Advanced foliage shader [released]

look for: "Prepare your project"

 

OK, I found that. Thanks for the tip. I'll give that a try tonight and see how it goes.

 

a package dedicated to unity 5.6 is now available on the asset store

 

Hi there,

Running Unity 2016.1.0b6, on import and after following your quickstart guide, I'm still getting the following shader error: "Shader error in 'AFS/Foliage Shader': Unexpected token usertype. Expected one of: ',' ';' at line 152"

Haven't done anything to the assets except for setup the project as explained in the documentation - any clue what might be up"?

 

i guess you mean Unity 2017.1.0b6 – which i haven't tested yet.
it should run fine using unity 5.6. though.

 

Hi, this looks awesome!

Web demo links are dead, any chance for testing? Maybe standalone demo?

Thanks!

 

Awesome. I'll give this another try and see if I can get it all working again.

 

I actually tried this again using Unity 5.5.4p1 on the Wii U and it works.

[EDIT]
However, there are some issues with editor mode versus stand-alone build. Your CombineChildrenAFS.cs script has references to UnityEditor, which causes the build to fail. And the entire AfsFoliageTool.cs script is wrapped in #if UNITY_EDITOR, which causes all kinds of serialization errors such as:

A script behaviour (probably AfsFoliageTool?) has a different serialization layout when loading. (Read 32 bytes but expected 1328 bytes)
Did you #ifdef UNITY_EDITOR a section of your serialized properties in any of your scripts?

And, of course, all the foliage items that use this script then get missing behavior errors.

 

Hello,

I'm looking for some support regarding this package. I get most of it - but I really don't understand how I can just get a tree working with some wind animation. I get the leaves part, but what about the trunk? Do all textures - leaves and bark need to be on one shader? I also don't get why there are tree creator shaders included? Is not the whole tree creator system legacy at this point? I do understand that some folks might still use it, but then I wonder if I import a mesh tree I've made in Blender, can/should I use tree creator shaders?

Thanks!

 

Hi,
I tried a build and do get this AFS related error. Doesn't sound like this is something I can fix on the user side?
Shader error in 'Hidden/AfsCamera-DepthNormalTexture': Non system-generated input signature parameter (TEXCOORD) cannot appear after a system generated value. at line 310 (on d3d11)

Compiling Fragment program with LOD_FADE_CROSSFADE INSTANCING_ON
Platform defines: UNITY_ENABLE_REFLECTION_BUFFERS UNITY_PBS_USE_BRDF1 UNITY_SPECCUBE_BOX_PROJECTION UNITY_SPECCUBE_BLENDING SHADER_API_DESKTOP

 

sorry - not at the moment.

 

thanks, but it is already fixed in the latest version pending for review.

 

no, the tree creator shaders need very special bending information baked into the mesh.
if you really want to import manually modeled trees i suggest to use the custom tree importer:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/21079
it handles way more complex structures than the tools included in the afs package (foliage tool).

no

 

hi there,

thanks for your report.
i was able to reproduce the error – unfortunately. but fortunately it is rather simple to fix so you do not have to wait for the update.

edit the "AfsCamera-DepthNormalTexture" shader and find (line 289 i think):
UNITY_VERTEX_INPUT_INSTANCE_ID
UNITY_DITHER_CROSSFADE_COORDS_IDX(2)

and simply change the order of these 2 lines to:
UNITY_DITHER_CROSSFADE_COORDS_IDX(2)
UNITY_VERTEX_INPUT_INSTANCE_ID

that's all.

please let me know if this fixes your problem.

 

Ahh, okay, cool! The asset you pointed out looks really good, thanks!

But, on the tree creator thing - where does one even find that module in Unity anymore? Was it not replaced with speed tree? What am I missing here?

Thanks again!

 

under "Game object" --> "3D Object" you will find "Tree".
that will create a new tree using the tree creator.

there is no need for unity to drop the tree creator. and its trees are very fast (much faster than speedtrees) and allow full angle billboards – even from above.

 

This is really embarrassing. I've been using Unity every day for well over a year on lots of different projects - how the hell did I never see the tree creator in editor before? I read about in the documentation, but as it mentions SpeedTree I had just assumed that the Tree Creator isn't used any more... I consider myself a competent 3D artist and Unity Creator, but there is so much stuff in Unity across so many areas I guess this happens. Damn.

Anyway, again, thanks for the very helpful product and information!

Cheers

 

It was indeed as simple as changing the order
Fixed. Thanks.

 

fine!

 

@larsbertram1 Did either of the 2 recent updates address the issues I presented earlier with stand-alone builds and Unity editor code?

 

one addresses the missing #if UNITY_EDITOR the other the depthnormal-shader.

 

Hi guys, I've just purchased this asset and I was planning to use it on Unity 2017 but I've got almost all demo scenes broken. The plants are colour red, only painting geometry, no cuotout or transparencies.... ¿any ideas?

 

I tried 5.02c and I still get the following error:

Assets/Advanced Foliage Shaders v5/Scripts/Combine Cildren/CombineChildrenAFS.cs(75,14): error CS0103: The name `EditorUtility' does not exist in the current context

I fixed it myself again, but if you can add to next update then that would be great.

[EDIT]
And when I run in stand-alone on Wii U, still getting the other error:

A script behaviour (probably AfsFoliageTool?) has a different serialization layout when loading. (Read 32 bytes but expected 7936 bytes)
Did you #ifdef UNITY_EDITOR a section of your serialized properties in any of your scripts?

 

I have the same problem, probably broken i 2017 or something.

 

unity 2017 broke the way cross fading is handled... without any notes in the upgrade guide.
i will file a bug report:
https://fogbugz.unity3d.com/default.asp?930800_mtlav570rld8ovnf
meanwhile you could simply edit the "AfsFoliageShader (instanced)" shader and comment:
UNITY_APPLY_DITHER_CROSSFADE(IN)
in the surface function.

a real fix however is a bit more complex so i would like to ask you to wait for the next update.

 

only the setupafs script has – but i get no errors at all.

 

You may not get it in PC build, but in Wii U the error spams the console. The entire script is in a #if UNITY_EDITOR block, but it seems the script is needed for run-time so that's a problem. Or is that script supposed to be removed for run-time?

 

i can not test wii u builts.and all #if UNITY_EDITOR scripts of course are editor only

 

So why does the foliage have that script attached to it then? If it's supposed to be editor only. I'm confused.

 

because i wanted to keep the number of prefabs low.
in a production environment you would set up the bending once.
then use the created prefabs in your scenes.

 

OK, thanks. I will remove the script then and everything should be fine.

 

Oh, thanks we will test it right now!. New versions of Unity... always a little pain in the ass.
Thanks for your fast reply!

 

you are welcome.
and after reading through the changelog i found a new surface shader directive.
so adding crossfading in 2017 is as simple as changing the initial #pragma:

#pragma surface surf AFSSpecular vertex:AfsFoligeBendingGSFull addshadow fullforwardshadows dithercrossfade

 

Hey Lars, I'm looking to Upgrade my Projects from v5.4.5 to v2017.
Currently the demos of the latest release of afs v.5 seem not to be working correctly if I import afs in a new empty project in v2017 (no bending, weird colors on foliage).

So my question: Does AFS already fully support unity v2017 and I just have to follow some instructions in the documentation to get the demos to work correctly, or should I just wait until you update it?
(If I remember correctly there was no action of my own necessary to get the demos to work as intended for unity v.4 - v.5.4)

Thanks in advance and sorry If you already answered this somewhere

 

2017 is not supported out of the box right now – as the "AfsFoliageShader (instanced)" errors due to some changes Unity made concerning crossfading.

you can easily fix this by editing the shader.
find:
UNITY_APPLY_DITHER_CROSSFADE(IN)
and comment it so it looks like this:
// UNITY_APPLY_DITHER_CROSSFADE(IN)

then find:
#pragma surface surf AFSSpecular vertex:AfsFoligeBendingGSFull addshadow fullforwardshadows
and change it to:
#pragma surface surf AFSSpecular vertex:AfsFoligeBendingGSFull addshadow fullforwardshadows dithercrossfade

that is all that is needed.

 

I think that something is still broken... or at least in my version. Larsbertram1 I applied your suggestions:

"you can easily fix this by editing the shader.
find:
UNITY_APPLY_DITHER_CROSSFADE(IN)
and comment it so it looks like this:
// UNITY_APPLY_DITHER_CROSSFADE(IN)

then find:
#pragma surface surf AFSSpecular vertex:AfsFoligeBendingGSFull addshadow fullforwardshadows
and change it to:
#pragma surface surf AFSSpecular vertex:AfsFoligeBendingGSFull addshadow fullforwardshadows dithercrossfade"

And actually works in Forward mode but in Deferred the plants and foliage seems to be very "green" without shadows at all... like if they had textures in the "emissive" slot. ¿Maybe we have to change some more lines?

 

you have to assign the cistom deferred lighting and reflection shaders as described in the docs

 

Hi, I just bought AFS 5, and tinkering around to see how can I use it.
Now my game object can be put into my scene correctly, but when I use the terrain's detail sector to plant vertex lit ferns, it results like this:

strange shadow on the back of leaves. I found the example scene doesn't have this issue, but I can't find the key in that scene. Anyone here can enlighten me that how should I set this right?

 

Do you have light baked for your scene?

 

No, I use MapMagic to generate terrains in runtime, don't know how to bake the scene in runtime...

 

i remeber having a similar problem but do not exactly remember how i solved it..
it has to do with ambient lighting which gets not sent to the vertex lit shader properly.
so make sure that in the "lighting window":
- sun source is assigned
- auto generate is checked
you may also try to set the terrain to not static.

 

Hey, thanks for the advice!
But I'm wondering if the runtime generated terrain can also be baked?
And Tenkoku Dynamic sky seems to have it's own GI method, usually I don't need to use unity's light baking.
How could I make this work with both MapMagic and Tenkoku then...?
BTW I tried to add Tenkoku Skybox into the demo scene, everything looks fantastic, but not in my own test scene.

Edit 1:

I set up a new test scene and used the same prefab for both terrain trees and terrain vertex lit details and found the trees looks more beautiful than vertex lit details and it got shadow.
Downside is I can't put too much trees on terrain, this is more costly than detail system.

Edit 2:
How do I bake the terrain's combined detail textures? Do I have to do it in a third party software or inside AFS's tools?

 

ambient lighting seems to be fixed in your new scene as far as the vertex lit shader is concerned.
do you know the difference between your first and the new test scene?

i create the texture atlas in photoshop and adjust the uvs in modo or maya.
afs does not provide any tool to do this in unity.

 

The next scene is made with unity 5.5 and the previous is 5.4, both are brand new scenes and the first one was not using the atlas normal/trans/smooth texture in the AFS setup.The translucency strength was lower than the new scene and also the Legacy Bending was enabled in the previous scene.
Though translucency can solve some of the problem but when I look at the models painted by terrain detail system, they still have some very black spots.
In the second scene, all ferns with shadows are placed through terrain trees and they looked much better than terrain detail ferns.

Edit: got another question here: If I put every tree and bush as a gameobject rather than terrain trees, will it cost much more performance with AFS? I tested the other tree shaders (speed tree)
about gameobject vs terrain tree, the set pass call is drastically increased if I put trees as game object in the scene. Don't know if AFS has some optimizations for gameobject trees?

 

ah, yes. now i remember: "Legacy Bending" stores ambient occlusion in vertex color alpha – whereas the models use vertex color alpha in order to store primary bending... interpreting the bending value as ambient occlusion of course will kill most ambient light.

 

I've got another question. It's about the grass model postprocessor, I can find the script in the AFS folders, but unity does not allow me drag it onto any gameobject and I cannot find any editor window that can open it.
How do I use this tool? I've changed the imported fbx's name with "_AfsGM" at the end, but when I drag this fbx grass model into the project there is no popup window or anything to let me use the processor.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but what is the workflow to use this tool?

 

it is all done on the fly. you simply have to name the fbx properly then the importer will do its work in the background.

 

So, basically I just give the fbx a "_AfsGM" at the end and drag it into asset folder then assign the AFS grass shader to it then all down?

 

yes. you may add 2 digits at the end to define the strength of the bending.

 

@larsbertram1 I was wondering if you can recommend a solution for wind behaving incorrectly when instancing is turned on for materials using AfsFoliageShader (instanced) shader. With instancing off, wind seems to displace small areas, but with instancing on, noise field seems to be blown up in scale, offsetting vertices of entire trees in exact same way. Check this animation:

• http://i.imgur.com/qRBeF49.gifv

To be specific, displacement here is produced by your AfsAnimateVertex function using o.animParams arguments where only z and w components are non-zero (primary and secondary bending is enabled, while edge flutter and phase difference is disabled). Hopefully that narrows things to look at down a fair bit.

Root points of trees are not displaced in the gif because influence of AfsAnimateVertex function is graded by height. In case you're interested in how things look without my custom shader, here are same trees with unmodified AfsFoliageShader shipping with AFS. Same behaviour here:

• http://i.imgur.com/oS2WFsd.gifv

Maybe the AfsAnimateVertex function from Includes/AfsFoliageBendingInstanced.cginc receives wrong vertex positions when instancing is enabled, or something along those lines? Any ideas?