Using Antilatency SDK in Unreal Engine

In this article

Antilatency SDK installation;
- Installing as an engine plugin;
Fixing an installation problem;
Using Antilatency SDK;
Working with virtual production;
Useful links.

The limit for the full path of each file in the Antilatency SDK plugin's folder and its subfolders is 256 characters. Therefore, try to place your project in the shortest path possible, for example D:\MyUeProject.

Antilatency SDK installation

In order to use the Antilatency tracking system in your Unreal Engine project you need to install the Antilatency SDK:

Generate the subset on the SDK configurator page: select Unreal Engine as the Target parameter, the engine version, required components, and Antilatency libraries.
Configure the SDK build. At the end of this step you should end up on the GitHub repository page with a built subset:
Go to the directory with the Unreal Engine project and verify that there is a Plugins folder. If there isn’t one, create it.
Clone the repository to the Plugins folder using the provided git command from README.md (or with any other convenient method):
Open or restart the Unreal project.
Go to the Edit ⇾ Plugins ⇾ Projects ⇾ Antilatency tab. Check the Enabled checkbox and then restart the project:
That’s all! Now you can use the Antilatency SDK in your Unreal Engine project.

Installing as an engine plugin

After the previous steps, the Antilatency plugin will be available only in the project in which it’s installed. To make the plugin available to all projects created in this version of Unreal Engine, you need to plug it as an engine plugin:

Go to the Edit ⇾ Plugins ⇾ Projects ⇾ Antilatency tab and press the Package button:
Wait until the packaging is complete.
Move the packaged plugin to the Unreal Engine directory: <path_to_unreal_engine_istallation_dir>/Engine/Plugins/Runtime. The path to the AntilatencySDK.uplugin will look like this: <path_to_unreal_engine_istallation_dir>/Engine/Plugins/Runtime/AntilatencySDK/AntilatencySDK.uplugin
Done! Now the Antilatency SDK is available from any project of this version of Unreal Engine.

Fixing an installation problem

Sometimes when installing a plugin, even with the correct UnrealEngine Version parameter in the configurator, the following warning may occur:

In this case, you need to rebuild the modules for a specific UE version:

Install the Visual Studio with the following components:
Open the project with the Missing Modules warning and answer Yes to the "Would you like to rebuild them now?" question.
Wait a bit while Visual Studio rebuilds the modules. After that, the project should start automatically.

Using Antilatency SDK

For the Antilatency system to work, place two Actors that are located in Antilatency SDK Content ⇾ Blueprints ⇾ Samples ⇾ Actors on the level:

BP_AltEnvironment — gets data about the Environment that is set as default in Environments.
You can also use the BP_AltEnvironmentWithMarkers, if you want to display markers' position on the scene.

BP_AltEnvironment (and BP_AltEnvironmentWithMarkers as well) position on the scene is the origin of the tracking coordinate system.
BP_DeviceManager — processes data on connected Antilatency devices.

If Antilatency SDK content isn’t shown in Content Browser, check the Show Plugin Content checkbox in the View Options tab.

Let’s take a look at some specific examples of working with the Antilatency SDK:

DefaultPawn tracking;
Two objects tracking with identification by Tag;
CineCameraActor tracking.

DefaultPawn tracking

Create the new GameMode or open the existing one.
Go to the Classes tab and in the Default Pawn Class drop-down list select the required Pawn from Antilatency SDK Content ⇾ Blueprints ⇾ Samples ⇾ Pawns (e.g. BP_AltSimplePawn).
Press Save and Compile to save changes.
Done! Now during the game the DefaultPawn will be tracked by Alt.

Two objects tracking with identification by Tag

Sometimes you need to strictly determine which Antilatency device corresponds to the virtual object on the scene. BP_AltTrackerTag is the best way to do this.

Say you need to track two cameras using two trackers:

Set the Tag custom property on the appropriate sockets, such as Camera_1 and Camera_2.
Create an empty Actor on the level and reset its Location values to default.
Open Antilatency SDK Content ⇾ Blueprints ⇾ Samples ⇾ SceneComponents and drag the BP_AltTrackerTag component onto the created Actor.
In this component, in the Default ⇾ Socket Tag field, set the value corresponding to the first Tag property from step #1 (in our case, Camera_1).
Add a Camera component as a child element.
Duplicate the created Actor and change the Socket Tag field to Camera_2.
Done! Now two cameras will be tracked by two Alt trackers.

CineCameraActor tracking

Go to the AntilatencySDK Content ⇾ Blueprints ⇾ Samples ⇾ Pawns, select the BP_AltSimplePawn, drag it to the scene, and reset its Location values to default.
Add the CineCameraActor on the scene and attach it to the BP_AltSimplePawn as a child element. Reset its Location values to default.
Done! Now when you click Play ⇾ F8 you can choose the CineCameraActor in the Outliner and make sure its Transform changes according to the tracking data.

Working with virtual production

For more information on how to install and use the Antilatency tracking system in virtual production projects, watch our video:

Useful links

Configuring Antilatency devices
Environment examples