Quick start

Updated October 2026

Describes how to set up Dousen for a studio: get a server, configure a project, set up an artist workstation with DousenDesktop and the Unreal plugin, and run a first test publish.

During the free studio beta, cloud self-serve signup is closed and accounts are set up by hand. To get one, request early access.

Set up the server and project

A project admin does these steps once, before the team is onboarded.

  1. Get a server. On Dousen Cloud, request access, and Dousen provisions a studio instance for you. To self-host, get a license token from Dousen, then run the server with Docker Compose as described in Self-hosted install. It listens on port 8080 and binds to 127.0.0.1 by default. To let artists reach it, put a reverse proxy in front of it, or set DOUSEN_BIND_HOST=0.0.0.0 on a trusted LAN.
  2. Create the project. Sign in to your studio’s /portal/ as an Admin. On a self-hosted server, that is https://<your-host>/portal/ behind your reverse proxy, or http://<server>:8080/portal/ on a trusted LAN. Open Projects, click Create Project, enter a Project Name, choose a Version Control System, and click Create.
  3. Configure the project. On the project’s Project settings tab, fill in the sections below. Each has its own Update button. Check the message that appears after you click it.
    • Depot Path (Perforce projects), for example //depot/MyGame/.... Artists enter the same path in the wizard’s Workspace step, so send it to them before you roll out.
    • Source Repository (Perforce projects), if source art lives in a separate repository. See Source repositories.
    • Jira Configuration: the Jira Base URL, Project Key (for example DOU), Email and API Token. To move an issue when its changelist is submitted, also set jira.on_submit_transition in Pipeline settings. See Transition the issue on submit.
  4. Add naming and validation rules. Define and save one test naming convention. Then set which validators run for each asset type, and their severity, and the pipeline settings for the DCCs you use.
  5. Optional: set up catalog materials. Follow Create the catalog in Unreal, and check that the portal’s Materials tab shows the catalog.
  6. Add a test account. Invite the artist who will run the first test publish. See How artists sign in.
  7. Note the project details. Write down the project name, paths and project UUID, so artists can check their own setup.

How artists sign in

Every artist enters the same address in the wizard’s Server step. How they sign in depends on how your studio runs Dousen. For sessions, tokens and how each method creates users, see User and auth management.

The Server step of the setup wizard. Self-hosted is selected, and the Server URL field contains a sample address with a Test Connection button below it.
The Server step. Screenshots on this page use a sample project.
MethodStudio typeHow it works
Local password Self-hosted DousenCore checks the password. In the portal, an admin opens Users, clicks Invite User, enters an Email, Display Name and Role, and clicks Send invite. The invitee gets an email with a link to set a password. If the server can’t send email, the portal says so, and you can use Resend invite later.
External directory Self-hosted, with DOUSEN_AUTH_MODE=ldap The studio’s LDAP or Active Directory checks the password. Dousen creates the user on their first sign-in, with a starting role from their directory groups. A role that you set in Dousen is never overwritten. Invite User creates the user in advance with the role you choose.
Cloud single sign-on Cloud The instance has no passwords of its own. Users arrive through a single sign-on exchange from DousenControl. In DousenDesktop, they sign in with their cloud account password, or click Sign in with Browser for an OAuth sign-in with PKCE. A user in more than one studio sees the Choose Studio dialog first. Invite User in the portal sends a team invitation through DousenControl.

Set up an artist workstation

Set up one test workstation first. It needs the test artist’s account, Jira access, a Perforce login and workspace, a local source root, the DCC executables and the Unreal project.

  1. Install DousenDesktop.

    The Windows installer (NSIS) includes the app, the DCC addons and the Unreal plugin. DousenDesktop updates itself.

    On a cloud studio, you can fill in the wizard’s Server step for artists with a configuration bundle, passed with --config-url or dropped as a dousen-config.json file. The rest of the wizard still runs. See Pre-configure machines.

  2. Run the setup wizard.

    The first time DousenDesktop starts, it opens a full-window wizard. Click Get Started to begin the six steps, or click I’ll set up later to close the wizard and set up from Settings instead.

    The wizard’s welcome screen with a Get Started button and an I’ll set up later link.
    The welcome screen.

    Every step except the last has a Skip button, and no field is required before you click Next. Enter what you have and finish the rest in Settings later. The last step has Finish instead.

    StepWhat it asks for
    ServerDousen Cloud or Self-hosted, and the control plane URL or server URL.
    JiraYour Jira base URL, email and API token. Test Connection checks them.
    Version ControlPerforce Helix Core (with your P4PORT and P4USER, and Sign in to Perforce), or Git / Skip for now.
    WorkspacePerforce only: the depot path, a local root and a workspace name. The wizard checks for an existing mapping, or creates a workspace.
    Unreal ProjectThe path of your .uproject file. The wizard checks for a Plugins/DousenUE folder.
    DCC ApplicationsThe DCCs the wizard found on your machine, with a checkbox for each. + Add manually adds one it didn’t find.
    • Jira: if Test Connection fails, the status line shows the error. Click Skip, and fix the connection later in Settings → Jira. See Jira tasks.
    • Version Control: if you choose Git / Skip for now, the wizard skips the Workspace step. Changelists, file locks and streams need Perforce.
    • Workspace: enter the depot path and click Check. If no workspace maps the path, enter a local root and a workspace name, and click Create Workspace. The wizard doesn’t sync the new workspace, so sync it from P4V or UnrealGameSync before you continue. If the Helix command-line client isn’t on your PATH, you see “Failed to start p4. Is it installed and on PATH?”. If your project keeps source art in a separate repository, select Source art lives in a separate repository and fill in the fields that appear. See Automatic workspace from the depot path and Source repositories.
    • Unreal Project: this step doesn’t install the plugin. You do that in step 4.
    • DCC Applications: the wizard searches the Windows registry, common install folders and your PATH for Blender, Maya, 3ds Max (Windows only), Houdini, Substance Painter and Substance Designer. Clear the ones your studio doesn’t use. The wizard doesn’t look for Unreal.
    The Version Control step of the setup wizard, with a Perforce Helix Core option and a Git / Skip for now option selected.
    The Version Control step.
  3. Launch DCCs from DousenDesktop.

    Start each DCC from the apps bar in DousenDesktop. Desktop starts it with the Dousen addon loaded, and the addon connects to the local bridge on 127.0.0.1:8766. A shortcut on your desktop starts the plain application without the Dousen panel. To check a DCC’s executable path, open Settings → DCC Apps. See DCC addons.

  4. Add the Unreal Engine plugin.

    In Settings → Unreal, click Install into .uproject to copy the DousenUE plugin into your project’s Plugins folder, or copy the folder yourself. Then add the connection settings to the [/Script/DousenUE.DousenProjectSettings] section of Config/DefaultDousenUE.ini in your Unreal project. Don’t put them in DefaultEngine.ini.

    INI[/Script/DousenUE.DousenProjectSettings]
ServerScheme=https
ServerHost=<your-studio-core-host>
BridgeRelayHost=localhost
BridgeRelayPort=8766
ProjectId=<your-project-id>

    Set ProjectId to the project’s UUID. BridgeRelayHost must be localhost, 127.0.0.1 or ::1, because DousenDesktop runs on the same machine as the editor. For every key and the environment variables that override them, see Configure the plugin.

Verify your first complete publish

Run this test on the workstation you just set up, before you onboard anyone else. It goes from a task to an asset in Unreal. For the stages a publish passes through, see Publishing assets.

  1. Open a task.

    In DousenDesktop’s My tasks tab, click a task to see the issue’s description and details. See Jira tasks.

  2. Check the Perforce connection.

    The status bar should read P4: <stream> or P4: <client> (classic). If it reads P4: not connected, see Perforce.

  3. Try a badly named asset.

    Launch a DCC from DousenDesktop and publish an instance whose name breaks your naming conventions. Depending on your validator settings, Dousen blocks the publish or warns you before anything is published. See Asset validation.

  4. Publish a correctly named asset.

    Save the source file inside the project’s source root, and open the Dousen panel in the DCC. The panel lists the publishable objects in your scene as instances. Check only the instances you want to publish, click Validate, and fix any errors. Review any warnings, and then click Publish.

    In Substance Painter, set the Target Unreal mesh before you publish texture sets. For the panel in each DCC, see DCC addons.

  5. Check the asset in Unreal.

    Start Unreal Editor with the project and the DousenUE plugin enabled. In DousenDesktop, open Publish history and wait for Imported and saved in Unreal. Then find the asset in the Content Browser. If Publish history shows the import as failed or unconfirmed, check the project in Unreal before you publish again. See Recover from a failed publish.

After the test, review and submit the task’s changelist as you normally would. You are ready to onboard the team when an artist can select the project, open a task, save a source file under its mapped root, and publish one instance into the expected Unreal folder.

Next, read Publishing assets. Before you set up geometry profiles or project import stacks, read Unreal Interchange.