Performance¶

What the Construction Costs¶

What	Cost
An entry in Line mode	1 `InstancedStaticMeshComponent` per unique material combination for that entry. Hundreds of instances — a few draw calls.
An entry in Curve mode	1 `SplineMeshComponent` per each segment. 500 segments = 500 components.
An actor entry	1 `ChildActorComponent` + 1 actor per position.

Component count is the main factor in editor rebuild time and in-game frame cost.

Line by default. Only enable Curve where the mesh actually needs to bend.
Fewer material combinations. Every new combination in Line mode is another component.
Large final constructions — merge. Merge to Static Mesh + Nanite is almost always a better result than thousands of live components.
Split long constructions across several actors. Rebuilding after each edit is faster, and clamping is more precise.
For shaping the layout, temporarily set Mode = Visible Only Spline — the spline can be moved without rebuilding the meshes.

If the step along the spline (mesh length + Spacing, in Curve accounting for Additional Scale X) is smaller than 0.01 cm, the entry isn't placed, and a warning is written to the log. This used to be able to hang the editor.
The same applies to the actor step Gap between Pivot Points being smaller than 0.01 cm (0 still means a single actor, as before).
No more than 1,000,000 elements are placed per entry; the rest are dropped with a warning.
Plugin messages are written to the LogSplineCraftFlow log category.

Mobility = Static is needed for components to take part in static lighting bakes.
Rebuilding at game start recreates the components. If the project uses baked lighting, check the result in a packaged game or use Merge to Static Mesh.