Importing Static Meshes in UDK

The level I am creating is going to be a hotel, and with the default UDK meshes it would be impossible to create a nice hotel, so I decided to import static meshes from the internet to use in my game.

Imported static mesh

The first thing we are going to need are the meshes, there are various websites where you can find free static meshes. The ones I used were:

• Turbo Squid
• Blend Swap
• Artist-3D

The second thing you need to know, is what is the file type. Since I am using Blender to convert them, the file types I can use are: 

Supported blender formats

Any other file types may not work. After downloading the file, open it with Blender. Sometimes when you open an object, it will have multiple layers and they might be off when you import them to UDK, so you must select them(shift+Rclick) and join them(ctrl+J). Don't worry about deleting the camera and the light.

Joining layers in blender

With that done, export the file as a .fbx to a folder in your computer. Go to UDK, open the content browser and drag and drop the new mesh. A import screen will pop up with various settings, the important things are that you set Import Type: Static Mesh and Import Materials.

Importing menu in UDK

Depending on the file you download, it will not be 100% compatible with your UDK version, so it might break the mesh. What also might happen, is that you will have to set up the materials yourself. After the mesh is imported, remember to save your package and if you open the static mesh editor, you can add collision to it.