Batching Tools

Check your PM!

Also, do I have to keep the batched stuff under the "combined object" group that has the static batching/unity batching Baking button?

You didn't say if I should build my level with the tiles, select the whole objects/tiles of the level and then use batching tools, or should I use Batching tools on only the tiles which are already going to be used to make the level that I am going to be duplicating?

Thanks.

 

Hi,

First you should decide if you need the parts or the BTStatic. After that, you "bake" what you decided. Once it is baked, move them as you wish.
"Baking" in the above context is use to describe the discarding of duplicated geometry. After you combine the materials, in the Hierarchy view under the combined objects you have two identical representations of the selected geometry. The selected geometry is composed by many meshes with many materials. Under the combined objects you have the parts, that are many meshes with one combined material and the BTStatic, which is 1 combined mesh with one combined material. You choose either by the popup selector on the combined materials gameobject script, parts are noted as Unity Batching, BTStatic as BTStatic ( page 13 of the manual ). After you select which one you want, pressing the Bake button discards the mesh renderer and the mesh filter of the other choice, that is if you bake the BTStatic, the parts mesh renderer and mesh filter will be discarded, as well as the combined objects script. After doing that you can place what exists inside the combined objects as you wish.
The original mesh filters and mesh renderers are still available under inside the original objects gameobject. Also, the parts and the BTStatic are available for re-use in the Batching Tools Prefabs folder, allowing you to re-use them in the same scene, in other scenes, or to re - combine them. Also, the parts and the BTStatic can be batched using Unity batching static or dynamic ( within each method's constrains ).

My opinion is to build the level first. Afterwards, combine the entire static geometry of the level or parts of it using Batching Tools.

If you find that something of the above is not clear, or that you need more information on something else, please ask.
Thanks for the feedback,
-Ippokratis

 

Perfect, did just that!!

 

Update:
Batching Tools v1.4 beta is ready, now it is testing time !

Changes :
- BTDynamic is included, a new batching mode that allows you to batch multiple meshes with many materials into one skinned mesh with one material.
- The batched meshes are not moved to the combined objects gameObject, they stay where they are.

I started sending the v1.4 beta to the testers, if someone applied for the beta and did not received it yet, please send me a pm.
If someone is interested in the testing the beta ( only requirement is to be a customer already ), please send me a pm.

 

Hey, I never asked this a few hours ago...but what's the point of batching mesh renderers into skinned mesh renderers?

 

Hi,

This is a very good question for an upcoming FAQ.

The problem :
You plan to have many moving objects on screen only to find that your game freezes. Imagine that you want to create a 2d shooter. Multiple moving objects - if rendered at 1 draw call per item - cost too much. On desktop, >50 moving objects on machines with integrated GPUs could be showstoppers. On mobile, even fewer.

The solution that came is Unity dynamic batching. It has some problems too :
- It works on objects with <300 vertices
- It works with few specific shaders
- Can create performance spikes due to the Mesh.CreateVBO().

MikaMobile had used a different approach ( and was kind enough to share it ): He made a skinned mesh out of the meshes he wanted to move. BTDynamic automates this approach, aka takes many meshes with many materials, creates a texture atlas, a combined material, one skinned mesh which includes the separate meshes and 1 bone per mesh ( its transform ). It takes 3 clicks. ( Select gameObjects - mark them - combine them ).

BTDynamic is another tool in your pipeline, not the solution to every problem, but it can help :
- When you want constant performance instead of spikes
- When you need other shaders than those that dynamic batching supports
- When you need a higher vertices count

If you need some batched moving objects that appear together ( i.e a particle effect, bullet rows ), this method is advantageous over dynamic batching. In other situations, dynamic batching is a better approach. Those claims have to be tested and profiled but the first results are promising.

Update :
Documentation, new graphics for the Asset Store, video tutorials, articles on the blog, testing and profiling - it will take some more time, possible release Monday 13 - Monday 20 February. Thanks a lot the beta testers for their feedback so far !
-Ippokratis

 

Hi,
Update :
Thanks the beta testers for their contributions,
Several issues are discovered and I am working on tackling them.
Thanks for your patience,
-Ippokratis

 

This is great stuff as always, I can't eumerate the number of uses that this tool might have.

 

Thanks for your kind words,
Now, can you remind me your paypal account so can send you the money as we said...

 

Hiya Ippo,
First I just wanted to say I got turned onto your thread by hippocoder... hehe... Hippo directed me to Ippo . And from what I'm reading so far it's fantastic.

I have no problem plunking down the $35 (yes I want shader support) before your price goes up next week I just want to get your honest opinion on BTtools cutting my draw calls. Also, with shader support, will you just say "Yes, this shader will work" / "No, this shader will not work" OR will you actually help me to get the shader to work and provide advice on streamlining my shader? I am an artist not a programmer and have pieced this shader together thus it's probably not as optimized for mobile devices as it could be.

The reason I started looking into batch rendering tools is Unity's built in batch rendering doesn't seem to be very efficient, or work properly, or what not. It's just not working. Let me describe what I'm doing in my game and you can tell me if your script will help reduce my draw calls.

Myself and a buddy at another of my companies studios are making our own mobile shooter, nothing special, just a solid space shooter, think Do Don Pachi, or Mars Matrix. We are doing the ship modeling in Maya and Max, exporting as FBX's and bringing the models into Unity. I am parenting the ships, or ship parts to dummy objects for control. I am not using skinning, just parenting. Currently our basic enemy ships range from 600-800 tri's. We were going to cut that back for Unity batching and made a few extreme examples but the batching tool in the free version of Unity seems very erratic as to weather it wants to batch or not, http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/12...hat-I-m-not-understanding?p=825326#post825326, this is where hippo suggested your tool.

I've read through most of your thread and plan to read through your documentation, and watch your videos this weekend but figured asking never hurts and you seem very eager to help, and build this product.

My game currently works in wave's of enemies, on screen at any given time there will be 0 to 20 enemy ships moving independently, nothing is skinned, all ships are parented to individual dummies that controls them, and then parented to a master Wave" dummy. Like I said, each ship is currently 600-800 tri's. From the thread its looks like BT v1.4 of your tool can do the following for me....
-dynamically batch all my ships regardless of triangle count. I create and test a "wave" of enemies, once I am happy I select the ships in that wave, hit the "combine children" button and BT will combine all the ships and make it the minimal number of draw calls needed.
-automatically build the texture atlas. When BTtools builds the atlas will it adjust UV's of the models? Will it take into account for objects that share the same texture, for example if I have 4 of ship A and 4 of ship B will the auto building of the atlas actually put 4 copies of texture A and 4 of Texture B OR 1 of texture A and 1 of Texture B? Can we NOT have BTtools build the atlas and do it ourselves to get it the way we want it?
-support my custom shader

Currently even with under the 300 triangle limit of Unity's dynamic shader I get one draw call per enemy and that adds up quick.

Sorry this is going to seem like I'm stopping mid thought and I am, but paid work beckons. I'm hoping this gives you a brief idea of my game and you could advise me if BT tools is what it looks like, the tool I need to save time.

I'll be back and post more Q's this weekend.

Russ

 

Hi Russ,
Thanks for the interest and your kind words,

Price will go up when I will release the next version and it will be 30$ + 10$ shader support = 40 $. I think 5$ will not make a big difference to either of us, really. From what you write, you are interested in planned features, not current ones. If the current set of features is useful, buy it. I strongly believe that BTv1.4 will be out next week but I do not wish people buy my products based on unimplemented features ( I am soo good at marketing and promotion... ).

Nope, I will say this to you now, if you send me the shaders, out of charge, so you know if it worth investing your money in first place. 10$ is for making the necessary modifications to your custom shaders and shipping a version of Batching Tools that works with them, plus support for future upgrades as I posted earlier.

I like that

Unity dynamic batching is suitable for <300 vertices and as many triangles as you wish.

It is not erratic really, it does a reasonably good work IMHO but has some ( well thought ) limitations. Batching Tools simply uses a different approach and each method has its uses. The most probable reasons to break it ( besides > 300 vertices ) is the use of unsupported shaders, non-uniform or uniform scale adjustments.

Not yet, sorry. There is a way to use your custom texture atlas and uv, but if you get into this trouble, why use Batching Tools in first place ? Simply combine the meshes that form a wave in your favorite 3d app ( you have uvs and atlases done, right ? ) and place a bone at each mesh - skinned mesh is ready. Damn. Lost that client ! Seriously, Batching tools in a nutshell unifies meshes - changes their uv - creates atlas textures - uses modified shaders when needed - saves them for later reuse in the scene or with a 3d modelling - 2D app ( .obj, .png ). BTv1.4 will also do skinning, on top of the others. All those can be done manually if you wish - it just takes time and if you change your mind, you take it from the start, while in BT it is much quicker - 1 to 3 clicks.

Jokes aside I will be glad to answer to any other questions you might have and provide more explanations if necessary. If you wish, I can have a look at one of your levels and try to improve your rendering times. Your project is a good use case of Batching Tools v1.4, if you are interested please pm me for details.
Thanks,
-Ippokratis

 

Ippo,
Thanks for the complete answer. $5 is not a big concern of mine. I'm gonna mess with Unity's batching some more this weekend, but I'll also strip down a version and send it to you. Along with my custom Shader, and a description of what it's doing. I really want to use dynamic batching of enemy waves over skinning 75 ships in max for three reasons, one I'm always changing the enemies up adding, moving, or removing a few from each wave to get the numbers just right. Two, I also want an "endless" level and it would be nice if it was 1-3 draw calls regardless of how many enemies are on screen. Three, that would take a heck of a lot of time to do. If in v1.4 all I have to do build my waves and make a few clicks to take a wave and make it a minimal amount of draw calls this would be $40 well spent.

above you list that BTDynamic works with a higher vert count. Whats the limit? and that's per object correct?

Russ

 

Hi Russ,

I am sorry for not making it more clear in my previous post, " if you are interested please pm me for details" was a subtle way of saying that expect a paid reward for my time spend ( obviously too subtle, to the point of not been understood ). Sorry about the confusion, my bad. I do wish to help you with lowering rendering times and if I reach certain goals set, I wish a paid reward ( no results = no money). I prefer to discuss the details on this in private, if you do not mind.

As said before, it is out of charge, so you know if it worth buying it. My suggestion is to send it over. A description and perhaps a prefab would greatly help me. If you send a project along, even better.

Batching Tools cannot help you with this one. The batching is " baked", not done in run time, pretty much same results like max ( plus shaders speed ).

That can be achieved with scripting ( pooling - same objects, recycled, with different textures - behavior - weapons ), not Batching Tools ( no run -time ). Or perhaps I do not understand correct what exactly you try to achieve.

Indeed.

The technical limit is the sum of the vertices of the meshes you combine < 65000.
The actual limit is imposed by platform ( desktop, mobile, web ) other components ( shaders, textures, number of draw calls, lights, other scripts cost e.t.c ).

The benefit is that you can find out what works and what not easier.

E.g. You try to combine 20 meshes with 800verts each ( and their textures ) with Batching Tools and you find out that performance sucks. It took you 2 minutes to find out and it will take you another 2 to try out the next combination.
You try to combine 20 meshes with 800verts each with max and photoshop and you find out that performance sucks. It took you _____ minutes to find out and it will take you another ____ to try out the next combination. Feel free to fill the gaps

Thanks for the interest, I am waiting for the shaders. If you decide to collaborate on lowering the rendering times, send a pm for the details. In any case, I will be happy to provide any additional info you need.
-Ippokratis

 

Don't forget to update the title topic a bit - the initial impression of the thread is that it isn't for moving parts, and moving batching (skinned stuff in 1.4) is arguably the number one reason everyone wants this.

 

Hi,
Thanks for reminding me this, I will, as soon I release the new version. Also thanks for recommending Batching Tools, it is much appreciated.

-Update-
I am nearing to the release of the new beta, all issues reported and other discovered are addressed.
I try to have the beta 4 out by tomorrow, I tried to preserve the animations of the meshes that are combined and this means that I had to re-write big chunks of code. If all goes well, I will submit it until Monday. Thanks.
-Ippokratis

 

I'm still trying to learn the concepts of skinning and meshing and what an artist actually is… but do I have it right in thinking the purpose of a skinned mesh is so it can be manipulated, and the reason you're using it for dynamic meshes is so it acts like a giant invisible blanket which can stretch and deform in order to have the objects be dynamic? Do I have the understanding right?

 

Hi,

Pretty much the same here

Well, you can use it to move-rotate-scale parts of a mesh ( groups of vertices ). If the mesh is continuous, it appears like stretching and deforming. It can be composed from separate parts though too, i.e a door.
Here is a source I found useful, some introductory videos about hierarchies and cg in general, short and to the point.

 

Really great videos! Thanks for the link.

 

So I'm guessing it's not a good idea to use flooring and ground in Batching Tools if your flooring is tiled? (Which I assume most floors are in games)

Any plans to add tiling support in the future?

 

Hi,

Not in this version, but I have some thoughts though about providing a tool that could create the needed geometry for simulating tilling with a texture atlas. It is just a thought at the moment.

-Update-
I send the new beta out ans I started working on documentation. Depending on the issues that may occur, the new release is approaching a bit. I also got a full - time job, so perhaps you notice a small delay to my answers.
Thanks for your understanding,
-Ippokratis

 

Hi,
I have some issues with Unity 3.5. The same code works correct in 3.4 and is erratic in 3.5. I have submitted a bug report today and I am waiting for an answer ( I hope it is simply an error from my side ). That means that the release is postponed.
Every existing user can get the v1.4 by sending me a pm with your invoice number, but keep in mind that it works as expected in 3.4 but not in 3.5.
I sincerely hope this issue gets addressed soon,
Thanks for your patience,
-Ippokratis

 

Hi,
I managed to handle all the 3.5 - related issues, I will try to finish the manual ASAP and release the v1.4
Again, sorry for the delay and thanks for the patience.
-Ippokratis

 

I'm guessing no one else is getting lockup issues with Batching Tools when it's processing the batch? My whole computer freezes when it starts to combine meshes to put in a prefab...which makes me have to full restart my computer...

 

What will be the price of the new BT with static and dynamic stuff for a new customer ?
Will be this update free for existing customers ?

I never had my Mac frozen by the combine operation, but we are making just small batches, as we are working for the mobile platform and the resulting combined meshes are never over the 65K vertices.

Unity3D 3.5 overpass the 65k vertices limit by splitting the huge mesh automagically.

Maybe some issue when working on PC/MAC titles ( so huge projects with huge media ) is coming up because of this ?

 

Hi,

It happens only with Batching Tools ? Or you have similar problems when you use Unity anyway ? In general, the more meshes - vertices - textures you have to process the more time it takes but if it freezes the computer, something is wrong. Can you send an example scene that reproduces the described behavior, so I can check it ?

30$

Yes
Thanks for the feedback, if you have any other questions, or need further clarifications, please ask.
-Ippokratis

 

Hi,
The new version of Batching Tools is submitted for review, hopefully it will appear soon in the asset store.

 

Batching Tools v1.4 is available at the Asset Store

 

Hey Ippo,

Downloaded the new version and am getting this error:

I am going to delete the folder and redownload to see if its a fluke...

EDIT: There is definitely a problem. Anyone else got this yet?

 

Everything works fine for me...

 

So if I use this to combine all the objects in my game... can I still use Occlusion culling? If all the objects are combined wouldn't occlusion culling no longer work?

 

Hi,

jjricky :
Thanks a lot for the feedback, could you please specify the platform you are testing against as well as the unity version you are using ? I am currently looking at different combinations, this info could help me fix it sooner.

chief1234 :
It must be a certain combination of platform - unity version that brings this error up, hence you do not see it.

TouchSoft :
In your case, as a Unity Pro user, you can use BT in the following ways :
1. Use it to create shared materials for use with Unity static batching - occlusion culling.
2. Use it to combine meshes that will be seen as one, i.e a house made from different meshes - submeshes.
3. Use it to create skinned meshes for moving objects, so you get no VBO.Create performance spikes (as is the case with Unity dynamic batching).

In every case the accelerated speed of creation and rendering times improvement can justify the purchase. If you need any further explanations, please ask.

Thanks for the feedback and the interest,
-Ippokratis

 

Hi there-- just bought your plugin and think it provides a much needed functionality. Thank you! Unfortunately, I am getting the exact same error as the poster above (quoted).

The thing for me is it works fine in Unity Editor. It works fine when I build and run on iphone. The *only* time I get this error is when I compile the program from Monodevelop by pressing the 'Debug' button. Then I get the error. I need to compile with monodevelop to take advantage of monodevelop's line break debugging tools.

Any thoughts? I hope I'm not doing something dumb...

I noticed that the BatchingTools.js script which is giving me the error (line 41) is a js script. The rest of my code is cs.

Does that have something to do with it maybe? Thank you!

I'm on Unity 3.5.0b6

EDIT: oops-- just saw the end of this thread and noticed your updated version you posted 2 days ago. I'm not using the latest batchingtools. You think that will fix it? I will update it now...

 

Hi,

jjricky : Please open BTHelper.js, erase lines 7 to 13 and replace them with the following code :

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. #pragma strict
3. #pragma downcast
4. #if UNITY_EDITOR
5. import System.IO;
6. import System.Collections.Generic;
7. import System.Linq;
8.  

This should do the trick. If the problem persists, please do report. I will update ASAP the package in the Asset Store too.

sebastian:
Thanks for your kind words Please do upgrade and if you have any problems, report them back here.

Also, I want to thank everybody a lot for the support Please do report if you are having any issues or questions,
-Ippokratis

 

-Update-
l believe that Batching Tools is a useful little tool with good potential but there is some confusion on what it does and what it is good for.
I decided to make a FAQ section in the second post of this thread that will hopefully clear some things up.
Also, I have updated the documentation of the first post.
What is coming next is some video tutorials that will describe the new functionality of Batching Tools and some example projects.
Thanks again for your support,
-Ippokratis

 

Have you had a chance to try the toon lighted outline shader? I will buy the product if that was a part of it.

 

Hi,
wightwhale :
The toon lighted outline shader is not compatible with Batching Tools ( or IOS ).

-Update-
I submitted an updated version that contains some minor bug fixes, when it gets approved, make sure to upgrade.
Thanks for the support,
-Ippokratis

 

Hi Ippokratis,

Could I use your dynamic batching tool for character customization, instead of using this solution:

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/100318-Skinning-package-for-Unity-Pro

My game is multiplayer game where player can customize their avatars. So I can't know for sure which players will enter game with which body parts/textures. How can I reduce the draw calls dynamically using your tool? Is it possible?

TIA,
R.

 

Hi,
rgalvao : Thanks for the interest in Batching Tools. Right now this kind of functionality is not supported. I could build a custom solution for your project, if you are interested, feel free to contact me via pm with more details regarding your project ( sample scene, shaders used, possible combinations ).

-Update-
The updated version got approved, make sure to upgrade.

I have seen some interest in the community regarding toon shaders support. The ones unity provides use cubemaps, cannot be batched and do not play on IOS. I consider releasing some toon shaders I worked on in the past that can be batched and work on ios, as a separate product, in the next month. I also consider releasing some mesh tools I created that allow uv, pivot and scale manipulation.
Ars longa, vita brevis...

 

occasio praeceps,
experimentum periculosum,
iudicium difficile

I already thought your name was interesting... That´s the perfect quote!!!

Tomorrow I´ll send you the PM... Sleep time here...

 

Hi Ippokratis,

I also get the error 'WriteAllBytes is not a member of System.IO.FIle' but the lines you sugges to change already looks like the 6 lines you show here. What could be wrong?

Thanks,
Z

 

I started randomly getting this error as well. As a quick fix, I simply commented out the #pragma strict.

 

Hi,
First of all, thanks a lot for the feedback. I am assuming the error you encounter exists in the latest version ?
You could help me a lot if you specify the platform(s) you are building against when this error occurs.
If you are using a subset of .net, also please do specify.
Thanks a lot,
-Ippokratis

 

Hi Zimp2K,

I uploaded a new version that includes this modification, so this is why the lines are there.
I would appreciate if you could provide the full error message ( including the offending script ) as well as details about the platform you are targeting and the .net subset you are using, so I can recreate the issue locally.
Thanks for the feedback,
Ippokratis

 

These are the error messages:

I'm on Windows 7, Unity 3.5 PRO (Trial). Doesn't matter if I build for web of Windows stand-alone, or .NET2.0 or .NET2.0 subset.

 

By the way, as chief1234 said, commenting out #pragma strict does fix it.

 

Hi,
Thanks for the feedback.

I have no doubts that the problem exists since it is mentioned from many users. I still cannot reproduce it on my machine for some reason. Please use this temporary solution ( commenting out #pragma strict ) until I fix it ( I am thinking of not using WriteAllBytes at all ).
Thanks for your patience,
-Ippokratis

 

Hi,
I uploaded an updated version, 1.42 that is pending approval and fixes the WriteAllBytes error.
Thanks for your feedback, if you encounter any other problems, please report.
-Ippokratis

 

Our game uses only overlapping UVs. is the any way to "convert" them in order for your tool to work?

is there a way to not use the texture atlas tool and just combine the meshes?

is it possible for the tool to accept 2 sets of UV coordinates and choose which to use?

edit:
my 3d artists exported the models again with another set of UV (although it's not the primary)
where do i change the script in order to create the atlas based on the second set of coordinates?

 

Hi Zantal,
Yes, it is possible to just combine the meshes. If you have already created the texture atlas and the uv mapping, you can use Batching Tools to combine the meshes.

It is possible for Batching Tools to accept 2 sets of UV coordinates, you cannot swap them via Batching Tools.

It would help me a lot if you could explain a little what you are trying to do. Right now I cannot really figure out.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

-Update-
The updated version is available for download from the Asset Store, if you find any issues, please report. It should fix the WriteAllBytes error.
Thanks for the support;
-Ippokratis

 

This question is slightly off topic but, because my current test level is made up of many small building blocks, Beast created 130 lightmaps, which comes out to 150MB. If I combined the meshes using Batching Tools and re-did the light maps, would it result in a smaller number of light maps, preferably just a few MB?