Starting to get a depression.

What seemed to be the most simple task turns into a headache.

I instanced cogwheels in my asset which turn nicely. Different sizes, different rpms depending on their teeth/diameter.

Animates brilliantly in Houdini. Since the cogwheels are instances I thought they would turn nicely in UE4, too.

NOPE. I guess it's about that the asset just cooks once and then is “stached” by UE4. No more “Hey, do you have updates concerning the rotation of your cogwheels? I'd like to spin them. If you want to.” questions between the engine and unreal.

It's 2020 and turning objects inside a 3d app isn't anymore state of the art, but I guess unreal makes an exception.

How can I spin a lot of cogwheels in UE4? Just by setting an individually angle on each instance. No collisions or so required. Everything gets calculated by time and diameter. That's all.

If a blueprint is the only way to go, how then do I access the instances in my asset and update their rotations or even positions? Technically? Is there something like “get all instances by name” function which creates an array I could loop over and update values? Looked up the web for half a day without success.

If you have an idea how to do that, I'd be really happy to hear about it.

Cheers
Tom