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[Released] Vertex Tools Pro – Heightbased PBR Material Blending, Flowmapping and Mesh Deform

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by PitHeimes, Feb 12, 2016.

  1. SilverStorm

    SilverStorm

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    Got my eye on this plugin and so far am absolutely amazed. I have always wanted to use the edge blending to get blending with rocks and terrain like the attached sample-Notice how cleanly the rocks blend with the grass floor!

    I also love the ability to sculpt on the terrain, the ability to lock the border edges from being sculpted would be a useful feature If I am modifying only a single plane but I also wonder how it performs with many planes stuck together in the chunk style-imported as 40x40 plane chunks and using your tool to deform them with respect to their positioning so that there would be no border seems while deforming, this allows modifying their borders in unison. Unity's Occlusion Culling works perfectly with chunks so it would be great.

    However I am getting a bit scared about purchasing it with all the issues people have reported.
    I assumed since it is using vertex colors that the code in the tool would be quite simple but it seems people are having issues with 3 or more blending levels and other people are reporting transparency problems on other consoles which doesn't make sense to me. If the tool really is operating on the vertex level and simply modifying blending then it should be universally compatible without fail. So don't know what's going on there.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    I am totally confused by what you mean with "all the issues".
    So far there were some minor issues that we were fixed and a whole bunch of custom requests (which definitly were no issues, but rather feature request).
    And while you are saying "it is wokrin on a vertex level", you are technically correct. Our shaders, which provide far more possibilites than just blending some textures based on vertex colors, behave different on each plattform. That's why there were some issues using our shaders with webGL. But we fixed that and released custom webGL shaders.

    So: We haven't had many issues :) Just some use case specific ones, which we fixed. While it is correct, that we are working on a fairly simple vertex color level, our shaders are by far not that simple as just blending some textures based on vertex colors. That's why it looks so amazing, and that's why the behaviour is different for each plattform.

    The simplest shader (just blending textures - like in your screenshot) will work on every plattform, where the Unity Standard Shader works on.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2016
    recon0303 likes this.
  3. Teila

    Teila

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    I didn't have any issues! I love this asset and it was easy to set up and use.
     
    recon0303 likes this.
  4. SilverStorm

    SilverStorm

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    Sorry I think I got carried away, the only issue I meant was where only the first 2 channels rather than the full 4 were working.

    That worries me because I don't want to have to use all 4 only to experience 2.

    In any case do you have a demonstration video or something on how to achieve that blending between objects that from the image I attached?

    I am quite excited about this plugin especially the terrain editing portion of it. But I gotta keep my excitement bottled up since a lot of other plugins have claimed things and it didn't work out.
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2016
  5. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Hey there,

    no demonstration available at the moment except the webGL demo and our youtube tutorials. Sorry :( We may set up another demo at the weekend.

    Just to rephrase some parts:
    - On mobile we are currently limited to 2 Texture blending. We may publish a lightweight 3-Texture mobile shader any time soon.
    - We do not have a 4 Texture Blend shader available at the moment. Max is 3 at the moment due to shader limitations.
    - Our shaders are designed and optimized for desktop and metallic workflow use. To be honest: We haven't had any issues on desktop so far. Just some feature requests we fullfilled for our customers (more control over tilings, etc.). On console: Our shaders were tested on the WiiU, and there were no issues. Also no issues reported so far. Sadly we haven't had the chance to test other consoles yet.
     
  6. recon0303

    recon0303

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    I use this tool alot and not had an issues... abit confused myself..
     
  7. _zorak_

    _zorak_

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    Sep 3, 2015
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    Hello
    I stumbled upon some issues with the shaders. Whenever i use vtp shaders I get strange artifacts on the meshes. Below are screenshots of vtp material and pbr material using the same source maps.
    PBR Material.jpg VTP material.jpg
    Any suggestions?
    Thanks in advance
     
  8. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    That could possibly be due to parallax at steep angles. Could you try turning Parallax off on VTP Shaders and check again?
     
  9. _zorak_

    _zorak_

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    Thanks for resolving the issue! Awesome asset, awesome support.
     
  10. Danirey

    Danirey

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    Hi there,

    Another customer here.... Just start using VTP today. Really cool. By the way, may i ask you if there is or will be any chance of using SUBSTANCES as materials to blend? Any ETA for some info about the API to work in runtime?

    Thanks for such a good job!
     
  11. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Sorry for the delay. We totally missed this post: The API should work out of the box in runtime. :) Any problems with that?

    And some other good news:
    VTP will be compatible with the new Planar Reflections Pro we are currently working on.
     
    punk likes this.
  12. Danirey

    Danirey

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    Not problem at all, just asking for some documentation to learn how to use it.
     
  13. zmaxz

    zmaxz

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    Sep 26, 2012
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    Hi!!
    How do i do alpha like the picture?
    Is there a way ?
    Thank.
    vertexTool.jpg
     
  14. gurayg

    gurayg

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    Nov 28, 2013
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    Hello PitHeimes,
    I've send an email and 2 Forum private forum messages. It seems you're missing those.
    Can you please check if you got them?
    Thanks
     
  15. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Checked and answered :)


    Sadly, not yet. But we will take a look how long it takes to implement the requested feature and get back to you soon :)
     
  16. zisaMan

    zisaMan

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    Jun 27, 2013
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    Hi PitHeimes, i've just purchased VTP, great Tool!
    I've one request: is there a way to have a non smoothed/linear blend between textures? I mean something like a cutout or a "blend contrast" value?
    thank you.
     
  17. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Could you try to explain more in detail what excactly you need? :)
     
  18. zisaMan

    zisaMan

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    I made a small pic to better explain what i mean.
    Could be possible to have a global shader parameter that changes vertex color values interpolation such as gamma or contrast?
    Thank you again for your time and for you great VTP! ;)
     

    Attached Files:

  19. retmia

    retmia

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    May 31, 2013
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    Hello PitHeimes,

    I've bought VTP a little while ago, it was working just fine, but I just reoppened it to work on my scenes, and the UI looked like that :

    VTP_ui.PNG

    I have to say that it's not very readable ... what can I do to solve that UI display problem ?

    Regards,
    Romain
     
  20. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Oh Strange! That looks like a Pro Skin bug. Could you try switching to the light skin and confirm that it is working?
    Could you also tell us which Unity version you are using?
     
  21. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Sorry for the late response. We are currently looking into it and will keep you updated :)
     
  22. retmia

    retmia

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    Hello PitHeimes,

    Thanks for the quick answer !

    We're working on a little old Unity (5.3.6f1).
    About the skin, I actually know where it's coming from, I use a dark skin patch, to prevent my eyes from bleeding because of the nonsens light theme Unity forces free users to work with. We're not yet making any money with what we're doing, so we can't yet afford "dark skined offcial version". It's the first time I encounter that kind of problem :/ Am I stuck or can you do something ?
     
  23. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    We will take a look asap. VTP of course does not know that you are using a dark skin patch. It only knows you are using free and therefore supplies you with the free skin. We will get back to you soon.
     
  24. retmia

    retmia

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    Hello PitHeimes,

    Thank you very much for your attention. I hope you can find a way to fix that very specific issue, even though I don't think I'm the only one to use it out there !

    Thank you again,
    Regards :)
     
  25. amynox

    amynox

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    Oct 23, 2016
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    Hi,

    I followed all the tutorials. but i still have one simple question : How i can change (the green channel settings => Base Height layer) in runtime from a script ???

    thank you
     
  26. Darkoo

    Darkoo

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2013
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    Hi!

    Finally found what I needed :) and from the tutorial videos I can see this is a great tool, but I have two concerns, is there a huge performance hit on mobile? and the second one is are there any plans for more than 3 texture support?
     
  27. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

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    Hi, you're in violation of the agreement you have with Unity so best take that to PM or generally not talk about it. I don't expect the sky to fall suddenly, but it's not smart to justify something you already ticked to agree to abide by ;)

    And I would not expect any support from any asset regarding this manner, unless said asset had an option to merely skip colouring it's UI.
     
    magique likes this.
  28. SunnySunshine

    SunnySunshine

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    I'm seeing some weird behavior in VR with single pass stereo for reflective surfaces. Are there any plans to adapt these shaders for single pass stereo?
     
  29. SunnySunshine

    SunnySunshine

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  30. mattisaac_fp

    mattisaac_fp

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    Hi there, I love your flowmap painter, it's awesome! I have noticed you can bake from a flowmap texture to vertex colour, but can you do it the other way around? Can I paint vertex colour with your tool then bake that to a map based on the mesh's UV's?
     
  31. punk

    punk

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    @PitHeimes seems to have stopped working in 5.5 - the shaders just show the vertex colors
     
  32. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    We will check that and provide an update asap.
    Once we got the issue fixed, we will also make the update available to current users via pm. Hopefully this weekend.

    Thanks for getting in touch.
     
  33. punk

    punk

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  34. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    @punk We really tried our best, but we were not able to recreate the issue!

    Everythings runs smoothly on 5.5.0f3.

    Can you confirm, that "Show vertex colors" is turned off in the Vertex Tools Menu?
     
  35. punk

    punk

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    I had delete it all from the project and re-import, not sure what the issue was, but its all working now - sorry for the false alarm
     
  36. arkdzo

    arkdzo

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    what about Terrains? can i use your asset with Unity Terrain?
     
  37. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Sadly not yet. It is purely intented for meshes at the moment. Sorry about that :(
     
  38. Marco-Sperling

    Marco-Sperling

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    Hi,

    I am interested in this asset. Does it support static batching and custom shaders (others than the ones shipped with your asset) that use vertex colors?
     
  39. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Hey there,

    It allows static batching if you use our export tool to export the painted mesh.
    And it also works with other shaders that use vertex Colors. :)
     
  40. Marco-Sperling

    Marco-Sperling

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    Hi,
    thanks for clarifying. That's not what I had hoped to hear. This means hundreds of already placed prefabs would have to be exported and replaced. Again, thx for answering.
     
  41. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Well it is not really a export mesh. It is more of a "bake vertex colors" functionality. So you can paint already places objects. Hit "Bake vertex color" and they are baked. No need to reimport or replace the gameobject. :)
     
  42. Marco-Sperling

    Marco-Sperling

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    Now that sounds much better. Probably going to buy it.
     
  43. garrett3d

    garrett3d

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    Mar 26, 2014
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    I am having an issue with high frequency noise. It looks like aliasing as if mip maps were turned off even thought they're on. It doesn't happen if I switch over to the Unity Standard shader. It would post a screenshot but it only happens when the camera moves.

    It's a floor material, relatively steep angle. There is a spot light shining on it also at a steep angle towards the camera.

    Any ideas?

    I'm on unity 5.4.1p3
     
  44. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Hey garret,

    We had that issue once with another Customer. Please send me your email via pm. We'll send you a fix for that.
     
  45. StaffanEk

    StaffanEk

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    Isn't this an issue that could affect all customers?
     
    punk likes this.
  46. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    It seems to randomly appear for now. Not quite sure though. We will take a detailled look into that. :)
     
  47. afkvr

    afkvr

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    Nov 19, 2016
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    Hello,

    Any way to transfer the vertex painted information over through git / source tree? When we try pushing it sends the shader information as if everything was filled with one texture. I tried save color to mesh, but when i drag that into the scene the mesh is missing texture and scale comes in extremely large.

    Would appreciate some insight!
     
  48. sebastien-goude

    sebastien-goude

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    Hi VTP team,

    I have an weird issue when i am using the textures assistant.
    The assistant can't pack the combined textures and the laoding line is stucked.
    I will be so glad to use your tool, so,
    Do you know how can i fix this?
     
  49. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Happens on rare occasions.
    When it's stuck, just hit generate again and it should work :)
     
  50. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

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    Did you also push the vertexColorStream script attached to the gameobjects? That is where the Information is stored.