ARFX Pro Plugin Quick Start Guide

Congratulations on your new purchase of the ARFX Pro Plugin! The ARwall team is here to help you achieve your filmmaking dreams with easy-to-use virtual production tools. These are the same tools we have used on many of our own projects like The Muppets Haunted Mansion, Nightflyers, and many more!

ARFX PRO PLUGIN USER MANUAL

This is intended to be a quick start guide to your new ARFX Pro Plugin for Unreal Engine. For the full manual, you can find it here: https://arwall.document360.io/docs/arfx-pro-plugin-user-manual-for-htc-vive-tracking-hardware

In this quick start guide, you can find: 

• Prerequisites 
• Hardware Requirements
• Software Requirements
  • Unreal Engine
  • SteamVR
  • USB Deview
  • 7-Zip
  • .NET 8 or 6 Runtime
• Installing the ARFX Pro Plugin to Unreal Engine 4/5
• Helpful Videos
• Product Set Up
  • Helpful installation to use your product
• Troubleshooting Tips

Additional Seats

Please note that this license is for a SINGLE seat tied to the machine that you initially log into. With a single seat license, you can log into multiple Unreal Engine projects using the same ARFX Pro Plugin on the same machine. If you would like to have access to additional seats or have questions, please reach out to Support@arwall.co.

PREREQUISITES: 

• Please note that a basic knowledge of Unreal Engine is needed to navigate the game engine to run the ARFX Pro Plugin. However, no coding or blueprint knowledge is needed. Setting up the virtual production part has been simplified and consolidated into easy-to-use User Interfaces and Options Menus. Our User Manual demonstrates how to use our plugin in detail, including many photos and images to help walk through the process. ARwall strives to make our tools easy to set up and use!

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:

If ARwall did not build and issue you a computer, for a basic set up using ARFX Pro Plugin, please note that you’ll need the following hardware:

• PC machine/server running Windows 10 or 11, with recommended Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card or better (minimum GTX 1080)
• Tracking Hardware:  
  • HTC Vive 2.0 or 3.0 
    • 2 HTC Vive 2.0 or 3.0 Base Stations 
      • If using in a larger play area, it is recommended to add a third or fourth base station to extend the play area for the trackers. The full system can support up to 10 base stations at a time.  
    • 1-2 HTC Vive 2.0 or 3.0 Trackers 
      • With USB 3.0 extension cables that are long enough to connect the trackers from the machine/server to the center of the screen (1 calibration tracker puck) and wherever the camera will be in the play area (1 hero tracker puck) 
      • If only using one tracker make sure to have a USB extension cable that is long enough to reach both the center of the screen and wherever the camera will be in the play area 
• Any type of screen (can be a computer monitor, projection, TV, or LED wall), 32 inches + recommended, that is connected to your machine/server 

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS: 

1. Install Epic Unreal Engine 4.27 and/or Unreal Engine 5:
   1. Instructions here: https://docs.unrealengine.com/enUS/GettingStarted/Installation/index.html
   2. Be sure to create your own free account and have that login password available.
   3. When selecting the version to install, be sure to select 4.27 and/or 5.
2. Install SteamVR:
   1. Install Steam:  
      • Instructions here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3046-ECVN-3712 
      • Be sure to create your own free account and have that login password available for your team. 
   2. Install SteamVR:  
      • Within Steam, search for SteamVR and install (or use this external link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/250820/SteamVR/) 
      • This will assist you by showing you which Vive Pro devices are connected or not. Great for trouble shooting!
3. Install USBDeview:
   1. After installing SteamVR, USB Deview should be found at the following location: C:\Program Files (x86)\SteamVR\tools\USBDeview\win32\USBDeview.exe
   2. If not found, follow the steps below to install USB Deview separately:
      • Download file from here: https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usbdeview-x64.zip  
      • Unzip the file in your desired location & install the software.
      • This will assist you in finding your HTC Vive Serial numbers.
4. Install 7-Zip:
   1. If your machine does not have 7-Zip, please download and install it from here: https://www.7-zip.org/
5. Install the appropriate .NET Runtime software, which is necessary for our login system to work correctly. 
   1. If running ARFX Pro Plugin versions UE 5.1 version 62 or UE 5.2, UE 5.3 or later, please install .NET 8 Desktop Runtime: 
      1. Download .NET8 Runtime Desktop here: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/8.0
         1. Direct Link (can change due to updates): https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/thank-you/runtime-desktop-8.0.3-windows-x64-installer
   2. If running ARFX Pro Plugin versions prior to UE 5.1 version 62 or UE 5.2 version 66, please install .NET6 Runtime:
      1. Download .NET6 Runtime here: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/6.0/runtime 
      2. Choose Run Desktop apps > Download x64 and install

VIDEOS: 

• Login Tutorial Video walkthrough: https://youtu.be/q3M9fwkarWQ 
• ARFX Pro Plugin UI walkthrough: https://youtu.be/ccCB1fj2n2I 
• 5 ARFX Pro Tips: https://youtu.be/AL2nxW3XYlU 
• ARFX Comp Pro UI & Setup (for green screen): https://youtu.be/duiWFq_ockA 
• ARFX Options Menu walkthrough: https://youtu.be/VBOdrur_o1Y 
• HTC Vive Lighthouse set up: https://youtu.be/gqfNL45M7PI
  • The last 15 seconds of this video is probably the most useful for you, where we demonstrate how to position the lighthouse to see the intended play area for the tracker. 
• HTC Vive Base Station Channel Set up: https://youtu.be/zIl316JBOvY
  • If using more than 2 base stations, be sure to change each base station to be on its own unique channel.

PRODUCT SETUP:

Please refer to the ARFX Pro Plugin Manual for a thorough set up. 

• Notable sections to set up for the ARFX Pro Plugin are: 
  • Section 3on how to set up Lighthouses
    • Section 3.4 has a diagram to help show where things should be placed on the virtual production set
  • Section 4 on how to install the ARFX Pro Plugin
  • Section 5 on ARFX Pro Plugin Software Set up and Settings
  • Section 6 on calibration, virtual camera controls, and helpful hotkeys
  • Section 7 on ARFX Options Menu (the easy-to-use menu while in play mode)

Quick Start Guide for Installing the ARFX Pro Plugin to Unreal Engine: 

1. Extract the ARFX Pro Plugin file (ie. ARwall_427_NL_2022-10-26.7z, ARwall_503_NL_2022-10-26.7z, etc.) using 7-Zip by right clicking the file and selecting 7-Zip > Extract Files.... 
2. Choose where you want to extract to, then Click "OK" 
3. Once extracted, locate your extracted folder, open it, and locate ARwall folder. This will be the ARFX Plugin folder. 
4. Copy the ARwall Plugin folder into an existing Unreal Engine 4/5 project’s Plugins folder. 
   1. If your project does not have a Plugins folder yet, please make one. 
   2. How it should look inside the Unreal Engine 4/5 Project Plugins folder after copying the plugin there. 
   3. What it should look like inside the ARwall Plugins folder. 
5. Open the Unreal Engine 4/5 project containing the ARwall plugin.
6. Once you launch the uproject file and it reaches 75%, you will be greeted with two pop-up windows. One will prompt you to enter your Activation Code provided by ARwall and the other will open a browser window requesting you to login.
   1. If this is your first time using the ARwall Plugin this pop-up might be hidden under the Unreal Engine interface or the login screen. Please use ALT-TAB (hold down ALT button and tap TAB button to cycle through to the correct window) to select the Activation Code and Login screens if they are hidden behind other windows.
7. Once you have entered your Activation Code, click OK. Navigate to the ARwall Login screen. 
8. Please log in using your existing login email and password. 
   1. If this is your first-time logging in, click “Sign up now” to create a new email/password account. Be sure to use this same account for all future logins. 
   2. If your email is a Microsoft related account, please use the “Microsoft Account” button to login.
   3. You will have 90 seconds to enter your login information, otherwise this will appear and ARFX will close. If this happens, click OK and launch the uproject file again. 
9. Once you have logged in successfully, an authentication window should appear. 
10. Once you have successfully logged in, navigate to the Plugins window located at the top left section under the Edit tab.
    
11. If the ARwall plugin is not enabled, click the Enabled option and the ARwall plugin should now be activated. Before restarting Unreal we need to check a few more Plugins for the ARwall Plugin to work properly. 
12. Start by searching for nDisplay plugin and disable it, if enabled. Then search for SteamVR plugin and disable it, if enabled. Now you may proceed with restarting Unreal Engine. 
    1. If starting up the Unreal Engine project shows any errors, navigate to project’s “Config” folder and delete any subfolders within that folder. Then proceed to launch the uproject file again. 
13. Refer to the User Manual for the next steps on how to use the ARFX Pro Plugin software, calibrate, and more!
    1. It is highly recommended to review the full manual as it provides an in-depth overview of your new toolkit and all its functionality. Included in the manual are many photos, images, and detailed instructions on the following and more!
       1. Hotkeys list and diagrams
       2. Bookmarks
       3. ARFX Pro Plugin UI
       4. ARFX Options Menu

TROUBLESHOOTING 

If you run into any issues, please review Section 8 of the User Manual which outlines many of the common issues when getting started in Virtual Production. If you don’t find your answer there, please reach out to us at Support@arwall.co  and provide the following: 

• A detailed explanation of the issue you are having
• Steps you were taking before the issue arose
• Steps you have already taken
• Photos/video of the issue if applicable

Feel free to reach out to us @ support@arwall.co if you have any questions or issues. Thanks!