Nature Renderer: Better terrain detail rendering ✅ PBR ✅ Custom Shaders ✅ Shadows ✅ Wind ✅ SRP

Yes, if you generate your level yourself and then add Nature Renderer. That works fine in both edit-mode and at runtime.
No, if you expect Nature Renderer to generate the level (or vegetation) for you.

 

Hey, your asset looks great! Anyone have any feedback on performance for VR using both desktop and Quest 2? I'm thinking about getting this and Open World Nature Kit.

 

@Visual-Design-Cafe
Also, do you have a video in which I can check out your Open World Nature Kit it better detail? Thanks.

 

Hey there!

I've just purchased Nature Renderer, and everything works and looks perfect inside the scene view - but none of the provided essential shaders seem to render properly inside the game view.

I've went ahead and created a new blank project with only Nature Renderer, and the issue still persists even on the provided demo scene, so I assume it's an issue with either my Unity or HDRP version.



The versions I'm using are Unity 2019.3.0f6 and HDRP 7.1.8. I wish I could provide more info, but I get no errors or other hints I could link to this - it just simply doesn't work in the game view.

I'm unable to switch away from those versions for the time being, so if a fix is possible, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you for your time!

 

It is most likely the HDRP version. I develop with HDRP 7.2.1 as the base version, because it is the latest version available for Unity 2019.3.
HDRP 7.1.8 should also work fine though, it must be a small incompatibility with one of the shader graphs. I'll take a look at it and get back to you.

 

I don't have any specific measurements for you, as the performance depends on what you do with Nature Renderer. But I can tell you that it has been specifically optimized for VR, and Nature Renderer supports Single Pass Instanced rendering for best performance. I recommend to download the free trial to see the performance for your project.

I don't have any demo video available at the moment. (But I am working on one)
Feel free to ask me if you have any specific questions though.

 

I looked into it for you and it seems to be an internal bug in Unity. It works fine in Unity 2019.3.1 with HDRP 7.1.8, so if you can update your Unity version to one patch later then everything should work.

 

I see, thanks for the info! I got it working now.

 

I get this error in play mode with multiple terrain tiles.
I do some changes at runtime when scene starts to tweak terrain detail density, grass and shadows distance.
It doesn't stop the game from running and it doesn't happen anymore after changing quality ingame after the scene is loaded.

Code (CSharp):

1. ThreadAbortException
2. System.Random..ctor (System.Int32 Seed) (at <9577ac7a62ef43179789031239ba8798>:0)
3. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.PlacementProvider.Place (VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.DetailLayer detailLayer, UnityEngine.Rect pixelRect, UnityEngine.Bounds localBounds, System.Single density, System.Int32[,] detailTexture, System.Int32 layer, System.Nullable`1[System.Single]& minHeight, System.Nullable`1[System.Single]& maxHeight) (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/PlacementProvider.cs:114)
4. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.Cell.BuildDetailLayer (System.Int32[,] detailTexture, UnityEngine.Rect pixelRange, System.Int32 layer, System.Single density, System.Nullable`1[System.Single]& minHeight, System.Nullable`1[System.Single]& maxHeight) (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/Cell.cs:318)
5. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.Cell.Build (System.Int32[,][] detailTextures, System.Boolean[] dirtyLayers, System.Single density) (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/Cell.cs:220)
6. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.BuildQueue.RebuildCellIfChanged (VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.BuildQueue+CellBuildData cell) (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/BuildQueue.cs:316)
7. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.BuildQueue.BuildNext () (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/BuildQueue.cs:282)
8. UnityEngine.Debug:LogException(Exception)
9. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.BuildQueue:BuildNext() (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/BuildQueue.cs:298)
10. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.BuildQueue:BuildAll(Action`1, Int32) (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/BuildQueue.cs:258)
11. VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.<>c__DisplayClass28_1:<Build>b__1(Object) (at C:/Visual Design Cafe/Projects/Nature Renderer/Unity/Nature Renderer/Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/Runtime/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature/Build/BuildQueue.cs:243)
12. System.Threading._ThreadPoolWaitCallback:PerformWaitCallback()

 

Thank you for reporting this, I have fixed it for the next update.
You should be able to safely ignore this error until then. The error is expected to happen when changing settings, however, it should normally be hidden from the console.

 

Can we get an update on this? We are currently stuck between two versions, last one has a massive frame drop on load which we fixed by going back to the older version. Now we're facing the same error because of which we moved to the newer version.

 

Hello,
I was wondering (probably a long shot anyway, but I'll try),
I made a "terrain" using prefabs from Synty Studios. Can I use Nature Renderer to paint vegetation on these? I'm not sure if I can convert it to terrain, or is there any other trickery which would let me do it?
Thanks for the help.

 

I am still looking into this, but so far it seems to be caused by some rogue GC allocations in the streaming process. The placement algorithm was changed recently, and it caused some GC allocations that did not show up in the profiler. I am in the process of going over the streaming code to ensure that all GC allocations are gone.

 

No, that won't be possible. Nature Renderer relies on Unity's terrain data, so you will have to convert the prefabs into a terrain somehow.

 

In this case I just missed it. What happened was the following:

1. The allocations were happening on the build thread that places all the detail objects, and the only place where this shows up is on the timeline view in the profiler. (Unity 2019 also shows threads in the hierarchy, but I tend to work in 2018.4 since that is the lowest supported version for Nature Renderer)
2. You have to open the Scripting Threads foldout and scroll through the scripting threads (that all have random names) to find the allocations.
3. To see the exact source of the allocation you have to click on it in the timeline view.
4. The new allocations were mixed in with some other (unavoidable) allocations, so it is difficult to spot the new ones unless you click on every single allocation.
5. The build process is spread out over multiple frames, so keeping track of the total allocations within a frame also doesn't help much.
6. In conclusion, I just didn't spot the new allocations that were happening.

 

Testing on Xbox Series X - grass seems to have gone invisible again. Not reproducible on other UWP devices.
Not seeing anything relevant in the logs.

 

Thanks for clarification. I found LMHPoly's tutorial how to do it. Now just need to combine meshes...

 

Thank you for the suggestion, I was not aware of this one. It won't be able to capture everything but it should still help a lot to catch unwanted allocations.

And this sounds like a good addition to our benchmark tests. We are not using beta versions at the moment, but once 2020.2 is released I'll see if I can update.

 

Did you update Nature Renderer to a different version? If so, can you let me know from which version you updated?
And are there any warnings or errors at all in the logs (even if it is unrelated to Nature Renderer)?

 

I've upgraded to Unity 2019.3.7f1, and indeed, the issue was fixed. But now I'm struggling with quite frequent memory leaks..



I can't find a very reliable repro, I can only tell for sure that it's coming from nature renderer - if I stop drawing the details, the allocations stop. Once I turn it back on, they're back. I've also noticed they tend to pop up when editing materials with the nature shaders.

Is there any useful info I can provide to help figure out this issue?

 

It is not an error that I have seen before, but I have a pretty good idea of what might be causing it. At the moment I am working on updating the streaming code, because it was causing stuttering and unnecessary GC allocations. There is a good chance that the memory leaks are related to this as well. The update should be available later this week, or next week at the latest. Please give it a try once it is available to see if it indeed fixes the errors.

 

Hi, I've used the nature renderer for grass and such, but trees doesn't seem to work. Is that just a missing feature or is it a bug or something?

 

@Visual-Design-Cafe Hi. I hope you are doing well! Just a quick question. Do trees use procedural instancing or just the details? This is an ongoing question on my discord channel

 

Trees are not supported at the moment. They are rendered using Unity's system, and you can improve their rendering using our shaders. Full support for trees is in development.

 

No, not yet. At the moment trees are rendered using Unity's system. I am working on full support for tree rendering.

 

Nature Renderer version 1.3.13 is now available through the built-in updater, and will be on the Asset Store within the next few days. Go to Help > Nature Renderer > Check for Updates to download it.

This update mainly fixes/improves streaming and memory management. Nature Renderer should be much smoother now when moving around the terrain, and overall memory usage should be lower.

Fixed:

• Fixed issue where detail objects from different layers would be placed at the exact same position.
• Fixed stuttering while streaming-in new detail objects. (@Muravu , @MatkoSimecki )
• Fixed issue where frustum culling would cull detail objects that were still in view.
• The processor-usage setting for streaming is now correctly applied.
• All loaded data of a terrain is now correctly cleared when the terrain is not in range.
• Fixed issue where terrain details would not refresh when painting in edit-mode.
• Fixed ThreadAbortException. (@vlastan )

Changed:

• Improved internal memory management. (@noam_2000 This should fix the memory leaks that you were seeing)
• Improved streaming performance.
• Reduced total amount of memory that is used by Nature Renderer.
• Terrain Details are no longer rebuilt when moving the terrain.
• Detail objects that are in view are now prioritized when streaming-in new data.
• Reduced GC allocations when streaming-in data.
• Total memory usage is now shown in debug section of Nature Renderer component.

 

i got a error if i try to build

Code (CSharp):

1. ArgumentException: The Assembly UnityEditor is referenced by VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature ('Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.dll'). But the dll is not allowed to be included or could not be found.
2. UnityEditor.AssemblyHelper.AddReferencedAssembliesRecurse (System.String assemblyPath, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T] alreadyFoundAssemblies, System.String[] allAssemblyPaths, System.String[] foldersToSearch, System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2[TKey,TValue] cache, UnityEditor.BuildTarget target) (at <a8e33794c0064f2aa201ade069162226>:0)
3. UnityEditor.AssemblyHelper.AddReferencedAssembliesRecurse (System.String assemblyPath, System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T] alreadyFoundAssemblies, System.String[] allAssemblyPaths, System.String[] foldersToSearch, System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2[TKey,TValue] cache, UnityEditor.BuildTarget target) (at <a8e33794c0064f2aa201ade069162226>:0)
4. UnityEditor.AssemblyHelper.FindAssembliesReferencedBy (System.String[] paths, System.String[] foldersToSearch, UnityEditor.BuildTarget target) (at <a8e33794c0064f2aa201ade069162226>:0)
5. UnityEngine.GUIUtility:ProcessEvent(Int32, IntPtr)
6.  

 

My bad, I left one line of debugging code that references the Unity editor. I am exporting and uploading a new package for you now.

 

@Salja An update is available now that fixes the build issue. You can go to Help > Nature Renderer > Check for Updates to download it. (version 1.3.13.66)

(@Tzirrit See above. You liked the post, so I guess you had the same issue)

 

@Visual-Design-Cafe Indeed, I had the same issue. The new update fixed it. Thanks for the quick fix!

 

Hi,

just downloaded the trial and all the shaders are broken. Tested on 2020.2.0f1 + URP 10.2.2

 

Unity 2020.2 was only just released and this version is not yet supported by the shaders. Unity made some large changes to Shader Graph that broke our shaders. I am working on a fix and I expect to have an update ready next week. Until then, I recommend to stick with Unity 2020.1.

 

A follow up on this: it is most likely caused by this Unity bug: https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/is...g-build-during-compiling-shader-variants-step

 

Hi. If i have multiple terrains do i need to apply nature renderer component to each one of them?

 

Yes. Each terrain needs a Nature Renderer component.

 

Hi,
After upgrading to the last version of NR i'm getting this error when try to build my game :

Code (CSharp):

1.  ArgumentException: The Assembly UnityEditor is referenced by VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature ('Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Plugins/com.VisualDesignCafe.NatureRenderer/VisualDesignCafe.Rendering.Nature.dll'). But the dll is not allowed to be included or could not be found.

I'm on Unity 2020.1.16f - URP.

 

It should already be fixed in the latest patch. You can go to Help > Nature Renderer > Check for Updates to download it. The latest patch version is 1.3.16.68 (previous one was 1.3.16.65).

 

Nature Renderer version 1.3.16.68 is now available. This is a small patch that fixes a freeze that could occur when entering playmode. I have also added a notice regarding Unity 2020.2 support when importing Nature Renderer into a URP or HDRP project in Unity 2020.2:

About Unity 2020.2
The current version of Nature Renderer does not support Unity 2020.2 URP and HDRP (the built-in render pipeline works fine). Shader Graph had some major changes in Unity 2020.2 that breaks our shaders. I am working on a fix and I expect to have an update available later this month.

 

Can confirm the memory issues are gone with this update. Thank you!

 

I've seen this before, not only my project but others as well. Usually it happens when you have lots of shaders with multiple global keywords and materials with old keywords, even though the error says nothing about keywords. Unity, sadly, has horrible shader management. Try shader control, convert all your global keywords to local keywords, exit unity, delete the Library\ShaderCache folder (unity will recreate it). You'll see cyan blue flashes after loading your scenes back up, unity has to recompile the shaders.

 

Hi, I was wondering if there is any way or if there are any plans to add grass bending like in vegetation studio pro?

 

Does this only do grass/flowers and not trees? I'm testing a terrain with only trees and not seeing anything... I could have sworn the asset store page said trees too.

Edit: Whoops, nevermind, just saw the above posts on tree support....

Dev: *remove* trees from the asset store listing until you have tree support please. "Everything works with your existing data: use the same grass, vegetation, and trees and keep your existing terrains"

 

Notes and Limitations
* 3D models shown in screenshots are from Open World Nature Kit and Megascans and are not included.
* This asset ships with plugins, C# source code is not included.
* Performance depends on the amount of grass and rendering features used. Please download the free trial to test the performance gain for your project. Better performance than Unity's renderer is not guaranteed.
* Alpha and Beta version of Unity and preview packages are not supported. Support for new releases will be added a few weeks after the release is out of beta/preview.
* This plugin is for the terrain's detail system. We render all detail objects and provide shaders for trees, but the trees are rendered by Unity.

Hope in future

 

Yeah, I get it... but everything is rendered by unity /s

I think the better way to handle it would have been to say there's no 'Indirect Instancing' for trees until a later version.

 

I'm having a weird problem with my builds. The terrain transparency doesn't work. We're using Unity 2019.3.14f1 and HDRP. It's a very basic setup and with the newest versions of Shader Graph, Nature Renderer and Open World Nature. We have enabled streaming on the terrain.

UPDATE:
I fixed it! Well...I found the extremely obvious button.


ORIGINAL POST:
This is how it looks in the standalone build:


I'm getting this in my Player.log:

Code (CSharp):

1. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'HDRP/Lit' - All passes removed
2. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?
3. D3D11 device created for Microsoft Media Foundation video decoding.
4. <RI> Initializing input.
5.  
6. <RI> Input initialized.
7.  
8. <RI> Initialized touch support.
9.  
10. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'Hidden/Nature/Terrain/Utilities' - All passes removed
11. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?
12. ERROR: Shader Hidden/Nature/Terrain/Utilities shader is not supported on this GPU (none of subshaders/fallbacks are suitable)
13. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'HDRP/Unlit' - All passes removed
14. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?
15. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'HDRP/Nature Shaders/Tree Leaves' - All passes removed
16. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?
17. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'Shader Graphs/ParticleUnlit' - All passes removed
18. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?
19. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'Shader Graphs/ParticleUnlitFlipbook' - All passes removed
20. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?
21. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'Shader Graphs/ParticleUnlitSoft' - All passes removed
22. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?
23. WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'HDRP/Nature Shaders/Vegetation' - All passes removed
24. WARNING: Shader Did you use #pragma only_renderers and omit this platform?

 

Grass bending (interaction) is already in development, and is currently in open beta! You can request access here: https://www.visualdesigncafe.com/nature-shaders/

Note that this is part of a separate package. Nature Renderer is focused on being a rendering engine. New shader-specific features will be released in a separate shader package.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I'll see if I can make the text clearer.

As a side note: tree rendering is almost ready. I am currently fixing the shaders for Unity 2020.2 for the next update, and trees are the next item on the roadmap after the shaders (along with placement/spawn rules).

 

That's really awesome, thanks for the info!