viewport

name: viewport display_name: Viewport Control description: Control the Unreal Editor level viewport — camera type/position, view mode, FOV, exposure, layout, and rendering settings (ViewportService). Use when the user asks to move the editor camera, change the view mode (Lit/Unlit/Wireframe), set FOV/exposure, switch viewport layout, or frame the level for a screenshot. vibeue_classes: - ViewportService unreal_classes: - LevelEditorSubsystem keywords: - viewport - camera - perspective - orthographic - top - front - wireframe - fov - exposure - quad - layout - game view - realtime

Viewport Control Skill

Methods

Critical Rules

⚠️ Valid View Types for set_viewport_type

Only these exact strings are accepted (case-insensitive):

# ✅ CORRECT
unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_type("perspective")
unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_type("top")

# ❌ WRONG — these are not valid strings
unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_type("ortho")
unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_type("iso")

⚠️ Valid View Modes for set_view_mode

⚠️ Valid Layout Names for set_viewport_layout

🚨 FOV Only Works in Perspective Mode

Setting FOV has no effect in orthographic views. Always switch to perspective first:

unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_type("perspective")
unreal.ViewportService.set_fov(75.0)

🚨 Realtime Mode vs On-Demand

When set_realtime(False), the viewport only repaints on interaction. All ViewportService methods force a redraw after changes, so this is transparent to Python callers — but be aware users won't see continuous animation/particles until realtime is re-enabled.

⚠️ Multi-pane read-back caveat: get_viewport_info().is_realtime reflects the active pane. In a multi-pane layout (e.g. FourPanes2x2) where the active pane isn't the primary, set_realtime(True) can succeed yet is_realtime reads back False. Verify realtime in OnePane layout, or don't rely on the read-back to gate logic when in a split layout. (Other fields like view type / FOV / camera read back correctly across layouts.)

Workflows

Inspect Current Viewport State

import unreal
info = unreal.ViewportService.get_viewport_info()
view_mode = unreal.ViewportService.get_view_mode()
print(f"Type: {info.viewport_type}")
print(f"View Mode: {view_mode}")
print(f"Location: {info.location}")
print(f"Rotation: {info.rotation}")
print(f"FOV: {info.fov}")
print(f"Layout: {info.layout}")
print(f"Realtime: {info.is_realtime}")
print(f"Game View: {info.is_game_view}")

Cycle Through Orthographic Views

import unreal
for view in ["top", "front", "right", "perspective"]:
    unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_type(view)

Switch to Quad View and Back

import unreal
# Switch to quad (2x2) layout
unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_layout("Quad")

# Switch back to single pane
unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_layout("OnePane")

Set Up Architecture Review Camera

import unreal
# Perspective with narrow FOV for minimal distortion
unreal.ViewportService.set_viewport_type("perspective")
unreal.ViewportService.set_fov(60.0)
unreal.ViewportService.set_game_view(True)
unreal.ViewportService.set_exposure(True, 1.0)  # Fixed exposure
unreal.ViewportService.set_realtime(True)

Wireframe Debugging

import unreal
# Switch to wireframe to inspect mesh topology
unreal.ViewportService.set_view_mode("wireframe")

# Return to normal lit view
unreal.ViewportService.set_view_mode("lit")

Position Camera at Specific Location

import unreal
# Move camera to a bird's-eye view
unreal.ViewportService.set_camera_location(unreal.Vector(0, 0, 5000))
unreal.ViewportService.set_camera_rotation(unreal.Rotator(pitch=-90))  # ⚠️ Rotator positional order is (Roll, Pitch, Yaw) — always use kwargs

Configure Clipping Planes

import unreal
# Tighten near clip for close-up work
unreal.ViewportService.set_near_clip_plane(1.0)

# Set far clip to avoid rendering distant objects
unreal.ViewportService.set_far_clip_plane(50000.0)

# Reset to defaults
unreal.ViewportService.set_near_clip_plane(-1)  # Engine default
unreal.ViewportService.set_far_clip_plane(0)     # Infinity

Exposure Control

import unreal
# Fix exposure for consistent lighting review
unreal.ViewportService.set_exposure(True, 1.0)

# Adjust to bright/dark scene
unreal.ViewportService.set_exposure(True, -2.0)  # Darker
unreal.ViewportService.set_exposure(True, 4.0)   # Brighter

# Return to auto exposure (game settings)
unreal.ViewportService.set_exposure_game_settings()

Sample scripts (run via execute_python_code)

• scripts/set_camera.pyx — position the editor camera and set the view mode.