rdInst Tutorial 2.3 – Using AutoProxies with AutoInstancing
Last Updated: 3rd October 2025
Tutorial created using rdInst version 1.50
AutoProxies are Proxy Actors that get swapped into the level when an auto-instanced mesh comes within proximity of the player. These give the benefit of being fast at a distance and interactive when close.
This tutorial creates a simple AutoProxy, an actor with a beveled cube with physics turned on – swapped into the level when the player is close. The player can interact with the cube (walk into it) – and when swapped back to the ISM, the new position is kept.
Step 1. Create a new level using the FirstPerson template.
Firstly, create a new level using the FirstPerson template. Either create a new project with that content selected, or add the content if your project from the Content Browser.
Then just add a Basic Level and set the GameMode to FirstPerson.
Step 2. Create the interactive cube Blueprint
Now create a new BP parented from an Actor.
Open it in the Blueprint Editor and add a StaticMesh Component and set the StaticMesh to the Beveled Cube mesh. Turn on simulated physics.
Drag the StaticMesh Component in the outliner up so it’s overlapping the DefaultSceneRoot (you’ll see a message about setting it as root) and set it as the RootComponent.
If you want to see where the instance swaps to the proxy, you can add something like a TextComponent to your BP as well so it shows up in proximity.
Step 3. Populate the level and set up the AutoProxies
First, scale up the floor of the level to make more space, then drag instances of the beveled cube mesh (not the Blueprint) into the level – add as many as you wish, but at least 3.
Now, you only need to do this on one of the cubes: Right-Click on a cube in the level and select the rdInst->Proxy Settings option. This opens the following window:
In the Proxy Settings Window, just set the Proxy Type to “Short Distance Proxy”, tick the “Proxy All Instances” and set the Proxy “Actor” to the Blueprint you created in step 2. Then click “Set”.
Step 4. Enable Auto Instancing
Now just select the “rdInst Settings” actor in the outliner and in the details panel, tick “Enable Auto-Instancing” and “Process Asset Proxy Settings”.
Step 5. Set the Proxy Scan time
Now go to the Proxy Settings section on the rdInst Settings Actor and set the “Proxy Process Interval” to something positive, 0 means scan every frame, numbers higher means every X frames – set it to 3 to scan every 3rd frame.
Step 6. Done, Play the level
That’s all you need to do, now just play the level and walk up to cubes in the level and move/shoot them.