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

Will the new API to include motion vectors for instancing be in with the upcoming NR update?
-- thread: Help Wanted - Enabling Motion Vector Pass For DrawProcedural? - Unity Forum
(HDRP, although I think it applies to all other render pipelines)
it would be a massive visuals upgrade to everyone using TAA, which in itself boosts vegetation quality.

 

Is there any way we could use shaderX code inside shader Graph as a custom node or something?
It would really help with customizing the look of vegetation, which isn't possible with one shader. It is also really hard to implement custom VFX.

 

It is an internal error in Unity, so nothing we can do there. We have reported it to Unity and it looks like they have a fix in the next Unity 2022 release:
https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/is...console-when-copying-properties-from-material
I do hope they backport it to Unity 2021 though, it would not be great if they ignored this fix.

 

Yes, that is scheduled for the update.

 

Thank god I'm on 2022 stream. Thanks for the complete reply.

 

In 2021.2.9f1 I see the message is gone; but details don't show in build ... anyone seen this ?

 

I've mentioned the code in my last post, I take out the terrainData.detailPrototypes as a list, edit the list, then let the terrainData.detailPrototypes = list.ToArray()

This crash only occur when I delete the last detail prototype, as long as there still are prototypes, it won't crash.

 

Any updates for the new version?

 

Is a new version that supports trees coming soon? Any idea when?

 

Hi, We're trying to implement our floating origin function into our project with Nature Renderer.
We tried to call the static function SetFloatingOrigin (double x, double z)
But we ran into an error:
Method not found: void VisualDesignCafe.Nature.GlobalWind.SetFloatingOrigin(double,double)

We are using 1.5.2, is it fixed in 1.5.3?

 

Does anyone know if the author is ok or on vacation?

 

I have a problem with the current release of Nature Shaders (1.0.10). It seems this is the only Visual Design Cafe related thread, so I try my luck here:

Does anybody have the issue of the aforementioned version crashing iOS builds? Or, better still, has anybody fixed this?

I'm starting biting my ass for having chosen a closed source 3rd party package for production again...

 

The first version of Nature Renderer 2021 is now available: view the upgrade page here

Note: We have included support for the latest features and changes in URP, but we are still working on the HDRP changes and tree rendering. There is a roadmap on the page with the details.

Note: If you purchased Nature Renderer on the Asset Store then we can provide Nature Renderer 2021 for free for the first 3 months. We are still setting up the coupon system for this, so please contact us directly via the bug report form to request a coupon and we will send it once the system is up and running. You can enter your Asset Store invoice number on the upgrade page to receive the discount.

 

It looks like you may have an incompatible version of Nature Shaders installed. Can you go to Help > Nature Shaders > Check for Updates to ensure you have the latest version? If it still doesn't work, please submit a bug report and our support team will look into it for you.

Can you submit a bug report with more details? Then our support team will look into it for you.

 

Hello. Still absolutely loving Nature Renderer and am looking forward to seeing the roadmap unfold

Our level designer is experiencing a lot of lag when editing terrains (we're still on NR2020), and it completely goes away when he ticks off the "Draw"-bool you added a couple of months ago for us (it has been a game changer!).

Feature Request: Unity's built-in terrain automatically turns off all its foliage whenever you mouse-down on the terrain to alter it, and turns the foliage back on when you let go of the button. Would it be possible for you guys to add something similar, perhaps just as an option? I think it'll help in exactly the right places for the level designers to have the best performance AND it gives better visibility of the terrain changes itself, as they're being applied without being covered by foliage.

 

Is there some page up with more info on how licensing or the 2021 version is supposed to work? Can't find anything on the homepage yet. Not sure if we have to keep the sub going to receive new updates/use it in production/how long we get updates/if we get any in a sub-period.

I assume we won't get an asset store release and all updates will have to be done via your homepage now?

 

I have just added a FAQ section to the upgrade page with the answers: https://v3.visualdesigncafe.com/nature-renderer/upgrade/pricing

In short: you need an active subscription as long as you actively use Nature Renderer in development.

There are currently no plans for an Asset Store release. You can download Nature Renderer from our website, and updating can be done via our package manager as well, just like in the current version.

 

I did twice without getting a reply yet. Should i try again or could you have a look if you see them tickets?
Thanks in advance!

 

I am checking the support system but I am not seeing any open tickets from you, or related to this issue. Could you try again and also send me your email address in a PM? Then I can specifically search for your email address in the system. Just in case, you can also send me a copy of the bug report here in a PM, then I'll forward it to the support team for you.

 

Should I make a support ticket instead, or how does this work for requests like this?

 

Just wanted to say its annoying that u have to put credit card info for trial.

 

A support ticket is usually best, the notifications for forum posts are not very reliable and messages often get lost. I'll see if we can implement your feature request, but it may be difficult since Unity does not make the editing state of the terrain accessible.
One thing you can try is double-checking that there are no unused detail objects registered on the terrain, and that the detail map resolution is as low as possible. Both these can slow down the editing.

 

We agree 100%. We are working on making the trial available without entering any payment details. Our payment provider does not support it, so it requires quite a bit of development efforts for us to work around it and set everything up. It should be possible in a few weeks.

 

Hi, a subscription is not an option at my company, will there be package releases?

 

Does Nature Renderer has frustum and occlusion culling?
I can't see anywhere mentioned in the documentation.

I think this is important feature to have.

 

So will there actually be an upgrade path via Unity Asset Store or no? Your site says "Coming Soon" but your post says no. Which is it?

 

@Binary42 @NathanielAH There will be an upgrade path available on the Asset Store. Based on feedback, we have decided to make both options available: either a subscription to get all versions or a single upgrade on the Asset Store for a specific Unity version. It takes a few weeks to upload the Asset Store release and get it through Unity's review process, hence the "Coming Soon".

 

Nature Renderer supports frustum culling and it is enabled by default. Occlusion culling is not currently supported.

 

Any ETA on release date on the asset store?
Additionally wanted to ask, is oclussion culling planned? GPU Instancer supports it and it does offer a nice boost in projects where I use it. Would be nice to see it in NR.

 

.

 

Hey! I'm an NR 2020 user and I love the performance and simplicity. Right now I'm planning a new project and deciding if NR 2021 will fit my needs. So, I have 2 important questions:

1) How exactly does the 'per user' licensing work? Does it count unity's users or physical seats? I'm a solo developer that works from the working PC and laptop (syncing project with Plastic SCM). Can I work with a single NR 2021 license seamlessly?

2) Is there any ETA for the "Tree Rendering"? Of course, I don't expect it right now but is it a confirmed feature for the observable future or it's more like a "need a research" thing? How smart will be to plan a project expecting the "Tree rendering" (and drop the GPUI&VegetationStudio from the pipeline from the very start because of it)?

 

The release date on the Asset Store mostly depends on Unity, we have no control over how long their review process takes. We will submit the update this month once we have completed and verified all the new features.
Occlusion Culling is on the roadmap but not yet in development.

 

1. User licenses are activated for a specific device. However, you can move licenses between devices when you need it. For example, when you activate Nature Renderer on your working PC and then move to your laptop you will be prompted to active the license for your laptop. You can just revoke the license from your PC and activate it on your laptop. The entire process takes less than 5 seconds. After revoking, the license will stay activated on your PC for a few hours, in case you need to work on both devices simultaneously.

2. It's a confirmed feature and it is already functional. We just need to make the tree rendering feature-complete before releasing it. It is scheduled to be included in the first release of Nature Renderer 2021 on the Asset Store, which will be submitted this month. (It may take a month longer, depending on the review time/feedback of the Asset Store)

 

Thanks a lot for the clarification!

 

Hi @Visual-Design-Cafe

It seems NatureRenderer is giving me some lag spikes in the editor

 

Hello, it seems that the latest version is having problem on ios + cloud build, where the leaves are totally solid, without alpha. Occurred after updating after a few months. On windows and android it works perfectly, all compiled on Unity Cloud, tested on version 2020.3.34, 2020.3.32, 2020.3.27, also with empty project only with the demo scene:

 

I'll look into it for you. In case you haven't done so, can you also submit a bug report via our support website? Then our support team can track the ticket for you.

 

Hi,

do you have a release date for the Tree Renderer in the Website Version?

 

Should be next week. All the work is done, we are just doing final testing, a final revision of the documentation, and a final revision of the demo scene. Here's a few quick screenshots of the current demo scene to give you an idea of the rendering:

 

Yes, they confirmed and will resolve it in the next few days. Thanks.
Strange that there are no reports of this before
Hope it doesn't take long, we have release waiting for the fix.

 

Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions.

1. Any chance for occlusion culling down the line?
GPU Instancer hides grass behind rocks/trees etc. dynamically and it'd be great to see the same sort of thing in NR, saves a lot of framerate.

2. Regarding the new license coming to the asset store soon, will there be a small indie studio license (eg. 5 seats at a discount) or do we have to buy 5 separate seats?

3. Will LOD-Fade be supported?

4. Any info on when we can expect the release on the asset store?

 

1. Yes, it is planned for an update later this year. It's already in early development.
2. There will be a studio license on our website with per-project licenses instead of per-user. But for 5 seats the per-user license is probably a better fit for you. The studio license is aimed at studios with 20+ users and larger enterprises. Are there any specific licensing terms that you are looking for with an indie studio license? Maybe we can set something up.
3. No, not at this point. It is something that I am looking into but our render pipeline makes it quite difficult. All vegetation in the scene is dynamically batched and density is dynamically adjusted as well, which means that there is no persistent data between frames. Therefore, it is difficult to animate LOD fade because it needs persistent data (the animation value).
4. The major 2021 update will be released on Monday on our website. The Asset Store version has already been submitted and is pending review. It all depends on how long Unity takes to review the submission, my best guess would be 1-2 weeks.

 

It's Tuesday and still no update as far as I can see sadly. Any chance it might still come out today?

Regarding studio license, I just figured maybe buying more than 1 license in bulk could have some sort of group discount instead of going for the whole studio license at once. Most indies I work/freelance for are between 3-5 people groups, and I also assume a lot of people juggle around 1 of your licenses/seats between 3 devs instead of buying separate seats and calling it a day. A discount for your average indie group might be more enticing than having people juggle a key between team users.

Just a small suggestion

 

It's already out on the website:
https://v3.visualdesigncafe.com/nature-renderer/

You can download the latest version from your Downloads page:
https://v3.visualdesigncafe.com/id/downloads

It takes a few days for the update to roll out via the package manager, we do this in stages. So for now, you have to download the latest version directly from the website.

The Asset Store version is still pending review. Let's hope Unity's review team is having a good week and will approve it quickly.

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll see if we can add some form of progressive pricing for different number of users.

 

Thanks, already experimenting around with it.
Having quite a fair bit of issues with the new version so far. Primarily a lot of my vegetation objects stopped rendering completely. Objects with Boxophobic's TVE shaders work while Nature Shaders objects don't appear, so that's interesting. Additionally, I get these errors with my grass prefabs that worked just fine on the previous NR version (also using Nature Shaders).

URP, 2021.3 LTS.

 

Can you double-check that you have the latest version of Nature Shaders 2021? We just released an update yesterday with support for Nature Renderer 2021 + Nature Shaders 2021. If you already have Nature Shaders installed in your project then the latest version probably did not get installed automatically when importing Nature Renderer 2021.

If the latest version is already installed, you can select the shaders in Assets/Visual Design Cafe/Nature Shaders/Shaders and click "Clear Cache" in the inspector. The old version may still be cached and it needs to be reloaded.

As for the errors, can you try reducing the Detail Resolution Per Patch in the terrain settings? It is one of Unity's properties in the regular terrain component. A value of 32 should always work, 64 works in most cases.
Nature Renderer 2021 uses a slightly different buffer size that is linked to the detail resolution per patch value, which is why this error may suddenly be visible. The reason for this is that it now uses the exact same placement for detail objects as Unity's default terrain system, so that the positions of detail objects are the same.

Just a tip: This error does indicate that you may have a lot of vegetation instances on your terrain, reducing the instance count by either reducing the density or using grass meshes that contain multiple quads can help performance a lot.

 

Reducing it to 32 did the trick. Need to get used to the fact the terrain settings tab actually matters now, I was used to tweaking everything in the nature renderer component so it's weird going back to stock unity terrain settings for things like draw distance or density

As for the grass not appearing, I needed to go into the grass material and toggle any setting on/off. That made the grass render properly again. Reimporting of the material or shaders, reinstalls didn't do anything. Cache either. Just a simple material tweak. Not sure why, but glad it works. I love the tree rendering, really blazing fast.

Now we just need oclussion culling and the ability to instance game objects in the scene directly like rocks or cliffs and GPU instancer is pretty much blown out of the market I'd say

 

Hey folks, just upgraded to 2021 through subscription, was hoping maybe i'd finally clear these red errors but no dice i'm on 2021.3.5 now but these errors have followed me from 2021.2.14
attached them, they clear fine, and nothing seems to be hard broken - just wondering if anyone can help.

seems like it's all an issue with the meta file for that asset, should i delete it?

 

Also, probably unrelated to Nature Renderer but figured I'll ask here - whenever I import anything, or compile something randomly - I get the "IMPORTING" window pop up, and it's always the .shaderx files reimporting themselves, day and night, on and on, to the point I'm wondering if I should just remove the nature shaders package and go with something else.

Is there a reason why only those .shaderx files keep reimporting themselves, is there any way to stop them from doing it? Gets fairly frequent and somewhat annoying to have it reimport 20 times a day, especially when I just sometimes change a script value somewhere and have to wait for them to finish up doing whatever they are doing.

 

Congratulations on the 2021 release! So anticipated!

I'm checking the roadmap and am willing to clarify some details. Most of the cool features like SSAO, deferred lights, SS Shadows, depth pre-pass, etc are marked as "new for URP". Does it imply that none of that is actually available for built-in?

You also mentioned this release will be the one with a Tree Rendering. But according to the roadmap, it's not. So which one is correct?

Thanks again for your work!