EasySnapping Documentation
EASY SNAPPING DOCUMENTATION ===========================
Version: 1.0 Supported Unreal Engine versions: 5.6, 5.7, and 5.8 Supported development platform: Windows 64 bit Module type: Editor only Support: https://discord.gg/9Zc4wbwqG9
1. OVERVIEW
Easy Snapping aligns a vertex on one static mesh actor with a vertex on another. It can move one actor, move a preselected group, or create repeatedly snapped duplicates. It runs only in the Unreal Editor and adds no runtime code or overhead to packaged games.
2. INSTALLATION AND ACTIVATION
1. Install Easy Snapping for your compatible Unreal Engine version. 2. Open the project and choose Edit Plugins. 3. Search for Easy Snapping, enable it, and restart the editor if requested. 4. Activate the tool with either: the Easy Snapping toolbar button near the Level Editor Play controls; or Window Easy Snapping. 5. The toolbar button remains checked while Easy Snapping Mode is active. Press it again to leave the mode.
3. QUICK START
1. Place two Static Mesh Actors in a level. 2. Activate Easy Snapping. 3. Hover near a visible vertex on the actor you want to move. 4. Wait until the nearby markers are green, then left click the desired source vertex. 5. The captured source vertex becomes blue. 6. Hover near a vertex on the destination mesh. The chosen target becomes yellow when ready. 7. Left click the target. The source actor moves by the exact offset required to align the two vertices. 8. Use Ctrl+Z to undo the operation.
The tool translates actors; it does not change their rotation or scale.
4. DUPLICATE AND SNAP
After capturing a source vertex, hold Shift while left clicking a target vertex. Easy Snapping duplicates the captured actor or group and places the duplicate at the target while keeping the original source captured and selected.
Continue holding Shift and click other target vertices to place more copies. The tool rejects the same exact target position more than once during one captured operation to prevent accidental overlapping duplicates. Press Escape and capture the source again if an intentional overlapping copy is required.
5. SNAPPING MULTIPLE ACTORS AS A GROUP
1. Select every actor that should move or duplicate together. 2. Make sure the actor that owns the intended source vertex is already part of that selection. 3. Click the source vertex on that selected actor. 4. Click a target normally to move the group, or Shift click to duplicate and snap the group.
The relative spacing between selected actors is preserved. If the clicked source actor was not already selected, Easy Snapping replaces the selection with that actor and captures only it. This prevents an old, unrelated editor selection from moving accidentally.
6. VIEWPORT MARKER COLORS
Orange: the hovered mesh is still being scanned. Keep the mouse and camera still. Green: visible nearby vertices are ready to select. Blue: the currently captured source vertex. Yellow: the target vertex that will be used by the next click.
Up to 128 nearby vertex positions are highlighted. Duplicate vertex positions in the same component are consolidated.
7. CONTROLS
Left click a green vertex: capture it as the source. Left click the yellow target: move and snap the captured actor or group. Shift + left click the yellow target: duplicate and snap while retaining the original source. Escape: cancel the current captured source without moving anything. Ctrl+Z: undo a completed move or duplicate operation. Toolbar button or Window Easy Snapping: toggle the editor mode.
Normal Unreal Editor camera navigation and other viewport controls remain available when the tool is not consuming a valid snapping click.
8. SUPPORTED GEOMETRY
Supported as sources and targets:
Static Mesh Components Deformed Spline Mesh Components
Supported as targets only:
Instanced Static Mesh Components (ISM) Hierarchical Instanced Static Mesh Components (HISM) Foliage instances
An instanced or foliage item cannot be a source because translating its owning actor would move every instance. The tool displays a warning instead of making that unsafe change.
Not supported:
Skeletal Mesh Components Landscapes BSP/brush geometry Procedural Mesh Components Geometry Collections Other non static mesh component types
9. COLLISION, VISIBILITY, LOD, AND NANITE
In normal Level Editor viewports, Easy Snapping uses Unreal Editor hit proxies to identify visible mesh components. Static meshes therefore do not need collision solely for snapping. A Visibility channel trace is retained only as a fallback for unusual viewports that do not provide a hit proxy.
For ordinary static meshes, the tool uses the displayed LOD while respecting forced and minimum LOD settings. Nanite does not expose its clustered runtime vertices for editor snapping, so Nanite meshes use the stable LOD 0 source topology.
Material World Position Offset is evaluated on the GPU and does not change the CPU side mesh vertices used by this tool. Markers therefore represent the underlying mesh topology, not vertices visually displaced by a material.
10. DENSE MESH PERFORMANCE
Dense meshes are scanned over multiple editor ticks instead of in one long blocking operation. Each viewport tick processes at most 8,192 vertices and uses an approximate 2 ms scan budget.
If markers are orange, hold the cursor and camera still until they turn green. Moving the cursor, moving the camera, changing the mesh transform, changing the active LOD, or changing spline deformation restarts the relevant scan so stale vertex positions are never selected.
Easy Snapping does no vertex scanning while its editor mode is inactive and is unavailable during Play In Editor or Simulate.
11. SAFETY RULES
Easy Snapping validates every operation before changing the level:
The source and target must remain valid and belong to the same editor world. Source actors must be editable, unlocked, have root components, and belong to unlocked levels. A source mesh component must follow its actor's translation through its attachment chain and must not use absolute location. A normal move cannot target geometry inside the moving source hierarchy, because the target would move at the same time. Use a stationary target or Shift duplicate instead. If any selected actor fails to accept the complete movement offset, the tool attempts to roll back the whole move and reports the problem. Invalid target clicks do not silently replace a captured source. Deleting, unloading, recompiling, or otherwise invalidating captured geometry cancels or rejects the operation safely.
All successful move and duplicate actions use Unreal Editor transactions and can be undone.
12. TROUBLESHOOTING
No vertex markers appear:
Confirm Easy Snapping Mode is active. Confirm the hovered component uses a supported Static Mesh. Hover a visible surface rather than an unsupported object in front of the mesh. Make sure Play In Editor and Simulate are stopped. If the mesh is compiling, wait for compilation to finish.
Markers remain orange:
Keep the cursor and camera still while the dense mesh scan completes. A very dense LOD takes more ticks to scan. Consider viewing or forcing a lighter LOD while placing assets.
Only one actor moves instead of the group:
Select the whole group first, then choose a source vertex on an actor already in that selection.
An instanced mesh cannot be selected as the source:
This is intentional. ISM, HISM, and foliage instances are target only. Use a regular Static Mesh Actor as the source.
The selected vertex differs from the material's visible shape:
World Position Offset is not represented. The tool snaps the underlying static mesh vertex.
A move is rejected because the target is moving:
Choose a target outside the selected source hierarchy, or use Shift duplicate when appropriate.
13. SIMPLE VALIDATION TEST
1. Place two cube Static Mesh Actors with a visible gap between them. 2. Activate Easy Snapping. 3. Capture a corner on the first cube and snap it to a corner on the second cube. 4. Verify the corners meet exactly, then press Ctrl+Z. 5. Capture the first cube again and Shift click three different target corners. 6. Verify three duplicates are created and the original remains selected. 7. Select two source actors, capture a vertex on one selected actor, and snap the group. 8. Verify both actors move by the same offset and retain their spacing. 9. Start Play In Editor and verify the tool does not alter editor actors.
14. CONTACT
Creator: CelestiaDominance Fab seller: https://www.fab.com/sellers/CelestiaDominance Support: https://discord.gg/9Zc4wbwqG9