QUICK DEV TIP #46 UE4 / UE5 - THUMBNAIL EDIT MODE

Here is a tip that can help you with getting a quick read on your assets in the content browser!

Did you know you can edit the thumbnail preview icons of assets in the content browser?

If you would prefer to watch the video version, check it out here


Unreal normally does a pretty good job but sometimes you just want to rotate a thumbnail preview a little bit so you can see it from a slightly different angle. Something which can be especially useful when your icons are small.

 

To access the Thumbnail Edit Mode we need to head down to the View Options button in the bottom right corner of the content browser window.

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You will then enter Thumbnail Edit mode. Here if you click and drag on any of the preview icons and it will cause the preview camera to rotate around the asset, allowing you to try and find a better angle.

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If you mess things up and make the camera angle worse, it’s not a problem. Clicking the arrow in the top right of each asset preview will reset the camera angle to what it originally was.

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One important thing you need to remember is to save the assets after you have made the thumbnail changes. This will ensure next time you open up the editor the camera angle is still in the same position for that asset.

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This is pretty much exactly the same in the Early Access version of Unreal Engine 5. The main difference is in the UI. The View Options button is now called Settings and can be found in the top right corner of the content browser window instead. Apart from that everything else is the same, clicking on the Thumbnail Edit Mode at the bottom of the list will still take you to what you are looking for.

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I have found being able to get a quick read on what an asset is can help when blocking things out or filling out a scene especially when you are using smaller thumbnails to be able to see more assets at one time.

If you want more quick tips & tricks FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @cbGameDev

Also, check out the parkour game I'm solo developing called Freerunners. Give it a wishlist if you like the way it looks!: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1430330/Freerunners/