[RELEASED] Vegetation Studio

It depends a bit on review time, but it seems to be fast now.

Lennart

 

NM biome packages?

 

I'm a bit lost on how baking works. Last night while I slept I had it Bake All Vegetation items from ruleset.
it says this will disable run time spawn In the notes.
What do I do to get vegetation to show again? I have no vegetation during run time right now.
Is there another step or something im suppose to do?

 

Hi, how can I change the vegetation package in runtime?

 

Vegetation Studio Pro Beta

Hi. As we get closer to the release of Vegetation Studio Pro I have closed the beta signup.
Beta downloads will still be available for users until the package hits the asset store.

If you want to get noticed when it releases and not miss the release discounted price sign up for the newsletter on the website.

Lennart

 

There is a SetVegetationPackage function call on the VegetaionSystem component.

Lennart

 

Also close to release, we are working hard on finishing demo scenes, documentation etc.

To bake vegetation you have to create a persistent storage package and add this to the Persistent storage component.
This has to be initialized to get the internal structure to match the cell structure of the Vegetation System.

When you then bake vegetation it will set run-time spawning to false and load the baked vegetation from the storage. This should happen automatic.

Lennart

 

Hello,

I finally upgraded my project from Unity 5.6 to 2017.4.14f1 and made sure the Vegetation Studio package is up-to-date, but I am now having an issue where none of my tree billboards have the trunk of the tree:



These are tree creator trees and were working fine before. I've messed with the billboard settings but nothing seems to make a difference.

Edit:

Upgraded again from 2017 to 2018.2.14f1 and the issue is still present.

 

I have seen something similar with a tree. It had used a cutout shader before and the cutoff value was set to 0.
This value was serialized in the material and when the override shader used to make the atlas looked for a cutoff it got a 0 and culled all pixels for the trunk.

Try to switch to the standard shader. choose transparent cutoff. set cutoff value to 1 and switch back.

Lennart

 

Development update.

Hi. I finished the new GPU shadow visibility culling today. Trees and Large Objects can now be rendered instanced indirect with all frustum culling, LOD selection and shadow visibility testing done on the GPU.

I have a few 2018.3 items on the list and then I do testing and publish a new update.

Lennart

 

Sweet man. So glad vegetation studio exist and that you are advancing it.

 

Thanks. I have a list of improvements made during the Vegetation Studio Pro development that I am porting back now.
Things that does not need the job system or burst compiler.

Lennart

 

One thing to note. Baking took a really long time on a 16k map. Like 4 to 6 hours. Once I started it there was no cancel button.
Can baking be done on another thread? Like how light baking works? So we can still work while it bakes?

 

Probably not, but I can see if I can speed it up. Optimizing that was never a priority since it was an editor only function. And I never tested with a terrain that size.

Lennart

 

No luck, unfortunately. Here's a screenshot of the auto-generated material the tree creator made for one of my trees:

 

Could you send me one to test? Tree and materials + textures.
Lets debug in a private message.

Lennart

 

Releases of Pro next week?!

 

Release of Vegetation Studio Pro tomorrow.

Lennart

 

Unity 2018.3 Beta support.

Hi. I am finishing some updates to support 2018.3 Beta. There was some small API changes on top of the new terrain changes.

Vegetation Studio will now automatic create TextureLayers and assign these to the terrain when you apply textures from a Vegetation Package to a terrain.

These are stored in a subfolder of the Vegetation Package.

Lennart

 

Vegetation Studio 1.5.1.0

Hi. I am submitting a new update to Vegetation Studio to the asset store. It should be available soon.

Lennart

Improvements

• Now working with Unity 2018.3 beta
• Trees and Large Objects can now render instanced indirect with shadow visibility testing.
• Upgraded terrain APIs. for 2018.3+ TerrainLayers are now used.
• Added ClearCache(Bounds) static function on the VegetationStudioManager
• Added ClearCache(Bounds) public function on the VegetationSystem component
• Added LoadAllBillboardCells API call to BillboardSystem Component

Changes

• Added overloaded functions that refreshes billboards for overlapping area
• public void RefreshVegetationBillboards(int vegetationCellIndex)
• public void RefreshVegetationBillboards(VegetationCell vegetationCell)
• Changed shadow visibility culling algorithm
• Instanced indirect now renders DistanceBand3 instances (trees and large objects)
• Updated CreatePrefab API used in grass patch generator for 2018.3+

Fixes

• Fix for billboards not refreshing when removing and adding trees with the API
• Fix for billboards not refreshing when removing and adding trees with the Editor
• Fix for billboards not refreshing when removing and adding trees with the Painter
• Fix for scene not set dirty when you recalculate the hull on vegetationmaskAreas
• Removed using not needed in vegetationsystem_computeshader.cs
• Properly disposed a computebuffer that was recreated if you swapped terrain
• Fix for compute buffer size error on 2018.3+
• Fix for build warning in SceneMeshRaycaster.cs

 

2019.1 alpha 7

I just tested the 1.5.1.0 Update on Unity 2019.1 alpha 7 and it seems to be running good there. No new warnings or problems.

Lennart

 

Veg Pro?

 

Vegetation Studio Pro Released.



It is available here on asset store now! Discounted upgrade price for current Vegetation Studio users.

Lennart

 

Hello! First off congrats on launching Vegetation Studio Pro!

In regular vegetation studio is there a automated or semi automated way to create and bake persistent vegetation for all terrains in a scene? Specifically I am trying to get this set up with world streamer and previously you mentioned that setting up baked persistent vegetation is the way to prevent stuttering.

 

When does the NM biomes come out?

 

Bought it! Thanks for making an awesome product Lennart!

 

Do I see it right that the biome itself is not included, neither in pro nor in the meadow pack?

 

Yes, I need HDRP as well. All my future projects will be HDRP.

 

It will be ready in a week or two.

We are making a series of biome asset packages. They will contain terrain textures, trees, rocks, plants and grass with pre made vegetation packages ready to use. The first of these will be released in a couple of weeks. These will be low priced to help people getting started.

I will do a post the next couple of days explaining how this all works and how multiple biomes work togegether.

Lennart

 

You can bake multiple terrain with 1 button in Vegetation Studio Pro. Run-time spawning is much faster since we have the Job system and Burst compiler. You might not need baking vegetation.

Lennart

 

The HD SRP is something I plan to look at when it gets a bit more stable. The last time I tested it did not support instanced indirect rendering yet.

I will keep you all updated on progress.

Lennart

 

So this is not the biome pack? https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/vegetation/meadow-environment-dynamic-nature-132195

 

Oh, okay. Today right after Vegetation Studio Pro a Meadow Pack was released by NM, I thought that was the first of your biomes but couldn't find the file.

 

The biomes series will be release by me. Made together with NatureManufacture.

Lennart

 

Swamp, desert and jungle biome plz

 

Hi, congratulations on your VS PRO release.
A short question:
how many different models should I plan for placement on the territory, for example, 10x10 km. 100 trees, 30 grass, 20 stones? Or can I count on 300 trees, 50 types of grass and stones?
Thanks again for your work!

P.S. I plan to use SpeedTree 8, so it’s very easy to generate 10-20 different models of the same kind of tree. Does it make sense?

 

Hey @LennartJohansen , Question about VS.

I want it to spawn trees with rules about the distance between the same type of tree (f.e Every Y tree is 3 meters or more from the next Y tree) But X tree can be anywhere it has spacing. Is this possible with VS or is it only random?

Thanks for your response

 

I modified the color of the SpeedTree's leaves, but it didn't work in the Vegetation System.

I tried to modify SpeedTree's Color tint in the Vegetation System, but this will change the color of the entire tree, I just want to modify the color of the leaves.

What should I do?

 

Hello.

is it possible to get current selected vegetation item in editor ?
how i can get index of that ?

second question.

i used this code to change vegetation prefab in editor or runtime :

Code (CSharp):

1. GetComponent<VegetationSystem>.GetVegetationModelInfo(0).AddVegetationModel(Tree[counter],0);

but after change prefab when i tested the scene (play/stop). after stop, all of my model (tree or rock not differ) materials is missing and they are pink !!

its really a big problem ... i think some where in code vegetation removes materials.
or maybe i don't know how to change prefab correctly.

please help me. its so necessary.

thanks.

 

Hi. While you could use that many models I would not add that many. The different models does not batch together while rendering instanced or instanced indirect. You get extra drawcalls for each LOD of each additional tree. While these drawcalls are fast when rendering instanced indirect they still take time.

With speedtree you get a position based HUE adjustment, also with randomized size and rotation you can probably get away with less tree variants and have it work good.

Lennart

 

On the trees you have a collision detection checkbox this will test if a tree already is in the spot and skip the spawning.
If you first add the tree you want to be every 3 meter and then the tree you want inbetween it should work.

Lennart

 

I think I will have to do a change for that. Expose a bark and a leaf color tint and test for the material settings when applying. I will add this to the list.

Lennart

 

Can you tell us what type of biomes that you will be coming out with?

 

I will prepare a post over the weekend with some more info and images.

Lennart

 

Hi. It is a bit more complicated. Materials have to be set up also.
Do you mind joining the discord channel and message me there. Easier to explain with a text chat.

Lennart

 

Sounds great! Are you going to be working with NM to get more biomes after your initial ones?

A jungle and a desert are on the top of my list!

 

OK, thanks for reply.

 

Thanks @LennartJohansen. Also, another question. What will the regular price of VS Pro be after launch discount? For people without VS.

 

Amazing effort, congratulations on the release! So far it is astonishing, using all the latest technology Unity has to offer.