I've used UMG in Unreal Engine for a long time, but when I tried Rive, it changed how I think about UI. It makes animations and interactive menus feel smooth and natural.
I started with a small project to test the early version of Rive. Now, I have updated everything for Unreal Engine 5.7 using the official Fab plugin.
01. How it started: The Technical Preview
When Rive first released their test plugin for Unreal, I built a simple product configurator. I wanted to see if it worked well. I shared that first version on Gumroad to help other people start their own projects.
In that version, I focused on:
State Machines: Making the UI react to clicks and changes.
Small Animations: Making transitions look smooth.
The Workflow: Learning how to bring Rive files into Unreal.
02. The Big Update: UE 5.7 & Fab
The Rive team recently released the official plugin on Fab for Unreal Engine 5.7. This was a big update. I moved the whole project to this new plugin so it works with the latest version of Unreal.
03. Learning the New Data Binding System
The biggest part of this update was learning Rive's new Data Binding system. In the older version, I used the legacy event system in Rive. Which had to be updated to their new Data Binding system.
For this update, I completely rebuilt the project to use Data Binding instead. This is a much better way to work because:
Better Connection: It is easier to link Unreal variables (like colors or text) directly to Rive properties.
Cleaner Code: I replaced the old event system with this new method, making the project much more organized.
Get the Project
I have updated the project files on Gumroad. If you want to see how the new Data Binding works or how to use the Fab plugin in UE 5.7, you can download it here:
