Search Unity

  1. Megacity Metro Demo now available. Download now.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Unity support for visionOS is now available. Learn more in our blog post.
    Dismiss Notice

Amplify Impostors - Next Generation Billboards

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by Amplify_Ricardo, Jul 10, 2018.

  1. Justin_Wingfall

    Justin_Wingfall

    Joined:
    May 15, 2014
    Posts:
    125
    so, hdrp support not coming till 2019, aaa? :/
     
  2. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Unfortunately we can't provide any official ETA for this, but rest assured that we're doing our best to support it as soon as possible, thank you for understanding.
     
  3. phili_maas

    phili_maas

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2016
    Posts:
    21
    As I read a few answers before, not supporting forward based shaders is by design choice?

    I would really love to see this working. My use case is backing VR paintings that are imported with Quill or Tiltbrush to impostors, but they use forward base vertex color information and when I create impostors, they turn out completely white.
    Any dirty trick to make those shaders use deferred rendering?
    It would really help a lot if you would support these kinds of unlit shaders.
    Thanks!
     
  4. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Hello there,

    The baker itself is built for Deferred Path shaders, baked Impostors work as expected in Forward.

    There's no trick, so to speak, it really depends on the shader used. We do offer Custom Shader support via Amplify Shader Editor but this is something we're still improving.

    We'll definitely post additional information here as soon as possible.

    Thanks!
     
  5. snacktime

    snacktime

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2013
    Posts:
    3,356
    Curious if this is a good fit for a rather thorny LOD challenge, delaunay triangulated terrain meshes. This is what a chunk looks like. Our use case would be using Imposters as an lod system for these chunks.

    The shader is a simple surface shader using planar mapping. Mesh structure is no shared verts. Kind of a hybrid between surface/flat shaded.

    upload_2018-11-4_14-15-53.png
     
  6. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Hello, if you're just generating LOD's for the mesh chunks it should work without problems, however, if you're planning on altering the impostors' meshes, you are likely to come across unexpected issues.

    Could you provide more details regarding your intent so that we can share additional insight? Thanks!
     
  7. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Hey there,

    Just to add to what Amplify_Borba mentioned, there are a few things you should keep in mind when it comes to impostor baking. We're assuming that all your meshes are aligned(same pivot orientation) and that the bake process will be fairly similar on all impostors. However, if your impostors don't end up perfectly aligned, there's a chance you'll see a few openings in your terrain.

    Impostors use cutout shaders, you'll have to tweak their materials in order to achieve better results.

    Thanks!
     
  8. snacktime

    snacktime

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2013
    Posts:
    3,356
    Intent/use case is just for LOD. I tried a couple of decimators none worked. Next step was to decimate it myself using a more specific approach, but if imposters would work I'd go that route.

    Also we only need a single LOD, so the imposter would be LOD1 and kick in at around 500 meters at the closest, might even push it out to 800 - 1000. It's larger terrains 2k+ where vert counts really start to hurt as the mesh has no shared verts. Main thing is that where LOD0/LOD1 meet that there are no gaps.

    Do you have a money back guarantee if it didn't work? We really don't have another need atm for imposters.
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2018
  9. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Hello and thank you for your interest! Impostors should work great at such distances, and it's perfectly fine to use them by themselves as they can be quickly adapted to any pipeline, although results may vary depending on the assets being used to bake the impostor.

    Regarding your question, we allow for refunds as permitted by the Asset Store EULA.

    Please let me know if you have any further questions, we'll be happy to assist!
     
  10. clagrens

    clagrens

    Joined:
    May 19, 2017
    Posts:
    96
    HI!
    Does it support baking particles to impostor?
    For example, the particle clouds.

    Thanks
     
  11. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Hello, thank you for your interest!

    Unfortunately, this won't be possible to achieve with Amplify Impostors, apologies for the inconvenience.
     
  12. Xefier

    Xefier

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2012
    Posts:
    80
    Unity 2018.3.0b9
    Amplify Impostor 0.9.1

    Impostors Emissions are pure white, tried all of the following variations.
    • Standard / Standard (Specular)
    • Spherical / Octahedron / Hemi - Octahedron
    • TGA / PNG
    White Impostor.PNG

    This is the emission texture for the model
    SF_MX4_Glow.jpg
     
  13. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Thank you for reporting the issue but we're unable to support Beta Unity versions; support for .3 should be available soon.

    In the meantime, I recommend baking your assets in a previous stable version.

    Thanks!
     
  14. castor76

    castor76

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2011
    Posts:
    2,517
    I got the following error for Switch platform. Can you please contact me at saehoon@pixellore.com? I don't want to spam this forum with the long error messages.

    Shader compiler: internal error compiling shader snippet type=0 platform=19: Protocol error - failed to read correct magic number

    Thanks!
     
  15. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Hello, we'll get in touch regarding this issue, however, in the future, you can contact us through support@amplify.pt for any support inquiries.
     
  16. phili_maas

    phili_maas

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2016
    Posts:
    21
    Hey guys, I just sent you an email with a test scene and the use case that I would love to see working with the next update. Basically making sure we can bake Unlit Shaders as they are used by VR painting apps like Quill, Tiltbrush or AnimVR. It bakes the correct color information to the albedo texture, but it just doesn't show up.
    I didn't want to link it here, since it includes your asset.
     
  17. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Hey there, we've just got back to your email, let's keep in touch through the email thread in order to keep the discussion going in just one place, thanks!
     
  18. MaciejKrzykwa

    MaciejKrzykwa

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Posts:
    52
    Great asset! I'm going to use it some day.

    But for now the lack of support for baked lightmaps is the thing stopping me to try it in the project immediately. I hope it could be added in the future.
     
  19. castor76

    castor76

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2011
    Posts:
    2,517
    I think lightmap support is doable at the cost of the extra texture maps needed for the impostors. Basically it bakes off from the original mesh. But this ofcourse means it can't be reused on the other places. So this could only be practical and useful, if we limit the number of frames for the impostors for very specific usages such as long distance backdrops. Where you will never be able to get there and the view angle is limited.
     
  20. fueldown_

    fueldown_

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2018
    Posts:
    23
    Any new updates on this?
     
  21. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    It's a tricky situation but we'll definitely see what we can do.

    Not yet I'm afraid. We promise that the wait will be worth it ;)

    On an additional note, if anyone is looking to expand their tool collection, be sure to check the Essentials for Professionals!

    Amplify Impostors is currently at 55% OFF with the bundle.
     
  22. MaciejKrzykwa

    MaciejKrzykwa

    Joined:
    Aug 28, 2015
    Posts:
    52
    Do you mean something like in the baked-prefabs solution like this: https://unity3d.com/how-to/light-baked-prefabs-on-mobile ? There is also a thread about it on forums: https://forum.unity.com/threads/problems-with-instantiating-baked-prefabs.324514/
     
  23. Sosowski

    Sosowski

    Joined:
    May 20, 2013
    Posts:
    5
    Hi!
    Just got the asset and super excited to use it, however it seems that the runtime shader does not want to read Reflection Probes causing a visible difference between the bake and the asset.

    Here's what it looks like:


    And here's with lights disabled you can see that it's not using the probe:


    I'll dig into the shader myself to fix this if I have to but it would be cool if you could point me to the right place! (I'm using Standard Forward shaders in VR)
     
  24. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Not necessarily, but rest assured that we'll be sharing additional info at a later time!


    Hey there, we also got your email and will respond shortly!

    If possible, we'd rather keep the conversation going on just one place, thank you for understanding.
     
    MaciejKrzykwa likes this.
  25. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387


    Get it while you can! Amplify Impostors, Bolt, Odin Inspector, and many other excellent packages at 55% OFF with the Essentials for Professionals bundle!

    You only pay for the packages you don't own!

    Learn more: Asset Store
     
  26. Loards

    Loards

    Joined:
    May 2, 2013
    Posts:
    112
    Hi! i just bought this and look very promising. Im getting an import problem in unity 2018.3.0b11, i get 31 import errors like this: upload_2018-11-22_17-37-55.png

    Thanks for any help!!!
     
  27. Bzuco

    Bzuco

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2015
    Posts:
    56
    Hi, does amp. impostors works with unity mipmap streaming?
     
  28. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Hey there,

    Unfortunately, we're unable to support beta versions; using a stable Unity version should resolve the issue.

    Apologies for the inconvenience, support for Unity 2018.3 will be available at a later time.

    Does it require custom shaders? I must admit, I'm not very familiar with the new Unity streaming system but it's definitely something that we should support if possible.

    Thanks!
     
  29. Bzuco

    Bzuco

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2015
    Posts:
    56
    Hi, I just bought AI, and mipmaps streaming is working. It is shader independent. Streaming is possible for default, normal and lightmap textures. I was worried, what if AI is using e.g. sprites or texture arrays (streaming not possible for now).
    I recorded video with 100 impostors(simple cube), each with individual 4k texture(color difference in each mip level). Maybe unity's mipmap streaming is not working 100% as it should. What is working perfectly is discarding unnecessary MIPs according memory budget, but better preloading according camera view is missing in my opinion...(*edit)

    http://images.bzucko.sk/mipmapStreamingAmplifyImpostors.mp4

    EDIT: After adding Streaming Controller component to active camera, loading mipmaps works almost perfect :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2018
  30. gurayg

    gurayg

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2013
    Posts:
    269
    Hello @Amplify_Ricardo ,
    We're working on a 2.5D game and we'll not be seeing back side of some objects.
    I was wondering, if it would be possible to use a half of a HemiOctahedron (or quarter Octahedron if that is a thing :)
    and gain some texture resolution from this.
     
  31. Suki-W

    Suki-W

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2014
    Posts:
    33
    so hdrp is after unity beta or sometime in 2019?
     
  32. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Hey, that's good to know!


    Absolutely, but keep in mind that the hemisphere is determined by the Y axis so you might need to parent your object to an empty gameobject if you intend to bake it with a different orientation.

    No ETA yet, I'm afraid we've been a bit delayed with a few other tasks but it's something we want to support ASAP.

    Thanks!
     
  33. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387

    Cyber Week Mega SALE - 50% OFF EVERYTHING! Now is your chance to get Amplify Impostors at half-price, we have a lot planned for this product and we would love to have you on board.

    Thank you for your support.

    Amplify Impostors at 50% OFF: Asset Store
    Amplify Products at half price!: Learn More
     
  34. spaceemotion

    spaceemotion

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 2015
    Posts:
    95
    @Amplify_Ricardo Hey, I just wanted to buy your asset on the UAS. I'm constantly getting payment errors on the checkout (i know my paypal works though as they use it for the monthly license). Would it be possible to buy this at 50% later again if they can't resolve the issues in time (I've asked around and I'm not the only one)?
     
  35. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Thank you for your interest, we really appreciate it! I'm sure we can work something out but I would recommend contacting support@unity3d.com in order to make them aware of the problem.

    Thanks!
     
    spaceemotion likes this.
  36. Username002

    Username002

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2016
    Posts:
    5
    Hi guys, I have a problem with generated imposter object mesh being empty (0 vertices). Also, I get an exception while trying to edit shape (see attached image). Unity version is 2017.4.16f1. Thank you!
     

    Attached Files:

  37. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Hello, we've ran some tests with the latest Amplify Impostors ( 0.9.1 ) on that Unity version and everything seems to be working as expected.

    Can you confirm that you're on the latest build?
    Are you able to replicate the issue in a new project using the sample assets?

    If not, please send a sample project with the issue present to support@amplify.pt so that we can debug it on our side, thank you!
     
  38. bitinn

    bitinn

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2016
    Posts:
    961
    Quick question, as I am using LWRP in our project, which doesn't have deferred path at the moment, it means baking will fail, right?

    And for rendering, I am guessing LWRP isn't supported yet, true?
     
  39. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Sorry, no LWRP for now, baking or runtime.
     
  40. erichris2902

    erichris2902

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2017
    Posts:
    7
    Hi, how does this work on VR,specifically on Oculus Rift?? I ask because I have problems with billboards on the past.
     
  41. Amplify_Ricardo

    Amplify_Ricardo

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2013
    Posts:
    2,387
    Works well from a certain distance, our impostors can be rotated and intersected!
     
  42. erichris2902

    erichris2902

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2017
    Posts:
    7
    Thanks for answering. I'm very happy that if it works for VR, I'll buy it tomorrow and hopefully we'll have a final relase soon :D
     
  43. Stardog

    Stardog

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2010
    Posts:
    1,910
    Will there be any change to this policy in the future? 2018.3 is very far along the cycle.

    It works in 2018.1, but it's a bit annoying to not be able to use it due to a minor API change Unity made or something similar.
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
  44. snacktime

    snacktime

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2013
    Posts:
    3,356
    So picked it up on sale and gave it a try. Initial results not good.

    This is a 2048 x 2048 mesh terrain in chunks. I made an imposter for a single chunk. This is the result. No idea where to go from here.

    upload_2018-11-27_11-51-44.png
     
  45. franck_Extriple

    franck_Extriple

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2017
    Posts:
    20
    Hi. Is that possible to Define a different Axis for the Hemi Octahedron. Usally it bakes on Y , right ?

    Can we define it on X or Z for pillars for example in order to use only one side of it.
     
  46. Amplify_Borba

    Amplify_Borba

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2017
    Posts:
    538
    Thank you for your support, looking forward to having you on-board!


    Unfortunately we don't have the resources to support Beta versions at this time, hopefully we can tackle this at a later stage. Apologies for the inconvenience.


    Could you share a screenshot of your bake settings?


    Hello! The bake does take into account the Y Axis as rotation, a simple way of tweaking this would be to create a game object with the Impostors component, adjust its Transform component to the desired values, and parent the original object to it. After taking those steps, all you need to do is to bake the impostor using the parent object.
     
  47. Bzuco

    Bzuco

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2015
    Posts:
    56
    Hi it is possible to add hemispherical bake type?
    I found spherical type very useful for all type of ground cover plants from small grasses to higher shrubs(0.7m height) without need to have mesh/billboard as LOD 0 . They looks very realistic, but take unnecessarily much space in texture (bottom hemisphere) which could be used for more frames in X or in Y axis.
    I also tried octahedrons, but the blending does not looks good from near distance.

    Hemispherical(rotated 180°) will be also useful for objects which are higher than first/third person camera (LOD0 - hires mesh, LOD1-xx impostor).

    On screen 32 X-frames and 8 Y-frames, 8192x2048. With hemispherical it could be 8192x1024 or same resolution, but more frames in Y. With mipmaps streaming it will be good and cheap combo :) for whole scenery and many plants. Thx.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Nov 29, 2018
  48. NatureSimsVR

    NatureSimsVR

    Joined:
    Jul 14, 2015
    Posts:
    27
    Hi,
    I just purchased Amplify Impostors and I'm having some issues using it with Unity WebGL builds. When I try to bake an impostor, I get the following error message:

    Code (CSharp):
    1. ArgumentException: colors.Length is 4 and exceeds the maximum number of supported render targets (1)
    2. UnityEngine.Rendering.CommandBuffer.SetRenderTarget (UnityEngine.Rendering.RenderTargetIdentifier[] colors, RenderTargetIdentifier depth) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Runtime/Export/RenderingCommandBuffer.bindings.cs:169)
    3. AmplifyImpostors.AmplifyImpostor.RenderImpostor (ImpostorType impostorType, Int32 targetAmount, Boolean impostorMaps, Boolean combinedAlphas, Boolean useMinResolution, UnityEngine.Shader customShader) (at Assets/AmplifyImpostors/Plugins/Scripts/AmplifyImpostor.cs:1249)
    4. AmplifyImpostors.AmplifyImpostor.CalculatePixelBounds (Int32 targetAmount) (at Assets/AmplifyImpostors/Plugins/Scripts/AmplifyImpostor.cs:422)
    5. AmplifyImpostors.AmplifyImpostor.RenderCombinedAlpha (.AmplifyImpostorAsset data) (at Assets/AmplifyImpostors/Plugins/Scripts/AmplifyImpostor.cs:486)
    6. AmplifyImpostors.AmplifyImpostorInspector.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/AmplifyImpostors/Plugins/Editor/Inspector/AmplifyImpostorInspector.cs:753)
    7. UnityEditor.InspectorWindow.DrawEditor (UnityEditor.Editor[] editors, Int32 editorIndex, Boolean rebuildOptimizedGUIBlock, System.Boolean& showImportedObjectBarNext, UnityEngine.Rect& importedObjectBarRect) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/InspectorWindow.cs:1374)
    8. UnityEngine.GUIUtility:ProcessEvent(Int32, IntPtr)
    9.  
    Here's a screenshot:

    AmplifyImpostorsError.PNG

    I've tried it on a standard Windows build and didn't have any issues so seems to be WebGL related. Is that build target not supported?
     
    Cayfer and fherbst like this.
  49. skinwalker

    skinwalker

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2015
    Posts:
    509
    Hello, I just purchased the asset and tried to test it in a new project. I have a barrel model without LODs and when I press bake it creates the imposer as another object not child of the barrels, shouldnt it make it a child as in the example scenes?

    Do I need to setup LODs for the imposer to work (more specifically to make the transition between the object and the imposer)? Right now both of the objects are active no matter where the camera is - the main and imposers.
     
  50. Jean-Carlos-Gregolon

    Jean-Carlos-Gregolon

    Joined:
    May 26, 2014
    Posts:
    6
    Hi guys, just bought the Impostors and was running some tests on it, but the quality of the billboard seems a little off.
    First I've checked out your videos and then jumped in to try it out on some trees, didn't matched my expectation..
    Howerver I've tryed simple meshes, and still not looking good, even from distance.
    After that I've checked your demo scenes, but even there the quality does not match the ones showed on videos and documentation.
    Am I missing any config I should have done in the project or something?
    Here are 2 imagens from inside editor I just took, the barrels and the rocks:
    upload_2018-11-28_20-13-18.png upload_2018-11-28_20-13-37.png
    Its really not the same as shown on the tutorials and even at your documentation.
    Same as for the tree scene.