Getting Started

This walkthrough takes a plain mesh actor (static or skeletal) and gets it popping in with a preset, no material editing required.

1. Enable the plugin

Enable Spline Juice in Edit → Plugins, then restart the editor if prompted. The plugin is self-contained; no extra project setup is required.

2. Add the component to your actor

1. Select a mesh actor in your level (any Static Mesh or Skeletal Mesh actor). You can select several at once.

2. Right-click it in the viewport → Spline Juice → Add Deform Component. This attaches a Spline Juice Deform Component to every selected actor and opens the settings panel ready to configure them.

Tip

You can also add the component the usual way: Add Component → Spline Juice Deform Component in the Details panel, then click Open Setup… on the component to launch the same panel. The right-click menu is just the fast path.

The component is the editable spline. Once added, you’ll see a spline path on the actor that you can shape by dragging its points in the viewport.

3. Generate a deform material

The effect only renders through a material that implements the Spline Juice WPO contract. The settings panel authors one for you:

1. On the Meshes & Materials tab, every mesh and every populated material slot starts selected. Untick anything you want to leave alone.

2. Click Generate Deform Materials.

This creates a deformation-capable variant of each selected material and writes the runtime bindings onto the component. Your original materials are left untouched; the variant only drives the look while the effect is playing. Skeletal mesh slots get their own variant built to layer on top of the playing animation.

Note

Prefer to wire it by hand or use your own material? See the Material Contract reference. For most users, Generate is all you need.

4. Apply a preset

1. Open the Presets tab.

2. Pick a preset, for example Pop In (Spawn) for a spawn pop or Idle Breathe for background life.

3. Click Apply.

The preset stamps its spline shape, timing, and curves onto every selected actor. All of it stays editable afterwards. See Presets for the full list.

Tip

Want a custom path instead? Skip the preset and drag the spline points in the viewport. The mesh flows from the start of the spline to its end (the rest pose).

5. Preview without pressing Play

Flip the Live Preview toggle in the panel header. The deformation plays right in the level viewport (no Play / Simulate needed), so you can tune the path and curves and see the result immediately. Leave Loop on to repeat it, or turn it off to play once and hold.

Caution

The deformation is only visible once the slot’s deform material exists, so generate first, then preview.

6. Play it at runtime

In an actual game / PIE session, set the playback options on the component:

| Property | What it does | | --- | --- | | Auto Play | Start the animation automatically on BeginPlay. | | Loop | Repeat the journey continuously. | | Playback Duration | How long one journey takes, in seconds. | | Playback Start Delay | Seconds to hold at the start before playing. |

Press Play and the mesh deforms. Or drive it from Blueprint / C++. See Playback & Blueprint.

Edit-time vs. play-time

The dynamic materials that carry the effect are created when the game starts, so scrubbing the Progress slider in the editor at edit time does not animate the mesh. Use Live Preview to see it at edit time, and auto-play / SetProgress() to drive it at runtime.