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stijnscanbie
New Participant
August 5, 2025
Solved

Unable to find UE5 equivalent documentation on WebCamTexture

  • August 5, 2025
  • 10 replies
  • 367 views

Hi all,

I've found out that with MetaXR's Passthrough API, using Unity, you can access the WebCamTexture to display on, for example, a plane.

I'm in need of this feature in my project made using Unreal 5 and the lastest MetaXR plugin yet I cannot find any information or documentation on how to do so. Going through the C++ files I fail to find any references to that system or equivalent. Why is this missing?

Kind regards,

Stijn Simons

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Best answer by innit

I don't think camera functionality has been added to the UE branch yet. There hasn't been much activity in the UE5 integration from Meta recently; I'm not sure why. You could implement it on the Android side and pass it back into Unreal using JNI calls, but that's probably more trouble than it's worth.

10 replies

innitAnswer
Inspiring
August 7, 2025

I don't think camera functionality has been added to the UE branch yet. There hasn't been much activity in the UE5 integration from Meta recently; I'm not sure why. You could implement it on the Android side and pass it back into Unreal using JNI calls, but that's probably more trouble than it's worth.

    innit
    Inspiring
    August 7, 2025

    Lots of people are waiting on UE5.6 support and the UE5.6.1 fixes; no word from Meta or Epic on any Meta XR progress (kind of strange). We have UE5.7 is coming along, fun times.

      stijnscanbieAuthor
      New Participant
      August 7, 2025

      Sad to see it abandoned like this, we're in need of a passthrough blur and this is (so far) the only promising way. Thanks for the response regardless.

      jameswood32
      jameswood32
      Inspiring
      August 7, 2025


      You're right — Unreal Engine 5 doesn't have a direct equivalent to Unity’s WebCamTexture out of the box. WebCamTexture in Unity makes webcam access very straightforward, but in UE5, you’ll need a bit more setup. Here's how you can approach it:

       

      WebCam Input in UE5 — Options:

       Use the Media Framework

      UE5 has a built-in Media Framework that allows you to stream from webcams and other video sources:

      Open your project and go to Add New > Media > Media Player.
      Enable “Video Output Media Texture Asset”.
      Choose your webcam as the Media Source (you may need to use MediaIO or WmfMedia plugin for this).
      Create a Media Texture and apply it to a material or UI element.

      Make sure the WmfMedia plugin is enabled (Edit > Plugins > Media).

       

      2. Third-party Plugins

      There are community or marketplace plugins that simplify webcam access, like:

      OpenCV for UE5 (requires setup, but very powerful).
      UEWebcam plugin (on GitHub or Marketplace depending on your needs).
      These can give you more direct access to pixel data, much like Unity’s WebCamTexture.

       

      3. Blueprints vs C++

      You can set most of this up with Blueprints using Media Framework components, but for more advanced use (e.g., accessing pixel data), C++ or plugins like OpenCV are your best bet.

       

      Notable Differences from Unity:

      No built-in direct webcam texture class — you need to build your pipeline with Media Framework.
      Performance and latency can vary depending on the plugin or media source.
      Unreal focuses more on professional media ingestion pipelines (e.g., SDI, NDI, etc.) so it's a bit heavier than Unity’s lightweight API.

       

      TL;DR:

      Try using Media Framework with WmfMedia plugin for basic webcam texture functionality in UE5. For advanced use (like pixel manipulation), consider OpenCV integration or a third-party plugin.

      stijnscanbieAuthor
      New Participant
      August 7, 2025

      Please do not throw my question in ChatGPT and copy what it outputs. This doesn't align to what I've asked, specifically camera access in the Quest.

        RiverExplorer
        RiverExplorer
        Honored Contributor
        August 7, 2025

        Have you seen? Maybe this will help? There is a Meta Unreal passthrough-sample.

        I have tried it, and it works.

        RiverExplorer.US]@gmail.com https://RiverExplorer.games
          stijnscanbieAuthor
          New Participant
          August 7, 2025

          The passthrough itself is working - that’s fine. My issue is that I cannot make a gaussian blur on the passthrough layer as it is not rendered by unreal but by Oculus itself. If I’d want to make a blurry vision effect, I’d need the underlying data (the camera view) in order to apply this postprocessing effect.

            RiverExplorer
            RiverExplorer
            Honored Contributor
            August 7, 2025

            Maybe dumb, but one of the examples is layer placement. Could you put a blurred translucent object in front of the view?

            RiverExplorer.US]@gmail.com https://RiverExplorer.games
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