Convert Unreal Plugin to Source Code

The Power IK Unreal plugin is provided using the binary version of the Power IK SDK. Source code licensees can use this guide to help them compile the plugin for different platforms.

Preparation and Overview

First make sure the binary plugin is installed into an Unreal project and is compiling and functioning correctly.

Then follow these steps to replace the Power IK SDK binaries with the Source Code SDK which can be compiled for any platform.

Step 1: Disable Binary Linking

  1. Open Plugins/PowerIK/Source/PowerIKSDK/PowerIKSDK.build.cs
  2. Set the boolean value POWERIK_BINARY_MODE = false; (default is true)

This boolean gates the addition of the Power IK binary libraries to Unreal's build system. The Power IK .dll will no longer be copied into a packaged project folder.

Step 2: Copy Source Code to Project

  1. Close Visual Studio
  2. Locate the PowerIK SDK source code you recieved when you purchased the SDK license.
  3. Copy/Replace the contents of PowerIK_SDK/include to: Plugins/PowerIK/Source/PowerIKSDK/include
  4. Copy/Replace the contents of PowerIK_SDK/src to: Plugins/PowerIK/Source/PowerIKSDK/src
  5. Right click on PROJECTNAME.uproject and Generate Visual Studio project files.
  6. Open the project solution in Visual Studio.

You should see the PowerIK headers and source files in the Visual Studio Solution Explorer now.

Step 3: Export Power IK Symbols for Linking

By default, Power IK headers expect to import their symbols from a binary. You need to tell the compiler to export these symbols to the module .dll so they will be linked properly when packaging a project.

  1. Open Plugins/PowerIK/Source/PowerIKSDK/includes/PowerIK.h
  2. Locate #define POWERIK_EXPORTS at the top of the file and uncomment it

Step 4: Build and Test

  1. Build the project in Visual Studio and launch the editor.
  2. Ensure that PowerIK is operating in the editor.
  3. Test packaging the project to ensure everything is working.

If you encounter issues or missing instructions, please contact support@poweranimated.com

(Optional) Whitelist New Platforms

By default, the Power IK plugin is set to build for only Windows and Linux. You need to manually "Whitelist" new platforms to get the plugin to build for them.

  1. Open Plugins/PowerIK/PowerIK.uplugin
  2. Locate the "Modules" list at the bottom of this file.
  3. Add the new platform names to the "WhitelistPlatforms" list for all plugin modules.

The Visual Studio project should now compile PowerIK from source for the platforms defined in the uplugin WhitelistPlatforms lists.