QuickDecals 2 - Easily Add Unique Detail and Interest to Your Scene (MAJOR update!)

Let me start with an apology- the original QuickDecals was bland, limited, ugly, and rather terrible. This new "2.0" version changes all that! We are very, very excited to finally release this completely rebuilt tool, thank you for looking!

QuickDecals 2: Bring Your Scene to Life with Unique Interesting Detail!
Purchase | Website | Video | NEW: ProCore Bundle

[video=youtube_share;tielCFE6mg4]http://youtu.be/tielCFE6mg4

Nothing in real life stays clean or perfect- not for long, anyway! "Decals" are a great way to add visual detail, breakup tiling textures, and tell a story in your scene, with very little performance cost. Examples include:

Drips, dirt, and grunge
Blood splats
Wear and tear or decay
Bullet holes, burn marks, etc
Paint, graffiti, posters, etc
Signs and markings

QuickDecals 2 makes it simple (and fun, honestly!), to add these details. I recommend watching the quick video to get all the details, but here's the basic idea:

1) Drag-n-drop textures to the QuickDecals Window, then organize as needed
2) Set Per-Decal settings, one at a time or multiple at once
3) Pack Atlases to reduce drawcalls
4) Select one or multiple Decals (for randomizing) and "Shift + Right-Click" to place

As the video shows, you can very quickly make any Unity scene look alive, exciting, and full of interesting detail! QuickDecals makes this simple to do, and extremely performance-friendly, thanks to the built-in atlas creation ability.

Notes and Special Info:
Upgrading: QuickDecals 2 is a FREE upgrade for all current QuickDecals users, of course
Compatibility: Unity Free and Pro, v3.5.7 and up. All platforms (Mobile, Web, PC, Console, etc) supported.
Decal Textures: Any texture file will work, use the Alpha Channel for Transparency
Curved Surfaces: QuickDecals places a single quad (polygon) with the texture applied, it does not use Projection- this is great for performance, but only works on flat surfaces.

 

A quick note: I am currently submitting the update to the Asset Store, if you purchase and recieve the "old" version of QuickDecals, just email me (contact@procore3d.com) and I'll send the new version directly to you. I'll update this ASAP when the new package is live on the Asset Store!

 

This is awesome!! Thank you so much for the hard work you guys are putting in lately! It seems like the update is live in the asset store now.

 

Thanks n8! ...and yes, it's live on the Asset Store already, thanks Asset Store folks!

 

Looks good, really !
Do you plan to add projection features to use with curved surfaces later ?

 

Thank you for update!

 

Thanks Kilonne- yes, we will be adding Projection for curved surfaces. However, that might be kept for a "ProDecals" version. If we go that route, we'll give discounts for the cost for anyone who wants to upgrade of course. For example, if you buy QuickDecals for $10, then ProDecals comes out in a month for $30, you will be able to purchase ProDecals for $20 (minus the $10 already spent on QuickDecals). Currently, we'd have to do that via direct payment/etc, but hopefully the Asset Store will support "upgrades" in time

 

You're welcome, hamyshank!

 

hey im interested, so how does your compare to those other decal systems

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/246043-which-decal-system-is-best

 

Does QuickDecals2 work for adding bullet holes and blood splatters and such at runtime? Or does it work only in editor?

 

It doesn't have a nice API for doing such, but it would be pretty easy to dissect the Editor's placement code and re-implement at runtime. I've added runtime support to the feature list for the next version, and will post back as soon as it's implemented.

 

Hi

Evaluating decal systems for our game, we have one question your tutorial videos did not answer: are the decals created static? i.e. if you move the object you placed the decal on, does the decal move with it? We need that behaviour because, although we would place the decals in the editor, our rooms would later be placed procedurally across the level, each at a different position.
We would need each room to keep its decals as part of its prefab, so we can move them around and duplicate them without problem.

Would QuickDecals help with that?

Thanks,
Elideb

 

Hi Elideb- QuickDecals just creates the Decal, it would be up to you how the Decal behaves past that. In your situation, I would suggest parenting the decal to the object that you want it to move with, and un-checking the "Static" checkbox in it's inspector.

Let me know if that helps!

 

Yep, that helps. I was not sure you could move the decals out of the hierarchy where they were created.
Now the only issue remaining is the ability to work with non-flat surfaces, but the importance of that is for the artists to evaluate.

Thanks.

 

Great

About non-flat surfaces: that's important indeed, and we'll be adding that ability in the future, as soon as ProBuilder 2.3 is finished!

 

I just purchased QuickDecals and think the interface is very nice however I've identified a problem.

When I make the DecalParent into a prefab and then delete the original and drag the prefab into my scene, all of the decals no longer have Meshes associated with them. As far as I can tell, there is no way to instantiate the decals into a scene because for some reason they lose their meshes. I also don't understand why I can't find the meshes for the decals in my Project. I can see that the decals have meshes when they are first created, the inspector has a mesh component for each decal and it shows a reference to DecalMesh-indexnumber. But when I click on that mesh reference in the inspector, it does not show me where the mesh is in my project.

My guess is you are using some built in unity function for creating a mesh but since those meshes are not actual objects, they disappear when you try to make the decals into a prefab or simply try to load them during runtime.

I'm using Unity Pro 4.6.0b17 with iOS build.

Thanks
Allan

 

Hi Allan- thanks for posting. I'll add this to the tracker, and we'll get it fixed ASAP.

Also, we now have the official ProCore Forum at "www.procore3d.com/forum", which is the best place to report bugs/etc

 

Does this work with terrains as well or is it regular mesh data only?

 

Sure, that should work fine, although QuickDecals doesn't (yet!) project onto non-flat faces. That's in the works though, just a matter of too much to do with ProBuilder right now!

 

Okay I see. That is actually more unpleasant than the terrain.
I'll wait for an update, then. ProBuilder is more important (and it still rocks, BTW).

Thanks for the reply.

 

Agreed, and we are working toward that! For the moment, QuickDecals is just that- a "quick" option that works great for simple surfaces (especially those made with ProBuilder/Prototype).

 

If the decal is over a non flat surface, will it just be projected in a flat way in its mean height, or not work at all ?

Thanks

 

It's a just a regular flat quad, so it will simply stick at the point you clicked. In some cases, it will actually look just fine

 

just purchase QuickDecals, it is excellent.
A small feature request, allow to change the default asset save path. It is hard coded in script.

 

Thanks- we'll add that to the list, sure!
gw

 

Any new about the 'curved thing'?

 

Nothing yet, sorry, still busy re-working PB for Unity 5 compatibility, fixes, etc. We hope to have time to concentrate on the smaller tools in the coming months though.

 

for the default asset save path, please don't use EditorPrefs

 

Hi there! Could you explain what the issue is? Thanks!

 

It is not source control friendly.

 

Hi, great tool! I am curious as to whether or not you have addressed the issue of generating a prefab out of the decals and it not being able to save a mesh?

 

Yes, decals work as prefabs now. Just make sure that in the QuickDecals preferences tab you have 'Hit Transform is Parent' checked.

 

Hi, is it possible to use your own shader with the decal ? I want to create neon decals and use a selfillum shader. Thanks.

 

please move QuickDecalsDatabase.asset out of the Resources folder because it reference the decal texture which will be built into the output package (larger built size) that is not needed in runtime.

 

Yes, once you pack an atlas the material is just like any other material in Unity - just assign the shader you'd like to use.

I changed the default path to QuickDecals/Database for the next patch. To change it now, just open qd_Editor and change line 19 to this:

Code (csharp):

1. const string QD_DATABASE_PATH = "Assets/ProCore/QuickDecals/Database/QuickDecalsDatabase.asset";

No other changes are necessary. This will be the default path in the next release.

 

Hi, love the product.

I'd like to make a request for the atlaser to recognize normal,spec/metallic, height, ao, emissive maps and attempt to atlas those as well. This is so we can use the decals with the new Standard shader workflow and have manhole covers that pop out, or metallic surfaces within the decals defined by the extra shader passes.

 

Does it support non-flat surfaces?

 

Nope, this system uses a 2 tri billboard to apply decals.

 

Hi,

I just tried this product and have a few comments :

1) As others have mentioned, it needs to support materials as well as textures (so all the 3D wizardry of heightmaps etc can be used). I was surprised it only supports flat textures.

2) I'd like an easy way to edit UV's - to shift and scale the UV on the billboard ... eg. to apply only part of the decal to a surface. Alternatively put some easy link in to edit the billboard UV's with ProBuilder

 

Hi there-

1) Agreed, we'd like to add support for this as well, just a matter of time!

2) Hmm, you could try "UVee" on the Asset Store, or use ProBuilder's "ProBuilderize" function?

 

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

(1) Good. Especially for things like 'damage'

(2) Without the ability to re-use parts of textures, the use of the tool to apply randomness is very limited, as it can only apply full textures - so placing the same full texture a few times is not random.

It also means it doesn't help much in creating efficient scenes - as users will need to load more textures where they could have re-used (parts of) existing ones.

Here's a good example ....


ideally the 'dirty' decal on left should be used on the column, as its too expensive to clip externally and use two textures. It can't be used at same UV scale as its too wide, and the billboard can't scaled to fit width as the texture is very wide and will have non-matching (condensed) streaks.

So the billboard should be sized to fit column width, and the UV on billboard needs to be scaled so streaks are similar to that on main billboard.

 

Interesting, I see. Makes me think perhaps we could just use a purely-manual approach to the decal sheet UVs. Or at least an option, yes

Thanks!

 

Since Unity 5.1.0p1, Quick Decals 2 is making my scenes crash. I just add some decals to the inspector, pack the Atlas, and place some decals in the scene. When I hit Play the editor freezes.

If I remove the Qd_Decal script from the decal GameObject it works fine.

I think the bug is at line 103 of qd_Decal.cs, in the OnDrawGizmos function. When it loops through the mesh normals it tells me that m.normals.Length is 60973 (wtf..? isn't it a Quad?) so it gets frozen there. If I remove the OnDrawGizmos function it works fine.

 

Oh.. Kept testing and it doesn't place my selected decal.. it instantiates only quads from the first material/atlas created, and ignores other decal atlases.
Even if I go to the QuickDecalsDatabase and modify the entries manually, when I open the QuickDecals Window it resets the database, putting to every decal group the same material and name.

 

Hi xDavidLeon! Could you post this bug report directly to the official support forum at "www.procore3d.com/forum"? That way we can track and fix it up much more easily. Thanks!
gw

 

Hello, why every decal keeps a reference to the original texture? As I understand, decals don't use original texture in runtime, but still hold it.

 

Is it possible to do normal mapped decals?
Or maybe decals without color at all.. to place bumps on flat surfaces... that'd be awesome!

 

I have a tile-based map. At runtime I want the player to be able to specify that a selected tile be specified as a spawn point. I plan on using a decal system to mark the specified tile as the spawn point. Can I do this in code with QuickDecals?

 

The decal placement code is all editor-side currently, though there's no technical reason that prevents it from being rewritten for use in runtime. Here's a quick example script showing one way to do it (this method loads only texture atlased decals, but could easily be swapped for non-atlased).

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. using UnityEngine;
3. using System.Collections;
4. using System.Collections.Generic;
5. using System.Linq;
6. using ProCore.Decals;
7.  
8. public class MouseClickDecal : MonoBehaviour
9. {
10.     /// the QuickDecalsDatabase asset
11.     public qd_Database decalDatabase;
12.     /// this represents the loaded decals from the database.  there are two stores- one is the atlased
13.     /// version, and one is non-atlased.
14.     private List<DecalGroup> decalGroups;
15.     /// the name of the decal you'd like to instantiate
16.     public string decalName = "RoundBrick";
17.     /// the decal that will be placed
18.     private Decal selectedDecal = null;
19.     /// the material that selectedDecal belongs to
20.     private Material selectedMaterial = null;
21.     /// nudge the decal off the hit surface by this amount to avoid z-fighting
22.     [RangeAttribute(0f,.01f)]
23.     public float decalOffset = .0001f;
24.  
25.     void Awake()
26.     {
27.         if(!decalDatabase.LoadDecalGroups(DecalView.Atlas))
28.         {
29.             Debug.LogWarning("Failed loading decal groups");
30.             selectedDecal = null;
31.             return;
32.         }
33.        
34.         decalGroups = decalDatabase.decalGroups;
35.  
36.         for(int i = 0; i < decalGroups.Count; i++)
37.         {
38.             selectedDecal = decalGroups[i].decals.FirstOrDefault(x => x.name == decalName);
39.  
40.             if(selectedDecal != null)
41.             {
42.                 selectedMaterial = decalGroups[i].material;
43.             }
44.         }
45.     }
46.  
47.     void Update()
48.     {
49.         if(Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0) && selectedDecal != null)
50.         {
51.             Ray screenRay = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition);
52.             RaycastHit hit;
53.  
54.             if(Physics.Raycast(screenRay, out hit))
55.             {
56.                 Rect textureRect = selectedDecal.atlasRect;
57.  
58.                 /// paramaters to create mesh are:
59.                 ///     - texture atlas material
60.                 ///        - decal texture rect in atlas
61.                 ///        - scale
62.                 GameObject decalObject = qd_Mesh.CreateDecal(selectedMaterial, textureRect, 1f);
63.  
64.                 decalObject.transform.position = hit.point + (hit.normal * decalOffset);
65.                 decalObject.transform.localRotation = Quaternion.LookRotation(hit.normal);
66.             }
67.         }
68.     }
69. }
70.  

 

Hi guys,

love your tools! Am currently evaluating QuickDecals and comparing it to ADAOPS. I see QD doesn't currently support Materials. Any plans to implement this? I'd like to add normal maps so I can use if for things like cracks.

Thanks!