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Cruncher - Polygon Reduction Plugin for Unity Pro

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by bibbinator, Sep 4, 2012.

  1. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    Hi All,
    The v1.05 plugin is now live in the asset store! I highly recommend upgrading as several mesh reduction bugs were fixed and this version should be the best yet.

    v1.05
    • Rebuilt in Unity 3.5.6 instead of Unity 4.0 so that it loads without warnings in all versions of Unity. Also rebuilt the Windows plugin using VS 2010 instead of 2012 to solve some cases where the plugin cannot run.
    http://u3d.as/content/real-world-unity-com/cruncher

    To see it in action, you can watch this short YouTube video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWymyI1oCNc



    $Convert Selection Window.jpg

    $Cruncher Editor Inspector.jpg

    Cruncher Plugin for Unity Pro


    In-Editor Polygon Reduction


    The Cruncher plugin can reduce the polygons of your models right inside the Unity editor, and works with both static and animated meshes. Quickly and easily generate LODs and you can even live preview the results while adjusting.

    Please note this plugin requires Unity Pro and will not work with the free version.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2012
    Gozdek likes this.
  2. PrimeDerektive

    PrimeDerektive

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    must...wait...til...payday....
     
  3. Tom-Ash

    Tom-Ash

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    I'll probably buy this too. Nicely looking simplier simplygon like solution for unity. Are you using Atangeo Balancer SDK ?

    Though before buying I would like to see some performance benchmarks first :)
     
  4. DigitalGlass

    DigitalGlass

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    I seem to be getting an issue with lighting not working on LOD:
    http://screencast.com/t/6feRbACNCW0e

    Any ideas?

    edit:
    Also I've tried regenerating a new set of LOD levels and it always goes back to my first setting. I'm guessing that's being cached somewhere?
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2012
  5. mohydineName

    mohydineName

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    Excellent!

    Does it work for Android as well?
     
  6. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @Tom Ash Yes, this uses the excellent Balancer SDK. What kind of benchmarks are you looking for?

    @DigitalGlass It looks like the normals aren't there maybe. I'll try to recreate this and see if I can find anything. As for the LOD levels, I do indeed cache the settings. Do you not want this behavior?

    @mohydineName This reduces polygons in meshes and you can use the resulting asset in any Unity build.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  7. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @DigitalGlass

    It's working for me with lighting, so I have no idea why yours isn't lit. Did you change anything? Maybe create a second one and see if it's not lit too?

    $Screen Shot 2012-09-05 at 6.46.31 AM.jpg

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  8. DigitalGlass

    DigitalGlass

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    @bibbinator
    Ya I think it would be good to be able to redetermine how many LOD levels just in case the user doesn't get it right the first time.

    All my settings are still default, I opened the test scene and tried it out right away.

    I tried duplicating and regenerating and that didn't work either. I just realized that I'm using Unity4b7, which may be the problem?
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2012
  9. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @DigitalGlass

    It should work in Unity 4 fine. The one thing Unity 4 added was the ability to "optimize" the mesh by removing the ability to read/write the data. Check the model settings to be sure the mesh data can be accessed and that normals are being calculated/imported.

    I don't have the latest beta installed, but I'll get it and try it out.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  10. DigitalGlass

    DigitalGlass

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    I just checked out the settings on the model and read/write is enabled. Optimized Mesh is off, and normals are being calculated. So far I'm not seeing anything that is off :/
     
  11. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @DigitalGlass

    I just tried it with the latest Unity 4b7 and it works fine for me.

    In your screenshot though, your model somehow looks "shiny". Did yo change the materials, shaders or lighting model?

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  12. DigitalGlass

    DigitalGlass

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    ahh ya I change it when I noticed that it wasn't working to see if it was a material issue. Let me create a new project and try again.

    edit:
    I created a new project and tried again, and it still seems to not work. Hmm, I can't think of what could be wrong. Let me try on a different machine.

    edit:2
    Tried on a different machine and I still get the same problem.

    I am getting the warning:
    Shader wants normals, but the mesh Figure_1_node doesn't have them

    edit 3:
    Alright last edit. I tried on 3.5.3 and I still get the same issue. Is it possible that you have something that I don't? Maybe you can send me your own local unitypackage and see if that fixes my issue.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2012
  13. elias_t

    elias_t

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    Very nice implementation. Will buy soon.
     
  14. Flipbookee

    Flipbookee

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    +1 :)
     
  15. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @elias_t Thanks!

    @Flipbookee, @PrimeDerektive No worries, I will leave the discounted introductory price until the end of September before I increase it, so you should have plenty of time.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  16. Tom-Ash

    Tom-Ash

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    Thanks for answers.

    I'd like to see how memory, drawcalls and FPS are looking on the different LOD stages. A simple scene containing several LOD grouped dinos with panning camera will suffice I think, to get the general idea.
     
  17. dactilardesign

    dactilardesign

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    I betatested the Cruncher plugin. It's a must have if you are not making your own low poly models. 100% recommended.
    Congrats for the idea and the implementation!
     
  18. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @Tom Ash

    Do keep in mind that memory, draw calls, etc. don't really have anything to do with my plugin. I simply take what's given me, and then reduce that one vertex at a time. So it should never perform worse, and in some cases much better. For example, if you had a mesh with more than 65,000 verts, Unity will split that into mesh parts. Using Cruncher, I merge the mesh back into one before passing it into the reduction library and it always returns a mesh less than 65,000 verts so it would eliminate at least 1 or more draw calls.

    So performance improvements may come from:
    * Fewer verts means less work to draw, especially for skinned meshes that use CPU skinning
    * Fewer draw calls in cases where the mesh was previously broken into parts
    * Merged material list in cases where the mesh was previously broken into parts may result in better performance
    * Smaller mesh means less memory which loads faster

    But there's no magic here other than merging the mesh together and then reducing it. Everything is preserved.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  19. bali33

    bali33

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    Is it possible to make a lite (limit the quality setting, number of LOD etc.) or trial version of Cruncher ? I worked on a project in which I have a lot of high 3d model, mostly complex machines, and I want to test Cruncher on that kind of model before buy it.

    Thank you
     
  20. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @bali33 It's a reasonable request. This is on my list of things to explore, but I don't have a timeframe yet. It will probably take a month or two though honestly. I want to be sure I spend all my free time now fixing any bugs that people find and adding features people want. Then it would be a good time to support a variant of Cruncher so I don't have to maintain 2 versions.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  21. bali33

    bali33

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    I completely understand ! I will wait until you release a lite or demo version in order to test it. But until this date the price would get higher. How much it will be ?

    Thank you
     
  22. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @bali33 The original price was supposed to be $200. I'll see how well it sells and might consider only raising it to $150. But no decision has been made yet.
     
  23. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    Im having weird lighting issues and also some models just simply dont work with it.

    also textures go all over the place on the LOD
     
  24. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @shifty

    With help from DigitalGlass I did recreate his problem, and it would effect lighting. I have fixed that and will submit an update to the Asset Store, hopefully tonight. I haven't submitted yet because there's another small bug I'm trying to fix where with multiple child meshes can cause slight rounding errors in the sliders which causes Cruncher to think you modified the mesh when you in fact didn't. Very annoying.

    As for some models that simply don't work, can you zip one or more of them up and send me a PM with a Dropbox link so I can take a look?

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  25. BrUnO-XaVIeR

    BrUnO-XaVIeR

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    I got it already because you say the price will rise...
    Don't know though how this thing deals with meshes with holes. Anyways, this thing is worth $500+, anyone thinking about porting from major platforms to mobile will need it. Retopology of highend models is a lot of monies nowadays.

    Testing the tool, after creating a lod and deleting it, the plugin keeps reference of the mesh somewhere:
    This always happens after I delete de generated gameObject.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2012
  26. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    Hi all,
    I submitted a new package to the Asset Store, Cruncher v1.01. This new build fixes two big things:

    1. DigitalGlass was kind enough to help me recreate his problem and I found and fixed it. It effected the normals in the reduced mesh and so will cause maybe all kinds of problems.

    2. A beta tester supplied me with a model that helped me find and fix a bug that manifested as dialogs asking to accept or revert changes when you didn't actually change anything. Although a minor annoyance, it created errors in the quality and quantity for child meshes. As a side benefit of the fix it is faster to process and so live preview feels a bit snappier.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  27. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    @bibbinator

    Thanks for the help, you caught me at a bad time I'm in just about to pass out its 1:30AM here! so that means I'll have to PM you the models that are causing problems early in the morning if you are still interested

    thanks
     
  28. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @shifty

    Me too, it's almost midnight here so I guess we're close to the same timezone :) I replied to your PM. Do try out v1.01 when it's available on the asset store and see if that fixes everything. If it doesn't, I would love to have a sample model so I can debug it and see what's going on.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  29. Nomad5oul

    Nomad5oul

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    @bibbinator

    Congratulations on this plugin. It looks like something Unity will want to integrate as a full Unity 4 Pro feature!

    You mentioned in an earlier post that "Everything is preserved". Does this mean when creating a LOD version of a animated model that all the components of the original model will be there like AI or only the animation component and your cruncher script?

    Are there any known limitations of the tool that we need to consider or avoid like importing certain types of model formats and such?

    Thanks
     
  30. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    Great release and thanks for the beta testing, it's a very nice tool to have in unity.
     
  31. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @Nomad5oul Yes, I basically just insert myself between the original asset and the prefab, creating whatever pieces I need to. For example, if you already made a prefab out of the model asset, I don't create another prefab, I add myself to the existing one and only create a new mesh. If there's no prefab, then I create the prefab, etc.

    @Lars Thanks!
     
  32. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    v1.01 now live in the asset store. Please PM me with any issues and link to sample data if possible.

    Thanks!
    Brett
     
  33. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    you sure did fix the lighting problem! now the objects look great though im uploading 1 of the models that used to not work totally but now do work though the reduction from 1 to 0 in quality is about 30 triangles!

    PMing you the link right now
     
  34. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    Heres an example:

     
  35. DigitalGlass

    DigitalGlass

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    Working perfectly for me now brett :) Thanks for the very quick response to the issue.
     
  36. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    Hi Shifty

    In the model in the picture above it's possible it can't reduce any more without losing it's shape/closedness and so it could only further reduce a few trianlges.

    I say "possible" because the model you sent me is baffling indeed why it doesn't reduce. I'm looking at it now and will get back to you. I might need you to send me the model in the picture too for testing, but let me try with the one you sent already first. Stay tuned...

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  37. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    I look forward to a solution =D

    There is about another 25 models that are made with the same software (sketchup) and i tested 3 others from the bunch and none of them worked.. which is a share since those are very important.
     
  38. dabrow

    dabrow

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    Hi @ Shifty @ bibbinator

    Remember that Sketchup does not produce " clean geometry" and this can be your problem

    Cheers
     
  39. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    I would have to apply for a refund if it doesn't work, with that said it still is a great asset
     
  40. angel_m

    angel_m

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    I am interested in this tool but first it must be clarified if there are any compatibility issues, like some kind of models-meshes not working or something like that.
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2012
  41. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @shifty I'm still looking at the model. It's not apparent what's wrong at first glance, I need to pick through the data and see why it isn't reducing. Never seen this before, so probably not difficult to fix and probably an authoring fix, not a fix or my plugin. But we'll see.

    @angel_m There are no compatibility issues. As people have said it works great at reducing polygons in meshes. But it's no miracle too (although it seems that way even to me sometimes). Basically it preserves the shape of your mesh, so if you have normal meshes with surfaces that are curved or flat, it will reduce well. You're welcome to PM me a link to a model you want me to try and I'm happy to reduce it for you and send it back or make a video of it being reduced for you to see.

    I have fixed 2 more bugs and submitted a new build to the asset store. Keep your eye out for v1.02.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  42. elias_t

    elias_t

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    Using Sketchup to make models for unity is a bad practice.

    bibinator. It might be that it has splitted vertices for each surface on the mesh. Does cruncher perform a check to find identical vertices with identical uv's so it can weld them first before starting the reduction proccess?
     
  43. KatanaSim

    KatanaSim

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    As much as this might be the case, in some instances there is simply no other suitable tool available.
     
  44. Crazy Robot

    Crazy Robot

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    I've been using this since yesterday and I have to say "Awesome"!! Just what i needed!

    Thanks,
     
  45. Nomad5oul

    Nomad5oul

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    @bibbinator

    It would be great if there was like a compatibility matrix for Cruncher with the most common model formats.

    Hopefully these sketchup models will be an isolated incident or fixable.
     
  46. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @elias_t Thanks for the heads-up. That's what I was thinking too. Cruncher tries to weld these type of vertices together, but it might not be for some reason in this case. Still investigating.

    @Nomad5oul It's not a model format thing, it's a model export thing. Cruncher is compatible with all Unity meshes in terms of input. The problem could be as elias_t pointed out that basically every single triangle has it's own 3 verts and so causes it not to be reduced. People shouldn't be using models like this in a game unless it's for a specific reason (e.g. you want to "explode" the mesh at runtime and need each triangle separate or something). Anyway, once I figure out why, then we can think about what to do about it.

    But that said, I assumed people would want to use Sketchup and I did in fact test a lot of crappy meshes form the 3D warehouse with Cruncher trying to find problems and they actually all worked great. So in general, Sketchup meshes are no problem.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  47. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    v1.02 now live in the Asset Store.

    v1.02
    * Fixed situations where a naming collision could occur in meshes with lots of child meshes.
    * Meshes that cannot be reduced to below Unity's 65,000 vertice or triangle limit will be skipped.
     
  48. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @eskimoejoe Yep, works on Mac and Windows both, but you must have Unity Pro as it uses native code plugins.

    Cheers,
    Brett
     
  49. unityasoft

    unityasoft

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    Any word on my models?
     
  50. bibbinator

    bibbinator

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    @shifty Looking at it, it's morning here, I just got up a while ago. Patience my friend ;)