Enable Neural Frame Rate Upscaling in Unreal Engine
Introduction
Understand neural graphics and NFRU
Set up the development environment
Set up the Unreal project with NFRU enabled
Validate NFRU in Unreal Engine
Understand console variables for NFRU
Set up a debug view in Unreal Engine
Use RenderDoc for Arm GPUs with NFRU for debugging and analysis
Next Steps

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Install neural-graphics-for-unreal

  1. Open Unreal Engine 5.4 or 5.6 and create a new Third Person template project using the C++ option.

    Image Alt Text:Unreal Engine project selection screen showing a C++ Third Person templateCreate a C++ project in a supported Unreal Engine version

  2. Close Unreal Editor.

  3. Create a Plugins directory in the project root if it does not already exist.

  4. Copy the complete cloned neural-graphics-for-unreal folder into the project’s Plugins directory. Include the Binaries\ThirdParty\VulkanMLEmulation\Win64 directory populated by DownloadEmulationLayer.bat. Do not copy selected subdirectories or create a symbolic link.

    The resulting directory structure starts as follows:

        

        
        
<project-root>\
├── <project-name>.uproject
└── Plugins\
    └── neural-graphics-for-unreal\

  5. Right-click the project’s .uproject file and select Generate Visual Studio project files.

  6. Open the generated solution in Visual Studio. Select Development Editor and Win64, then build the solution.

  7. Start the project in Unreal Editor. If Unreal Engine prompts you to rebuild missing modules, accept the prompt and wait for the build to finish.

Use Vulkan as the rendering hardware interface

Unreal Engine uses DirectX by default on Windows. NFRU requires Vulkan:

  1. Open Edit > Project Settings.

  2. Go to Platforms > Windows > Targeted RHIs > Default RHI.

  3. Select Vulkan.

  4. Restart Unreal Editor to apply the change.

    Image Alt Text:Project Settings with Vulkan selected as the default RHI under Targeted RHIsSet Vulkan as the default RHI

Set a supported backbuffer format

NFRU does not support Unreal Engine’s 10-bit RGB, 2-bit alpha backbuffer format (PF_A2B10G10R10). In Edit > Project Settings > Engine > Rendering, set Frame Buffer Pixel Format to 8-bit RGBA. This sets r.DefaultBackBufferPixelFormat=0 and selects a supported backbuffer format.

Alternatively, add the setting to the project’s Config/DefaultEngine.ini under the renderer settings section:

    

        
        
[/Script/Engine.RendererSettings]
r.DefaultBackBufferPixelFormat=0

Restart Unreal Editor after changing the setting. If the renderer settings section already exists, add only the r.DefaultBackBufferPixelFormat=0 line to it.

Enable Arm Neural Graphics Plugin

To enable the plugin:

  1. Open Edit > Plugins.
  2. Search for Arm Neural Graphics Plugin.
  3. Enable the plugin if it is not already enabled, and restart Unreal Editor if prompted.

Image Alt Text:Unreal Engine Plugins window filtered for Arm, showing the Arm Neural Graphics Plugin enabled with its checkbox selected. This confirms that the plugin is ready to use in the project.Arm Neural Graphics Plugin enabled in Unreal Engine

Configure NFRU project settings

Open Edit > Project Settings > Plugins > Neural Graphics 1.1.1 to view and configure the NFRU settings stored with the project.

These project settings persist with your project. You can use the r.NFRU.* console variables to inspect or change NFRU behavior in Standalone Game or a packaged build.

Troubleshoot issues with setup

If NFRU doesn’t start, check the following setup issues.

“Bad Image” error for ngsdk_windows_x64.dll

If Windows reports a “Bad Image” error for ngsdk_windows_x64.dll, check that you copied the complete neural-graphics-for-unreal folder from the cloned repository. Do not mix plugin files from different revisions or Unreal Engine versions.

Image Alt Text:Windows Bad Image error for the Neural Graphics SDK DLLA Bad Image error can indicate missing or incompatible plugin binaries

Replace any incomplete plugin copy with the complete folder from the clone, regenerate the Visual Studio project files, and rebuild the solution.

Vulkan backend support error

If you see a “Plugin only supports Vulkan backend” error, confirm that Vulkan is selected under Platforms > Windows > Targeted RHIs > Default RHI, then restart Unreal Editor.

Image Alt Text:Vulkan backend error message in Unreal EngineThe plugin reports an error when Vulkan is not the active RHI

Unsupported backbuffer format

Image Alt Text:Arm NG NFRU warning that PF_A2B10G10R10 is an unsupported backbuffer format, followed by the supported formatsNFRU is disabled when the backbuffer uses an unsupported format

If NFRU reports PF_A2B10G10R10 as an unsupported backbuffer format, confirm that Frame Buffer Pixel Format is set to 8-bit RGBA (r.DefaultBackBufferPixelFormat=0). Relaunch Standalone Game after applying the setting, or package the game again with the updated project configuration.

Missing Vulkan ML extensions

If the project starts but NFRU is unavailable, check that DownloadEmulationLayer.bat completed successfully. In Vulkan Configurator, point the layer path to the plugin’s Binaries\ThirdParty\VulkanMLEmulation\Win64 directory. Enable both layers, place Graph before Tensor, and keep Vulkan Configurator running. The Vulkan environment must expose VK_ARM_data_graph_optical_flow for NFRU’s optical-flow stage.

You have now installed and configured the plugin. Next, run Standalone Game or package a Windows game build to validate NFRU.

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