ForestVision [ Artist Essentials Product ]

@mcbauer I'm checking out the example scenes, and the only one that seems to work is the AssetCollection. You mentioned in an email that there is a scene with grass assigned to a Terrain, but I don't see one.

I'm trying to use the grass included in ForestVision with TerrainComposer2, and it's not rendering properly. I guess I can use the grass/flora as detail objects, but it's not what I was expecting.

 

Inside of 07 Source / Textures / Grounds/ Terrain Painters, you will find 4 grass textures for terrain painting.

I dont have TerrainComposer so I don't know what issues you are having.

What grass in particular are you trying to use? What does "not rendering properly" mean?

 

I don't have that folder. http://imgur.com/a/QEAMj But I'm not interested in textures for terrain painting. I want to place detail grass on the terrain. I see grasses as prefabs, and I can place them but the DryBamboo doesn't render properly.

I created a video to show what I'm doing. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture the dialogue for asset selection. Basically I'm using a Standard Asset grass initially. It's just a texture. From ForestVision, I use a grass texture, but because it's atlassed. It obviously won't work. So then I use a mesh, then a prefab of GreenGrass, and finally DryBamboo. But they aren't lit properly.

https://streamable.com/ti9a2

It's fine if ForestVision's grass is like a detail object, but I was expecting grass textures like from the Standard Assets.

P.S. If the video has trouble playing back, you can click through it to see what I'm doing.

 

Sorry, 07 Source / Textures / Grasses/ Terrain Painters

I think all of your problems will go away with this next update. I added in a few tools to help me speed up fixing things, and I think they will prove useful in general.

 

haha it was staring right back at me in the face one directory above. Maybe I need to take a break? Anyways, that's cool, but there isn't much there. I guess the other flora and grasses aren't set up for what I need. I'm looking forward to the update!

 

Important note for current users regarding this next update. This is going to be a major one, so much so, I'm debating on calling it 3.0. I'm fixing a lot of old issues, deleting old prefabs that have now been fixed, etc, so I would recommend saving out any current prefabs that ship with FV that you are using to a separate directory.

If nothing else, perform a back up on your current version of FV just in case you need something that gets wiped out.

 

Just wondering, will the 3.0 or future updates contain materials to produce vegetation for different biomes?

For example vegetation in a Rocky Desert
http://www.wallpaperfool.com/wp-content/uploads/Landscape-0006/Rugged rocky desert landscape.jpg
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/50000/velka/rocky-desert-landscape.jpg

Also if i want to get an autumn look or maybe something other-worldy (purple or blue leaves), controlling the leaf color via tint is kind of hard to next impossible to get look I'm going for. Is that something you envision the package supporting?

For example: http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/vlcsnap-2015-12-21-21h33m56s626.png

 

I'll add what I can.

I have no plan on providing cell shaders, plenty of other people do that way better than me.

Autumn needs different textures, I agree just changing the tint isn't going to cut it.

 

The cel shaded example was just to show off a color possibility that tint alone can't accomplish. Thanks for taking a look though.

 

My thought from the beginning with FV was to give you everything you need to make whatever trees you need. I provide you with PSD files with the UV templates of the specific branch meshes that go beyond just flat planes so that you can use that to make your own custom branches. I also provide you with those Basic meshes so that you can just make whatever texture you want without worrying about UVs, and yet still make new branches.

This next version of FV will also come with my new Substance maker that will take whatever texture you throw at it and turn it into a Unity substance. It will also come with a 2 channel blending Substance so you can really make some cool barks, or materials in general.

All this to say that I am going to rollout a few more updates, I will try to get in as many new vegetation items as I can, but I don't foresee me trying to create enough vegetation to cover all the possible biomes out there.

I do plan on doing some in depth videos here soon covering everything FV has to offer.

 

Hi mc,

let me say, your work is great. Since you published the first version, you upgraded it regularly. I think you are on the best way to create a really important and permanent asset. I'm looking forward for the next updates. Maybe FV will going to get my choise if I can handle (nearly) all needs for vegetation - tall or small.

 

Any way the grass can move when walking on top of it?

as seen in zelda for example

 

Thanks Tom, that means a lot. def have put the hours in on this project, so it feels good to hear that someone out there enjoys it.

My goal is that you won't have to use any other program to make vegetation. However, I think I have a ways to go before I can meet ALL requirements

 

That vegetation is handled with DirectX 12 shaders, meaning that it is all on the GPU. At some point I'll look into writing a D12 shader, but it isn't going to be any time soon. especially since there are others doing it so well already.

 

So I just want to post up an important note for my customers regarding this next update. I cannot emphasize this enough, please read, and make backups of your current versions.

I have transitioned towards using Substance shaders for the bulk of my work, Which means that I can stop pushing out all of these normal, AO, Height maps. I have added like another 20 bark textures and like another 10 foliage textures, This means that just textures, the package was just under 5gbs. That is ridiculous. By getting rid of those extra maps, the textures now are coming in at 2.6 GBs, a significant decrease, and worth the time in my opinion.

Now, I have created Substances that all you need to provide is the Source Texture, and my substance will generate all of the other maps for you, all without needing to store them any where. Plus you get excellent blending thrown in as well, so you can provide 2 source textures and then blend between them to get even more variety in your trunks.

You will also now get a seasonal approach to handling your foliage. With one slider, you can blend from Winter ->Spring ->Summer -> Fall -> Winter. All with typical Substance control over the little details, like changing the colors of the flowers on the tree in Spring, to how much red has appeared in the leaves in Autumn.

I'm also throwing in a bonus Substance that all you have to do is provide it with the Bark texture, a mask for how you want the branches to look, up to 4 different leaves, and I will generate the new branch for you. No more having mismatched bark textures on your branches. You set the bark texture yourself.

So the major things you need to do is that if you are using those Normal, Height, AO maps some where else, you need to go ahead and save them somewhere other than inside of the ForestVision folder. As you know, when the update gets pulled, its gonna wipe out everything and replace it with the new stuff.

I've also cleaned up quite a bit of the messiness. I had little projects that I started, and left in there--simply forgot about them when I pushed up the updates, all of which are now gone so you will have no errors, or warnings from me.

I doubt that I'm going to get around to making any nice sample scenes yet. I have revamped a lot, added a lot, and done alot with this update. I'm just ready to release it. I promise to make a good scene for the next update. The Asset Collection scene will contain every ready to go tree in it, I'm not including the the individual trunks, branches, etc that you use to make trees, as that would just get crazy.

I'll detail more in a later post about the other things I've added and I will be making a nice video to go with it that showcases everything I always wanted to highlight about ForestVision.

Oh and one final thing, if you have not yet bought FV, now might be a good time to do so, as with the next update, the price is going up.

 

Thats a great update! just wow

 

Thanks Lars.

However, I would like some feedback regarding the FV editor.

This thing has given me a ton a grief, and while it's nice being able quickly scan for what I'm looking for, and then click and have it in the scene, the issues this constantly bringing up for me is a headache that I'm not sure is worth continuing.

So I'd like to hear the thoughts from my customers.

This update was about ready to go and then the editor stopped showing me the thumbnails again, and once again, there is nothing really to help guide me to the solution. I never wanted this product to be about the software, and this add-on is nothing but software.

I'm going to try and see if the 5.5 version of Unity fixes anything, but if it doesn't, I'm really considering dropping it.

Maybe I'll look into keeping the older version with the editor as a separate package, I don't know.

Right now I think I'll pull the tools out of the editor, because I really like and use them all the time, and just scrap the browser deal.


Thoughts?

 

Hi,

I just bought your product and started to play around. I add a trunk and then add branches (that dont have leaves) using the Tree Tool. Afterwards I try to add leaves by selecting a branch and then using the Tree Tool again and it freezes. This doesnt happen with all branches, and I dont think its even applicable to a specific branch. Know if I am doing something wrong?

 

Also when do you expect the update to go live?

 

You'll notice that when you select on a trunk to spawn branches, it adds a Mesh collider to the object. This is how we place the branches along the surface. This is a very processor intensive function, especially depending on what you are trying to spawn on at the time. This is where the crashes can happen. My guess is that if it isn't happening all the time, its happening on more complex branch meshes.

What you want to do is keep your spawning to your trunks, which are all very simple meshes. If you want to spawn on your branches, then you should do that separately and then save that as an optimized mesh, and then pull that branch into the spawner on the trunk. But even still, you have to account for the complexity of what you are trying to spawn onto. Branches are really best made by hand.

Hope this helps, and thanks for your support.

I'm going to do the videos for the update tonight, and submit. So I expect it to go live within the next week.

 

Thanks a lot for the speedy response!

 

New update has been pushed up.

Here is a video showcasing some of the new features.

 

I like your update. But in my opinion, it lacks substances... Do you promise to add a significant number of additional substances, trunks and other parts of trees/vegetation in the future? Maybe I'm short before a purchase...

 

The package contains over 80 branch textures, 50+ trunks and almost 30 grounds, each of these can be turned into Substances with the Texture Adapter that comes with the package.

But yes, Substances are where my main focus is going to be with FV updates from this point onward.

 

FV 2.2 is live.

 

A new part of the FV Tools is the Reset Transformation tool.

I made this because I know that many of you have different scales that you work in, and the scale that I use may not fit yours. So I made this simple tool to help speed things along if you need to reset the scale of any particular tree or mesh.

Scale whatever tree/asset you want, to whatever size you want it to be, then hit Reset Transforms.

This makes a new parent gameobject, with its transforms zeroed out. At that point, you could either save that new object, with your scaled tree as a child, as a new prefab; or if you want to be able to paint that tree on Unity terrain, you can hit the New Optimized button, which will collapse it down to a single mesh, effectively resetting the transforms, and then save that as a new Optimized mesh in whatever folder you want.

 

Latest update includes something new to the FV family.

 

Just to reiterate the new Foliage Blender.

 

Update has been submitted for 2.3

 

Hi Mcbauer,

I'm getting errors in 5.6.0.f3 when trying to build windows project.

lots of errors re 'materialproperty'

Assets/ForestVision/09 Scripts/BV_MultiBlendGUI.cs(221,55): error CS0246: The type or namespace name `MaterialProperty' could not be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?

Assets/ForestVision/09 Scripts/BV_MultiBlendGUI.cs(6,34): error CS0246: The type or namespace name `ShaderGUI' could not be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?

 

those errors have to do with the custom gui layout for the multiblend shader, it really should have no impact on anything. is it stopping you or just warning you?

 

I'm not getting any errors in 5.6

 

FV 2.3 is live

 

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/85190

Pitching my other product, check it out and let me know what you think.

 

That link won't work for us.

 

sorry, long day

 

Hi Mc,

do you think you're on the way to create an alternative to speedtree? Speedtrees looks nice but have bad performance when many of them are used. Could you make a performance comparison between a similar scene with speedtrees and forestvision trees?

And: When will you make better trees than speedtree?

 

Speedtrees benefit from texture atlasing, and LODs. I haven't had time to devote to building in a texture atlas machine, primarily because that is going to be a heavy effort, and I just don't have that kind of free time lately.

Speedtree is great because you can rapidly create all kinds of trees procedurally. I have no desire to go against that. I'm trying to give you tools that will help, but I don't foresee trying to create a procedural generator like ST.

With that being said, I do believe I have made an alternative to ST. Using the assets I give with FV I believe you can make any kind of tree you want. I do have some more ideas about procedural ways I can do some things better, and once I get the texture atlasing in, I think I will have a solid comparison going.

You are going to get a performance hit when many of anything is used in a game engine.

A performance comparison is a good idea.

When am I going to make better trees than ST? .... ouch.

 

Another aspect of ST that I am trying to counter is the fact that with a subscription to ST you not only get all of these tree species to tweak but, let's face it, it's the textures that make it.

I'm working on by passing all of that with my substances. Create your own barks and leaves.

 

Just bought this product and am unable to do a build after importing it into the project (even if I don't have any forest vision objects in my scene.

Playing in the editor works but if a build was attempted before (and failed) then the test will be unplayable (Please fix compile errors prompt) until Unity is restarted.

Anyways, the errors Unity spits out when attempting to build is attached.

It is basically
Assets/ForestVision/09 Scripts/BV_MultiBlendGUI.cs(71,3): error CS0246: The type or namespace name `MaterialProperty' could not be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?

69 times, one for each variable sat in that script such as
MaterialProperty _MainShown = null;

also 1 of these,

Assets/ForestVision/09 Scripts/BV_MultiBlendGUI.cs(6,34): error CS0246: The type or namespace name `ShaderGUI' could not be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?

Being generated from this line

public class BV_MultiBlendGUI : ShaderGUI

-------------------------------

Couple more things,

On startup on the same project (again with no Forest Vision objects in my scene only in the assets folder) I get the two following warnings in the console referring to deprecated lines:

Assets/ForestVision/09 Scripts/Tools/TreeCreator/Scripts/FBXExporter.cs(72,69): warning CS0618: `UnityEditor.ModelImporterTangentSpaceMode.Import' is obsolete: `Use ModelImporterNormals.Import instead'


Assets/ForestVision/09 Scripts/Tools/TreeCreator/Scripts/FBXExporter.cs(72,19): warning CS0618: `UnityEditor.ModelImporter.tangentImportMode' is obsolete: `tangentImportMode is deprecated. Use importTangents instead'

If there is a simple syntax fix can you supply these to me?

Also referring back to the original problem of being unbuildable, the last error on the screen about not being able to build the Player apparently comes from using the unityeditor namespace in a script (thats what my google-fu says anyway).


--------------------------------

This was tested on a project completely free from errors (and capable of being built) prior to importing Tree Vision.

Any ideas?

 

All problems have been addressed and fixed for the next update. To quickly solve the issue, move the BV_MultiBlendGUI.cs into a new Editor folder, right in the same directory where it is.

 

Hi Mc,

any news about that? Sounds really interesting.

In addition: Could you imagine to push this system to a wider range of buildable things, like houses, bridges, walls, fences and so one?

Another thing: A couple of months ago, there was a discussion about the wind system. The FV wind system is not working with the standard unity wind system, that's widly used by other assets. What is your opinion today about this issue? What should we do if we create a scene with multiple things that should blowed away from the wind - not only the branches of a tree. As I know I have to test (trial and error), to find good solutions to combine serveral wind systems. Am I right? Maybe I forget something...

 

We've been in the process of finding a home so I haven't had any time to develop new products yet, but I appreciate your interest. I always thought this would be a cool idea myself, but seeing as how someone else does as well, I guess I'll have to invest some time in developing it.

When I developed the wind system, it was more about seeing an idea I had in my head come to life. I was very happy with the way the branches were animated. I have not put any thought in making it work with the Unity wind because it simply became something that seemed to get no attention. Plus with developing everything else, I simply forgot about it.

I will add it to my list of projects to investigate getting it to work with the Unity Wind.

 

Wow, sounds great. Wish you good luck to find the real new home!

 

Trying to sort out a few issues with the new foliage generator, but I should have it ready very soon, maybe this weekend. With it, there will be no need to store all of these images of tree branches. You will only need an image of a leaf, and then choose a branch mask. The generator will then spawn leaves randomly on the branch. This will then tie directly into the FV_Foliage slider which will again, allow you to blend seamlessly through all of the seasons. The added benefit being that now, you will be able to see the leaves getting bigger as they grow from sping to summer, and then fade into fall.

 

Hm... I would suggest, that the old leafs should fall down, like we can see in fall. That would be great.

 

Hey McBauer,

I used ForestVision a few months ago to make really nice scenes and I loved it. I wanted to download it again, so I saw the 2.3 update available. I can download it OK, but when I try to import it I get a "Cannot decompress package" error. I've tried deleting it from my Library to do a fresh download, but nothing seems to fix the issue. Sometimes my Unity does this to larger assets, so want to make sure I'm not missing something...

Please help, I'm dying to use ForestVision again!

 

Sorry, this is a Unity server side issue. Wish I could help. I had this issue before as well, and I can't remember how I got around it.... if I remember I will post back.

 

I Mcbauer, shortly I will resume working on a game set in the forest, I wanted to know if a new version is about to emerge and if the problems of Uv maps and the faded textures of some models will be settled.
I send image for example.

 

The UV issue with the tree on the right is the only uv issue I am aware of, and that was from using someone elses' tool to collapse meshes. I'll look to see if I can track down an older version before the collapse. I definitely would like that fixed.

Faded textures, again, have to do with collapsed trees from another product, before I started making my own solutions. I started collapsing trees based on texture channels in order to avoid this very issue. I left these trees in because they are very optimized and may fill someone's need.

When you bake an entire tree down into one texture, you are going to have this problem. This is why FV tools collapse down and maintain separate texture channels so you can continue tiling barks as you see fit.

For the tree on the left that has a very low res texture applied, check to see if there is another version of that tree that has the original textures applied. I believe you should find them in an "Original * " folder, in the same directory. That particular tree is optimized for terrain painting, not close up viewing. There are plenty of other trees and bark trextures available that are not so optimized.

Let me know how you do, and I'll work on tracking down a fix to that tree's UV issue.