString TagId;           // "ene", "boss"
    FString DisplayName;     // "Enemy", "Boss"
    FLinearColor Color;      // Chip color
    uint32 BitValue;         // 1, 2, 4, 8...
};

// Asset entry in the list
struct FDynamicDresserAssetEntry
{
    FSoftObjectPath AssetPath;
    FString DisplayName;
    FTopLevelAssetPath AssetClass;
    uint32 TagMask;          // Bitmask of applied tags
    TSharedPtr<FAssetThumbnail> Thumbnail;
};

// Saved preset
struct FDynamicDresserPreset
{
    FString PresetName;
    FSoftObjectPath AssetPath;
    TMap<FName, FString> PropertyValues;  // Serialized via FProperty
};

Console Commands

SipherDynamicDresser.Open    # Open the tool window

Dependencies

// SipherDynamicDresser.Build.cs
PublicDependencyModuleNames.AddRange({
    "Core", "CoreUObject", "Engine",
    "Slate", "SlateCore", "InputCore",
    "UnrealEd", "AssetRegistry", "ContentBrowser",
    "PropertyEditor", "AdvancedPreviewScene",
    "Niagara", "NiagaraEditor",
    "SipherToolHub",    // ISipherToolProvider
    "DirectoryWatcher", // Tag file watching
    "Json", "JsonUtilities"
});

Troubleshooting

Parameters panel is empty

• Ensure you selected an asset in the list
• Check Output Log for spawn errors
• Niagara shows component properties, Blueprint shows actor properties

Tags not updating

• Verify Config/Tags.md syntax (markdown table format)
• Check Output Log for parse errors
• File watcher may have 1-2 second delay

Drag-to-level not working

• Ensure viewport is in focus
• Check if asset is valid (not corrupted)
• Modified properties only apply to matching FProperty names

Preview not showing

• Check Output Log for asset loading errors
• Blueprint must be Actor-based (not UObject-only)
• Niagara system must be valid and compilable

Legacy Metadata

skill: dynamic-dresser
invoke: /editor-tools:dynamic-dresser
type: utility
category: level-world
scope: Plugins/EditorTools/SipherDynamicDresser