Uni2D beta

Hello,

As you maybe know animation and a lot of new features for uni2D is coming as Beta.
In preparation for this new release, we would like to invite you to participate in a beta preview of the new features

How do I participate to the beta ?
You need to have bought already the current version of Uni2D on the AssetStore. Then, simply send us an email at uni2dbeta@bento-studio.com , including your name, and your invoice number. Once we have verified that you are indeed a Uni2D user, we will send you the information to get new package. That's all !

Please use this thread to make your comments and gives-us feedback.

 

Sent you my details just now, looking forwards to taking a look!

 

I just emailed you my information. Looking forward to seeing the new stuff!

 

I just have tried to make my first animation using Uni2D... following your .pdf file !

* I have created an Atlas with 3 pictures for tests. Seems Ok because I Uni2D added a Texture Atlas gameobject + materials...
* I have created an Animation Library. Seems Ok because Uni2D added a Animation Library gameobject (with loop effect).
* Then... Am I wrong ? I have created a sprite using the new Texture_Atlas (the Texture, not the gameobject) made by Uni2D.
The sprite (gameobject) has appeared on the scene, with 3 pictures !
I added the animation library in the inspector + Play checked !
When I run the scene, seems OK because the 3 pictures "disappear" for only one picture... BUT no animation !?!

Could you help me, please ? With all new elements created I don't know anymore which one to use !?!

6R

 

Hi Bento,

I haven't had a chance to dive into the new animation features yet (although I read through the documentation and the API seems nice and simple!), but I wanted to ask about the texture atlas workflow. Do you have any plans to offer TexturePacker support? I've found that Unity's atlasing functionality isn't as efficient (or visual!), and, for a sprite heavy game, every bit of space matters

 

@ p6r
Check that you don't use Atlas texture. If that's not the case, then you discovered a bug.... we'll solve in the next update that's coming at the end of the week.

@bryantdrewjones
Texture atlasing will be entirely rewritten in the next version !
The good news is you now are following our beta program.
So you will test this new feature as soon as it will be ready (probably in a few weeks, but not promissing anything)

 

Uni2D Beta #2 released

A new Uni2D beta is here, check your mails!

Changelog

New feature
_ Sprite multi selection/edition!

Fixes
_ Fixed animation with atlased textures showing the whole atlas (it's the bug 6R may encountered).
_ Fixed animation clip index in sprite inspector GUI when switching to another animation library with less clips than current index.

Others
_ Broke backward compatibility with Uni2D v1.x (lot of under-the-hood changes for upcoming features).

Known issues
_ Clicking "Apply" in the "Unapplied settings" dialog may throw errors if the dialog appears right after Unity editor has reloaded project scripts.

WARNING
This is a development snapshot. It contains the latests changes but may also have severe known issues. It should not be used in a production environment.

 

any date known for the new Uni2D version release?

 

No sorry.
Without promise anything, end of the year or in the beginning of the 2013.
Next beta is coming!

 

ok. thanks

 

I'm thinking of purchasing Unity 4 Basic (iOS/Android). Will my version of Uni2D (non-beta) still work with it, or do I have to wait for the new version of Uni2D?

Cheers

 

No problem, Uni2D is still compliant with Unity4!

 

Yep I upgraded and tried it a couple of days ago with no problems.

Cheers

 

Uni2D Beta #3 released

A new Uni2D beta is here, check your mails!

Changelog

New features
_ Sprite inspector is fully interactive now. No more "Apply" button: set and see!
_ Like physics, sprite render mesh can now be built directly from texture and save precious fillrate!
_ Sprite materials can now be overrided. Change them in the Mesh Renderer component or drag'n'drop them to the sprite, and Uni2D will do the rest.
_ Pixel perfect ortho camera component.


Fixes
_ Fixed extrusion depth setting not interactive (bug introduced in Beta #2).
_ Fixed always grayed out "Select atlas" button in sprite inspector (bug introduced in Beta #2).
_ Fixed few typos and indentation levels in the sprite inspector GUI.
_ Fixed Uni2DSprite.VertexColor property removed.

Others
_ Duplicated sprites share the same material. Less draw calls!
_ A material is added to the project when creating a new sprite from a texture.
_ Added "Pixel perfect" button in sprite inspector.
_ Added progress bar when building a mesh from a texture.
_ Overall performance improved.
_ Texture-to-mesh algorithm speed improved.
_ Texture import settings will now force NPOT, 4096, readable, no mipmap and automatic true color settings while working. Atlasing is strongly recommended.
_ Added an editor icon to Uni2D sprites.
_ Broke backward compatibility with Uni2D v1.x and previous betas (lot of under-the-hood changes for upcoming features).

Known issues
_ None. Let us know if you encounter a problem.

WARNING
This is a development snapshot. It contains the latests changes but may also have severe known issues. It should not be used in a production environment.

Stay tuned for the next beta!

 

Oh, I'm super excited about the new sprite render mesh feature! Great addition!

 

@bryantdrewjones Thank you! We can't wait to show you the next beta. There are now only two steps before release!

 

The new beta is very sweet! I love the texture atlas, works very well. The animations are pretty interesting, it took me a little work to figure out how it works.

Any info or idea on how to control the resolution issues? I mean like I make an orthographic camera. My output resolution is iPhone, 640x960. I bring in a png 640x960 and make a sprite. To fill the screen I need to set the camera size to 4.8... weird. I would think that it would be 1, or 10 or some even number not 4.8. It may seem nit picky but it is weird.

Maybe you can explain how to make it pixel by pixel correct?

I also have an issue with drag and drop a sprite. I have not been able to get this to work. I am using Windows 8, it didn't seem to work on Windows 7 either. It seems I always have to create a sprite by selecting an image and using create sprite from the menu.

Keep up the great work.

 

Uni2D Beta #4 released

A new Uni2D beta is here, check your mails!

Changelog

New features

_ Multi-atlasing support: Uni2D now uses a custom bin packing algorithm when atlasing, instead of Unity built-in packer.
A single atlas can now be splitted into several atlas textures. Select the maximum atlas size, add your textures and Uni2D will do the rest!
_ Animation workflow revamped, inspector GUI rewritten, animation preview released:
* Totally new animation clip GUI: drag'n'drop your textures directly to the animation clip inspector to add frames! Reorder, add or delete frames in a flash via the embedded controls.
* Simply hover the animation clip header with your mouse and see a live preview without leaving the inspector!
* Use the embedded animation clip player to preview your clip in more details (seekbar, play/pause, frame-by-frame...) directly from the inspector!
* Use the animation clip global atlas setting to atlas all your animation frames at once! Select several clips and pack them together!
* Add clips to your sprites just with a drag'n'drop, or create one directly from the sprite inspector!
* Create an animated sprite just with a simple drag'n'drop! Select several textures, press Shift and drag'n'drop them into the scene: the textures will be sorted by name and an animated sprite is automagically created! As always, you can also press Alt to add physics to the animated sprite!

​

Fixes
_ Removed use of Unity built-in packer, fixes a lot of issues including unexpectable texture cropping and resizing.
_ Fixed making a sprite prefab continuously slowing down Unity editor.
_ Fixed atlas assets forcing original textures to being fetched and stored into memory.

Others
_ Improved global GUI responsiveness.
_ Added a progress bar when building atlases.
_ Added a "Create Animation Clip" button to Sprite Builder window: creates an animation clip from the selected textures or an empty one if nothing is selected.
_ Removed animation library asset, Uni2D follows Unity look'n'feel by managing animations at clip level.
_ Uni2D package restructured.
_ Uni2D asset naming convention more consistent.
_ Broke backward compatibility with Uni2D v1.x and previous betas (lot of under-the-hood changes for upcoming features).

Known issues
_ Unity editor performs sometimes some useless reimports which lead to a short freeze. This issue appears more often and with more severe freezes making Unity unresponsive when working with Unity Asset Server. We're currently investigating this issue.
_ As usual, let us know if you encounter a problem.

WARNING
This is a development snapshot. It contains the latests changes but may also have severe known issues. It should not be used in a production environment.

Stay tuned for the LAST beta and thank you for your support!

 

When will be the last Beta and the official Update?

And what might be future Updates in generell?

 

Hi Mayem,

First I wish you the best for 2013!

So the last beta is for the end of this month.

The official update is for February (the official date will be announced after the last beta because it depends of the severity of the feedbacks)

And for the future update our goal is to make Uni2D the most powerful tool as possible!
So we hope the success of the new version allow us to continue to improve the product as long as possible!

 

Great! I sent you an e-mail with Name/Invoice Number for the actual Beta

 

Any chance that the next version of Uni2D will add prefab support? That's the one issue stopping me from using this tool for projects other than quick and dirty prototypes...

 

Ah, this could answer something that has me tearing my hair out. I made a prefab of a Uni2D object but anytime I used it it would show on the IDE and work correctly, but would not show in the actual game. Well annoying. So what exactly is the problem with it, is it fixable manually for now (and how), and yeah is Uni2D going to fix it soon? Seriously don't want to be duplicating everything...

Cheers

 

Hi,

@bryantdrewjones
Uni2D can't unfortunately use "true" prefab in editor because we work too closely with the resources and scene graph. Since we work both with "compound objects" and "bones", the problem is now bigger. We know it's a big lack but we will introduce a new feature that will compensate it.
However you can use the prefab at runtime.

So @Crviens, please send us your project in order to see what's wrong because Uni2D is supposed to support prefab at runtime.

 

Hi so it's mean that I can make a prefab and then via script Instantiate(Resorces.load("path")) as Gameobject or not?

 

Ok, but give me a few days as I have to fly back to the UK for a meeting tomorrow and so don't have the time till the weekend really.

More importantly though recently I noticed that the object inspector was running really slowly. I mean slow to the point where scrolling through the components took a couple of seconds to register. As did just selecting any property, such as changing the value of a checkbox (in any component). It was fine in the past, and it's only happened recently which leads me to believe it was since I upgraded to Unity 4. This is on an i7 quad core machine, so it shouldn't really be the hardware.

Anyway, I found that this only happened on Uni2D objects. If I selected anything else then the object inpector was fine. Finally I tried minimising the Uni2D component and everything ran fine again. It's only when the Uni2D component is open that the whole object inpector responds really slowly (ie. unusable really).

This is using the standard Uni2D plugin, and not any of the betas.

Cheers

 

@AngryOrange: Yes, you can!

@Crivens : The problem from our side is the very intense use of ressources/altas.
The GUI wants to refresh the list of the atlas and this is very perf consuming. So in pretty big projects, the problem appear very clearly.
The beta version partially patch the problem... and uni2D 2.0 will totally correct this behavior.

 

Mine is pretty small as it happens.

Excellent. Can I upgrade my Uni2D 1.0 with the beta, or do I have to wait for Uni2D 2.0? Would it be a good idea to start the project again when 2.0 comes out? Any idea on a 2.0 release date?

Cheers

 

@Crivens Unfortunately, the new version of Uni2D will broke backward compatibility with Uni2D v1.x. So yes the best for now is to wait the new release always planned for the next month. The last beta will coming soon.

 

I have an issue with the latest beta.

I used 1.0 in my project, then opened the Beta-Package, it compiled and imported the scripts and now i got this error:

Assets/Uni2D/Sprite/Scripts/Uni2DEditorSpriteBuilderWindow.cs(47,35): error CS0426: The nested type `PivotPointType' does not exist in the type `Uni2DSprite'

 

@Mayhem
Sorry about that but this is a normal behavior. As you can read in the instructions that comes with the beta, Uni2D beta is not compliant with Uni2D 1.X
And unfortunately for many (good) reasons the final version of Uni2D will definitely broke backward compatibility with Uni2D v1.x.

 

Oh, alright. So, then i'll wait with further Level-design till the offivial 2.0 Update comes out, so i won't have to build up my project from the very start every time.

Will that be a standard procedure with your future Updates? I mean it isn't very comfortable to build the project again from scratch because of a plugins update :/

Edit:

What i would love to see would be some Playmaker-Actions (http://hutonggames.com/) with Uni2D. Would be great if at least the SpriteAnimations could be Playmaker-Actions.

Edit2:

Do you have a function within your Sprite-Features where i can Flip the Sprite to the left/right ?

Edit3:

A worked a little with the SpriteAnimation, which is a quite nice way to achieve the animation, though i would like a Timeline-Editor where i can arrange sprite for sprite.

Another thing what would be really usefully: Make Frame-Rate possible for every frame, not only the whole Animation.

 

Hey Bento,

I tried using the latest Uni2D during the Global Game Jam, and I ended up switching back to ex2D. The Uni2D workflow is kind of a deal breaker for me. Here are a few things I noticed:

1. Texture atlasing doesn't work. I created a Texture Atlas object through the Uni2D menu and added my sprites to the textures array. When I hit 'Apply,' Uni2D added the generated texture and material to my library. But the generated texture was empty and didn't include any of my source textures. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong on my end, but I couldn't figure it out.

2. Related to the texture atlasing workflow, it would be *so* much nicer if we could use Texture Packer (http://www.codeandweb.com/texturepacker). It's a much better tool (easier, flexible, visual) than any of the ones provided by the popular 2D Unity plugins (ex2D, 2D ToolKit...).

3. I mentioned this awhile back, but the lack of true prefab support really hurts the value of this plugin. For me, it makes Uni2D unusable. I make heavy use of the Unity editor, so instantiating prefabs at runtime isn't an option.

4. Every time I tabbed out of Unity and then back into it, Uni2D popped open a progress bar that seemed to be reprocessing all of the sprites in my scene. It's super annoying, and this behaviour is what drove me back to ex2D during the jam.

I hope v2.0 addresses these workflow issues. I *love* the simplicity of your tool. Looking forward to the next update!

 

@Mayhem

After mailed you about your post, we will make an official announce concerning the update problem in a few weeks.
Edit1: We definitely agree with you about Playmaker.
Edit2: No :/ but good idea again
Edit3: Agree again

We certainly insert these points in the next update (after the first release)


@bryantdrewjones

Could please tell me what is your current version? (last Uni2D official release or last beta) and the exact version on Unity you used.

1.We have tried to reproduce the bug but without success yet. Did you have any idea about the context of this bug. (this could happen on Uni2Dv1.x with unity4)

2.We prefer include internal functionality than working with external softwares. This tool is really great but we don't want our user being dependent of this software if they want create atlases.

3.About the prefab, it's really a problem. We work on solution that will gives you more control on assets. And don't forget that you can always instantiate uni2D prefab at runtime via the code. (even if I understand that is not enough for you)

4.Again we can't reproduce this bug from our side, are you under Windows or Mac os via asset server or not?

 

Narf, can't wait for the new Beta AND the Release. Our Project is currently in a standstill-situation because of the wait for the official new Release (we don't want to make the game with the beta-version, of course) and we just concentrate an generating Content (making graphics, thinking about Gamedesign etc.) rather then work with Unity and can't prototype. And we really don't want to use any other Plugins like ex2D or 2DToolkit because of Uni2Ds simplicity.

 

Thanks for the quick response, Bento! I'll try and put together a simple project that reproduces the two bugs I was seeing. Hopefully I can get that to you tonight or tomorrow.

 

@Mayhem A big, BIG thank for your patience and for your support!

@bryantdrewjones Ok perfect!

 

Hey Bento,

I just sent an email to the Uni2DBeta email address with a sample project demonstrating some of the bugs I was seeing. I was getting this error when trying to generate an atlas:

Thank you for the help!

 

Do you guys consider making a Parallax-Scrolling-Feature?

And please: give us the new Beta!

 

@Mayhem Some news from the beta: 2 days left!
About Parallax we will certainly release something outside the package for the release. (That will be submitted to Unity the 28th February if all is good!)

 

Great, looking forwart to!

Oh, that's interesting. Hope the Parallax-Plugin will work good with Uni2D.

 

Uni2D Beta #5 released

A new Uni2D beta is here, check your mails!

We really work VERY hard on this release and we really hope you will like it.
So we are now near from the official release and we want to thank all of the beta participant!

We are very excited because much more is coming for and after the release.
Thanks again for using and loving Uni2D!

Changelog
New features
_ Smooth deformation
* Bone editor
* Automagically create deformated sprites!
* Super easy setup
_ Add your bones and Uni2D will compute a smooth binding right away.
_ No bazillions of parameters: just tune ONE global bone influence falloff and you're done!

_ Grid render mesh
* Uni2D can now generate grid meshes straight from a texture.
* Grid meshes horizontal/vertical sub divs are parametrized.
* Texture areas below alpha threshold are ignored and no grid sub div are created in order to save fillrate!

_ Added an Uni2D panel in Unity preferences window.

A short summary of the new render mode:


Classic render mode, with multi-atlas, sprite animation,...


One click mesh render mode now smoothly bindable


One click new grid render mode, removing the unused part of the sprite, smoothly bindable


Same mode but more defined.


Setup less bones driven animation system (pose mode)


Now animated!


Quick smooth deformation manual
Posing:
Left click:
* On a bone:
_ Selects the bone.
* On empty space:
_ Resets selection when a bone is selected.
_ Creates a bone when no bone is selected.
* On the last created bone, while creating new bones.
_ Cancels/exits the creation mode.

Right click:
* On a bone:
_ Breaks the bone.
* On a bone articulation
_ Deletes the bone and its children.
* While creating a new bone:
_ Cancels/exits the creation mode.

Red inner disc:
_ Drag to create a new bone.

White outter disc:
_ Drag to move. By pressing ALT, you also move the bone's children.

Escape:
_ Cancels/exits creation mode.
_ Resets selection when a bone is selected.
_ Exits posing mode when no bone selected.

Backspace:
_ Deletes the last created bone when creating new bones.

Arrows:
_ Moves the scene view camera.

Anim:
Left-click
* On a bone
_ Selects the bone
* On empty space
_ Resets selection when a bone is selected.

Dragging:
* On a root bone
_ Moves the bone along sprite plane
* On a child bone
_ Rotates the bone

Escape:
_ Resets selection when a bone is selected.
_ Exits anim mode when no bone is selected.

Some instructions to create a deformated sprite and play with the bone editor.
1) Create a new Uni2D Sprite.
2) Set the render mesh to Grid (advised but not necessary)
3) Open the Skeletal Smooth Binding foldout, click on Posing.
4) In the scene view, click where you want to create a root bone.
5) Move away your cursor and click again to a second bone.
6) Repeat this step to create a third bone.
7) Click again on the last bone to close your chain, or do a right click, or press Escape.
8) Click on Anim.
9) Drag/move the bones at your will and deform your sprite!

Fixes
_ Fixed Unity slowdowns (overall performances)
_ Fixed Unity slowdowns when entering play mode
_ Fixed Unity overloading memory when Uni2D is looking for atlas/animation clip
_ Fixed (stupid) crash when creating an atlas (Unity 4)
_ Fixed vertex color not working
_ Fixed atlas / animation clip selection highlight not working
_ Fixed pivot not working correctly (specially with Unity 4)
_ Fixed sprite prefab creation
_ Fixed playback icons in animation preview (Unity 4)
_ Fixed useless re-imports when switching between apps and going back to Unity
_ Fixed various null exceptions
_ Ton of tiny crash fixes

Others
_ Uni2D now uses a local asset table to work faster with your assets. If you suspect something goes wrong with Uni2D, you can force to rebuild this table by selecting it and clicking Rebuild in its inspector.
_ Sprite inspector only displays animation clips headers now
_ Sprite inspector askas before adding a sprite to an atlas which does not contain its texture
_ New convenient popup menus to add/select atlases/animation clips in inspector
_ Default pivot position is now MiddleCenter
_ Default value of Play automatically is now True
_ Moving the sprite pivot will not (visually) move the sprite's children/bones
_ The first time a texture is imported to Unity, Uni2D will set its own texture import settings and let you able to override them
_ Removed Is Readable texture import setting
_ Removed sprite list from Uni2D Sprite Editor window
_ Added Generated Materials section to atlas inspector
_ Renamed some files
_ Tweaked some GUIs: added foldouts, redesigned a bit, fixed typos, word case consistencies etc.
_ Renamed SpriteRenderMesh enums: Mesh is now TextureToMesh, Rect is now Quad
_ Broke backward compatibility with Uni2D v1.x and previous betas (lot of under-the-hood changes)

Known issues
_ When creating a skinned sprite prefab, the current pose will be considered as the original bindpose
_ As usual, let us know if you encounter a problem.

WARNING
This is a development snapshot. It contains the latests changes but may also have severe known issues. It should not be used in a production environment.

This last Uni2D beta is feature complete.
We're now working hard hunting bugs and fixing GUI/workflow glitches for the official release.
Feel free to join the hunt!

 

when will you have video tutorials of the uni2d beta? i am interested as my game is a 2d -3d hybrid


but would like to see a tutorial before I splurge on it.

ahh what the heck i went ahead and got the package, now I just want to get into the beta. sent my proof of purchase.

also is it 3.5 compatible?

 

Hi, I've a problem importing the last package (Uni2DBeta_v5_20_02_2013). Uni2D menu items doesn't appear and the console show this message: "Assets/Uni2D/Sprite/Scripts/Editor/Uni2DTextureAtlasInspector.cs(176,80): error CS0103: The name `AssetPreview' does not exist in the current context"

I'm running Unity 3.5.7 on MacOSX 10.8.2

what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

 

Same error message for me under Windows 7 and Unity 3.5.7...

Congratulations for these new features and bones !!!
I can't wait to test it...

6R

 

Blank Project created, imported the Beta-Package -> Same Error for me under:

MacOS X 10.7.5 and Unity 3.5.6f4

 

Uni2D Beta #5b released

A new Uni2D beta is here, check your mails!
This (quick) beta fixes few glitches some users encountered.

Changelog
Fixes
_ Fixed Uni2D not Unity 3.5 compatible
_ Fixed smooth binding settings (falloff/skin quality) not updated in sprite inspector

Others
_ Added a separate Smooth Binding Editor window with contextual help, instead of posing / anim buttons in sprite inspector
_ Fixed atlas inspector displaying atlas size with an ending "_" char

Known issues
_ When creating a skinned sprite prefab, the current pose will be considered as the original bindpose
_ In posing/anim mode, the arrow cursor is replaced by random icons
_ As usual, let us know if you encounter a problem

WARNING
This is a development snapshot. It contains the latests changes but may also have severe known issues. It should not be used in a production environment.

We're now working hard hunting bugs and fixing GUI/workflow glitches for the official release.
Feel free to join the hunt!

 

So, do i get this right, the Beta and the future Releases WILL work on Unity 3.5.X ?

 

@Mayhem Uni2D v2.0 have been developed on Unity4 but is currently compliant with 3.5.7 versions. We will test it deeply on 3.5.7 but keep in mind that we will leave the 3.5.x environnement in the future. Again be sure Uni2D v2.0 will be compliant and supported on Unity3.5.7.

 

GREAT ! It works fine !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Funny to see my 2D pictures animated on this way, and directly into Unity3D...

Hope you will update Uni2D for 3.x as long as possible. Why not ?

Thanks,
6R