[Released] Vertex Tools Pro – Heightbased PBR Material Blending, Flowmapping and Mesh Deform

Hello @PitHeimes, some feedback on Speedtree shaders. With tessellation shader.

Spoiler: Error

Shader error in 'VTP/SpeedTree/Branch (Tessellated)': 'disp': output parameter 'v' not completely initialized at line 378 (on d3d11)

Compiling Domain program with UNITY_HDR_ON INSTANCING_ON GEOM_TYPE_BRANCH _TESSELATIONMODE_DISTANCE
Platform defines: UNITY_ENABLE_REFLECTION_BUFFERS UNITY_USE_DITHER_MASK_FOR_ALPHABLENDED_SHADOWS UNITY_PBS_USE_BRDF1 UNITY_SPECCUBE_BOX_PROJECTION UNITY_SPECCUBE_BLENDING UNITY_ENABLE_DETAIL_NORMALMAP SHADER_API_DESKTOP UNITY_LIGHT_PROBE_PROXY_VOLUME

Also, Speedtree modeller outputs atlas for leaves and sticks. Leaves are rendered correct while sticks losing their alpha(?).

 

In regards to using this with ProBuilder, what are the known issues? I was looking to simply build modular pieces with probuilder and then utilize this to paint the meshes. Are the known collisions primarily with the builder itself? Once converted to an obj from Probuilder I can't imagine there would be collisions would there?

Definitely considering picking this up, but ProBuilder is such a core part of our workflow (as SceneFusion supports it, so we can edit and sculpt levels together in it) that if the two can't even co-exist within the same project then sadly that eliminates the possibility for us

 

Hello, is it not possible to use navmesh navigation on mesh painted with Vertext Tool Pro ? I found what navigation wrong after paint on mesh, for instance plane. This happens if use unity nvamesh and also A* navmesh. Is exists some solution for this? (other then duplicate mesh). Reproduce - add plane, and any object as agent, bake navmesh, set few targets, play - all ok. Init Vertext Tool Pro for plane, set one texture, paint somewhere second texture. Play now - agent going crazy, like have too much acceleration

 

By the way, when we should expect speedtree shaders release?

 

Does this tool support world space texture, so that it becomes possible to blend meshes seamlessly?

 

Hey,

“VTP comes with an API to allow runtime painting and deformation”

Do you have an online doc that show those API?

Thanks in advance

 

Hi, I'm having a couple of issues with VTP, and I hope you can help me out. I already tried reimporting the VTP package and using it in a clean project, and it didn't help.

1. When I try to use the Texture Assistant to create a combined map out of some Substances (link), the progress window gets stuck on "Packing Albedo Map" until the program is restarted or another texture assistant operation is performed. No texture gets created. The console outputs:
   
   Code (CSharp):

   1. IndexOutOfRangeException: Array index is out of range.
   2. VT_window.generatePackedAlbedoSubstanceTexture () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/Windows/VT_window.cs:2992)
   3. VT_window.guiForTAAlbedoSubstance () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/Windows/VT_window.cs:1057)
   4. VT_window.guiForTAState () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/Windows/VT_window.cs:865)
   5. VT_window.OnGUI () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/Windows/VT_window.cs:1889)
   6. System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)
   7. Rethrow as TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
   8. System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:232)
   9. System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke (System.Object obj, System.Object[] parameters) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MethodBase.cs:115)
   10. UnityEditor.HostView.Invoke (System.String methodName, System.Object obj) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/HostView.cs:285)
   11. UnityEditor.HostView.Invoke (System.String methodName) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/HostView.cs:278)
   12. UnityEditor.HostView.InvokeOnGUI (Rect onGUIPosition) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/HostView.cs:245)
2. In the same window, I can't pick the output folder - the textures are always generated in the folder where the Substance file is located. Tried dragging the folder onto the field and picking it manually, but it didn't help.
3. I'm having trouble painting wetness on my mesh. I correctly set up my material to support wetness, and did manage to paint wetness onto the mesh in question, but it just stopped working after I restarted Unity. Now, if I try to paint wetness on any mesh in this scene, I get the following message whenever I click "Paint wetness on 1 Objects."
   
   Code (CSharp):

   1. NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
   2. VT_window.guiForPaintButtonWet () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/Windows/VT_window.cs:1704)
   3. VT_window.guiForWetState () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/Windows/VT_window.cs:1603)
   4. VT_window.OnGUI () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/Windows/VT_window.cs:1882)
   5. System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)
   6. Rethrow as TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
   7. System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:232)
   8. System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke (System.Object obj, System.Object[] parameters) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MethodBase.cs:115)
   9. UnityEditor.HostView.Invoke (System.String methodName, System.Object obj) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/HostView.cs:285)
   10. UnityEditor.HostView.Invoke (System.String methodName) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/HostView.cs:278)
   11. UnityEditor.HostView.InvokeOnGUI (Rect onGUIPosition) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/HostView.cs:245)

EDIT: Wetness painting started working again! After several restarts and messing about (mostly trying to paint on Unity's built-in planes), I opened a new scene, reimported and reinitialized the "problematic" mesh, and I could paint wetness! Once I returned to the old scene, it turned out I could now paint wetness there as well. Not sure what actually happened, so I left the console output above for your future reference.

 

Hi @PitHeimes ,
I am currently working on Version 2. 0. 3b1 of VTP, and would like to use a metallic 3-blend material. While height-based blending works fine between the red base layer and either of the green or blue channels, I can't find a way to height-blend between the green and blue channels. The result will always look like very basic, linear vertex blending, regardless of toggled alpha or which channels I choose to draw on.
So if the green base height is set to completely overlap the red layer, painting with blue will reveal the red layer and height-blend between red and blue, and blending between green and blue will appear linear. I also ensured that base heights of green and blue are not the same, so height blending should work there as well. I hope there is a solution to this. Thanks!

 

No more compatible with newest version 2018.1.0b7. please fix it.

 

Is this thread monitored by you or your co-developers, @PitHeimes ?
Looks like it slipped from your radar.

 

will this take in an obj with vertex color info and display it properly ? Can it transfer that info to a texture ?

 

Each time I update my Static mesh ( example I changed materials ID in 3rd party applications or I moved a point without changing the topology of the mesh, number of vertices), I have to update the mesh. the problem is that I need to revert my vertex paint in order to see my modifications.

Is there a workaround in order to retrieve the vertex paint done on the previous version of the meshes.? for example export vertex painting, bake temporarly the vertex data and re apply it to the new version ... I didn't find the solution to this issue.

The problem is that i need to redo each time the vertex painting when I have to do a slight modifications to my mesh.

 

Well I found a Solution in order to preserve vertex painting in case I need to modify my mesh slightly.

First it's necessary to have an fbx exporter, you can found one for free here on MIT liscence : https://github.com/unity3d-jp/FbxExporter

So there is the method :

- select the gameobject or multiple gameobject you want to export
- export using FBX ascii ( binary doesn't worked for me )
- import in 3dsmax the exported file from Unity
- you will notice that the smoothing is broken, not well preserved. In our case it doesn't matter cuz the only information we want is the vertex color.

In order to retrieve the information and bake the vertex color to our original mesh :

-import the fbx file of the original mesh ( the mesh without vertex color ) in 3D application

- apply a projection modifier to the mesh with vertex color ( the first mesh imported )
- in the projection modifier pick the object without vertex color
- in the projection tab> click on add, select the ProjectMapping you have just created > tick Same topology ( like that no need to put them as the same place > then select Vertex color as source channel

Then click Project in order to transfer the vertex color to your mesh.

Once Done, you just need to export and overwrite your fbx model in Unity,revert to Prefab in order to delete the vertex stream script + vpp mesh+ vpp collision mesh.

So now you have your original FBX mesh with vertex color painting done with VTP !!! and can do modification on it as you want.

 

No more compatible with newest version 2018.1.0b9 HELP please fix it

 

Is this tool still alive? Because the developer's site is down and the support email is not working.

 

I'm fairly certain this product is not dead. I e-mailed the author and hopefully he'll respond soon and drop by here as well.

 

Sorry then, I tried to reach him by email several times through last 2 month, but no luck.
Maybe there is an issue with my email provider.

 

Well, I haven't heard back from him yet, but it just seems very unlikely. Recently I've seen several asset authors come back after long absences only to find out that major life events turned their worlds upside down. That can happen. Hopefully, he is well and will be back soon.

 

Thanks for that and the trust and yeah. Boom, I am back again.
I am currently rewriting the whole code to work with the Unity Release Cycle and of course to deliver some visual improvements and more texture blends possible.

Please apologize, that I cannot give an eta yet, since there are some other things besides Unity I need to figure out.

And: There indeed was a problem with the email provider. Website and support mail are working again now.

 

Hello! I've recently bought your asset, before reading the comments and the forum thread, which I highly regret, but you didn't even reply to my review message - as you seem online on forum currently.

Anyway, the main problem is, yes, we're all human and anything can happen to any of us. But you have a big promotion and many youtube videos with showing and tutoring the new features of the 2.1.1 version of your asset, but Unity package comes with the Early Access edition, plus even that one doesn't have the features from the 2.0 version and it has many bugs. So if what you have been doing for the whole isn't a simple "trying to earn some time" tactic, please upload the newest and the latest stable version you currently have as you have promoted 4 months ago. And we will wait for the other "new" features.

Everything is else acceptable, but I really wonder what's your explanation about "uploading the unstable version". Who wants the "Early Access" without the stable version? I would just be okay if you upload the v2.0 than disappear for 5 months but all I have is an unstable version of a paid script and I have to wait till you sort things out for yourself.

 

It's really great you are back again, and I'm really sorry for all that panic mess. If something happens again, please, leave a short "sh*t happens, see u soon", so we will know that you experience some internal problems and won't panic or anything.
And thanks for all info, now we can patiently wait. Anyway, you are doing a great job.

 

This is quite strange, since the "old" version is indeed still in place. At least on the package I just tried. I will download again from the store and see what's messed up. Of course we do not release an early access version without having the stable one in place. At least, not on purpose. Will check that right now.

 

So, I just checked everything. Here is the summary.

- The downloaded package indeed says "Early Access". But it is not. Vertex Tools Pro is stable. - SpeedTree is early access. (That's also why there are errors. This will be fixed in our complete shader rewrite)

- Also it seems that something broke with ProBuilder support. We did not focus on ProBuilder support so I cannot tell right now what is going on. There an eta for a fix cannot be given. Anyone who has issues with probuilder and VTP should contact us via pm to see how we can get things solved.

- Texture Assistance randomly freezes with substances from 2017.3+. We will look into that and have a fix asap.

- Texture Assistance only supports upto 2k. This is a quick fix. 4k will be done quickly. Anyone in a hurry can contact us via pm.

- VTP and 2018beta seems to be not compatible yet. We will look into that now and fix it asap.

So our plan therefore can be summarized:

- Fix the mentioned bugs and update asap. (2-3 weeks, probably) (We will drop 5.5 support though then)
- After that, we will continue with rewriting everything from scratch. This leads to the situation, that the new system, that will be way visually increased and also have noticeable better performance, is not compatible with "already painted objects". I guess, we will keep the last VTP version as legacy then, though we highly recommend switching to the new system.

 

And another quick update on the 2018beta fix.

In 2018.1 Unity dropped built-in substance support. That's why it does not work anymore.
allegorithmic will release a plugin once Unity2018 ist officially released.

In the meantime, you can just comment out everything Substance related. If you do not know how to do so, just contact us via pm, so we can send you a file, without Substance support that is at least working in 2018beta.

Once 2018 has a stable release things should be easy to fix by downloading allegorithmic'c importer plugin

 

Update v2.1.2 with the mentioned bugfixes for the Texture Assistance and 2018beta compatibility was just submitted.

 

And hes back!! Awesome!!!!! Thank you for the updates!!

 

There is an issue, after you removed substance support, I'm not able to use texture assistance to generate the combined texture file by referencing the input from .sbar file and it gives Null error, however, I'm able to reference any texture while painting from .sbar file directly and it works fine.

Is there any way around to solve this?

 

We are looking into it. Can you please name the Unity version you are using?

 

Unity 2018.2.0b2 (64-bit) , aslo on 0f1 , I tested with all 2018 version and still get this error.

to save time, I just used substance player to export direct map and used it straight inside vertex painter, hope u fix that soon )

 

Also, I've a very important question, are u planning to support the new SRP? , this will be great hit if u are able to do that, especially for mobile platform )

 

@PitHeimes , I've sent you a message long time ago, plz check it out )

 

I'm still getting my emails bounced back. And his site is still down.

 

For everyone who is also waiting replies from this brilliant, yet seemingly "reclusive" Dev.

If you look at the devs logo above, and click on it. It shows that he logged on last Monday. (and not since.) So maybe he only logs on Mondays?

I PM'ed him a couple of questions in the week, still no reply.
So here's hoping he gets time to update us all this week.

Hope this helps.

 

No reply for periods of time is pretty typical. But email and website down is concerning. This asset is on sale now too.

 

Has anyone received the 2018.1 substance hot fix? I started commenting it out but it was more involved that I expected. If anyone has received the fix or updated the code, can you PM me and share it? Thanks.

 

Me also! This asset is totally useless at the moment. I can't compile anything without deleting the two files that bring up the menu to make it usable. Page 3 of the documentation says to start by selecting the tool you want to use...but I don't even have that menu to select the tool to use so when I say it is useless I truly mean it is useless.

If I could somehow get my hands on working copies of the scripts that give all the substance errorsI would be eternally grateful. I tried reaching out via email but still waiting for a reply....

 

Hello @PitHeimes , we still get the error "'Shader error in 'VTP/V2/Metallic': maximum ps_4_0 sampler register index (16) exceeded at line 261 (on d3d11)'" when taking a build. I sent an email a while ago, could you please check and help? Thanks.

 

So, how is this asset used to edit meshes during runtime?

Searching through this forum for 'runtime API', it appears everyone who asks this question gets ignored...

 

Hey everyone,

... well. A big, big sorry for my lack of response to all things regarding Vertex Tools Pro in the past few months. As someone mentioned, life does indeed get in the way of things sometimes.
We always prided ourselves on having a good support, and if I read the last messages here and the most recent reviews, we messed up a bit. I know how frustrating it can be to be on that side of the asset store and I want to apologize to every customer who didn't get an answer from me. I want to improve on that by returning to checking the forums more frequently. I realize that not communicating is one of the main reasons for negative feedback and reviews, not so much specific errors that can be resolved.

Also, my email had stopped working some time ago, which I didn't notice. I just looked into it and it seems that we fixed our website back a few weeks ago, but not email. Should work again, but all messages sent until now are unfortunately gone, sorry for this as well!


Now let's talk about some issues and questions:
I'm wondering for those who still have problems with Unity 2018, do you a) use 2018.1 (which is the latest stable Unity version we currently intend to support, 2018.2 is still beta) and b) did you update VTP to the latest version from the asset store? Because that should fix Substance-related problems. Please report back, if it doesn't!

As mentioned above there was a problem with the support mail and your message never reached me, sorry for that. It would be great if you could provide those materials and textures, where the error occurs. I would take a look if we missed something there. Also: what Unity version do you use? Are you on windows or mac? Do you use the latest available version of VTP?
Hope we can resolve this

There is an example script in the asset which shows you how to use the API. If you still have troubles just get in touch via pm or mail and describe what you want to achieve. I'll be happy to assist you 1on1.
But I also see that this is an area where our documentation is lacking, it is noted and thanks for pointing that out!


That being said, there are a couple of things regarding VTP that I want to openly communicate, some sort of state of VTP:
Unity is improving its engine at a very fast pace in 2018, especially in the visual department. There are some features on the horizon that go into a very similar direction as VTP (our core features like blending materials, tesselation, etc). In fact, if these features turn out to be good, usable and reliable, which I expect as of now, it would mean that really nobody needs VTP anymore.
I don't say this with bitterness, it's just the way software works, I guess. I added a feature to a software, that this software didn't have back then and now this software seems to catch up, which is totally fine.

Right now I'm monitoring what Unity does in this department, before I decide what will happen with VTP and if and how it will be developed further. Please understand that this is a decision that at some point has to be made.

Again, sorry for the last few months and thanks for still sticking with VTP,
I hope to gain back your trust in the future!

 

Welcome back!

I glanced over this in the PM but since you specifically ask "Please report back" I am just going to do exactly that:
I am on 2018.1.0f1 and using the latest version of VTP and still get loads of substance related errors. In fact, let me quickly do a re-import of your asset and tell you what those are... All are in VT_window.cs

19x
CS0619: `UnityEngine.ProceduralTexture' is obsolete: `Built-in support for Substance Designer materials has been removed from Unity. To continue using Substance Designer materials, you will need to install Allegorithmic's external importer from the Asset Store.'
OR
error CS0619: `UnityEngine.ProceduralOutputType' is obsolete: `Built-in support for Substance Designer materials has been removed from Unity. To continue using Substance Designer materials, you will need to install Allegorithmic's external importer from the Asset Store.'

2x
error CS0246: The type or namespace name `SubstanceImporter' could not be found. Are you missing `Substance.Editor' using directive?
Yes, the script IS missing the using directive. I got rid of these errors by adding the using directive

5x
error CS0841: A local variable `sI' cannot be used before it is declared


...after adding that using directive I mentioned above the errors dropped to only 22 (the 2x and 5x errors are gone) but now contains this:

VT_window.cs(2920,6): error CS1061: Type `Substance.Editor.SubstanceImporter' does not contain a definition for `GetPlatformTextureSettings' and no extension method `GetPlatformTextureSettings' of type `Substance.Editor.SubstanceImporter' could be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?

AND

VT_window.cs(2924,6): error CS1061: Type `Substance.Editor.SubstanceImporter' does not contain a definition for `SetPlatformTextureSettings' and no extension method `SetPlatformTextureSettings' of type `Substance.Editor.SubstanceImporter' could be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?

AND

VT_window.cs(3231,6): error CS1061: Type `Substance.Editor.SubstanceImporter' does not contain a definition for `SetPlatformTextureSettings' and no extension method `SetPlatformTextureSettings' of type `Substance.Editor.SubstanceImporter' could be found. Are you missing an assembly reference?


Hope that helps.

 

Just read this on the Allegorithmic website:

3. How is ProceduralMaterial class going to be handled?
You will be able to manipulate Substances through Scripts, but the API will change. There is not a ScriptedMaterial type available in Unity, so the Substance will be made available as a ScriptedObject that the developer can execute Script functions on, which will then relay those commands to the Unity Textures (which would be reflected in a regular Unity Material)

Seemed relevant to the 19 main errors in the asset

 

one reason there are substances errors are because NO ONE has added support for the new plug in that JUST released days ago......If you actually looked at the last update THEY took substance support out.......AGAIN I still don't get why people use any of Unity's......releases, they are always full of bugs, and with assets they are way worse...... 9 years of using Unity, I don't touch there releases due to this very reason./.....anyways, They will re-add support when they can...I was told asset developers have no way to do it yet....even with the new plug in, but I have not looked my self, This is what I was told by Jason. From Mega Splats was the reason why he hasn't added it yet..


PS, I missed VTP, post, now if you guys did update from the new plug in, i'm curious.. as it was days ago, and I have not seen an update showing this from VTP. So if we could get more info that would be great...also is there a video if Unity adding features, like VTP???

also keep in mind VTP, I know when Unity added 2d tools everyone was like we won't need 2d tool kit anymore, well for a few years 2d tool kit was still better than Unity 2d tools.... in my opinion so I use that over Unity 2d stuff...also, I use NGUI over UGUI, for most things... So just because Unity adds something don't make an asset useless...Unity support is terrible most days...and updates are not always good, so my point is having this from an asset, for many developers who actually make games, is better......as we hate waiting for Unity to fix things and get support is a joke most days. So if you have any videos of Unity's new stuff that would be great as I like to see it and compare it to VTP.... The new tools for visual shaders, I doubt I would move from Amplify ...I know this was suppose to happen with Shader Forge years ago, it was suppose to be apart of Unity, which never happen.....So my point , having assets made from developers many of us developers would rather have...Then just counting on Unity.....Thats my opinion.....

 

Today I am the bearer of unexpected and welcome news.

Yesterday I downloaded the latest version of Unity and ...still the asset didn't work. Unity still insists that I have the latest version and won't let me download an update so it means the asset MUST be broken, right? Turns out... no.

I went into the folder where the asset downloaded to and deleted it manually. This allowed me to download it again within Unity and after I downloaded it... no more errors.

That simple. I am definitely a happy chappie right now
Thanks to @PitHeimes for pointing me in the right direction.

 

Hi everyone, may be I missed something but is there a way to transfert my painted vertex color to a new mesh? I have painted a mesh but when I finish I realized that I need to modify it. So I used Maya to modify the original mesh. Now how can I recover the previus painted work on the new mesh_?

And can I have a Brush size > of 3?

Thanks
Andrea

 

When I have a situation like this, I probably do my edit on the model, then I overwrite the original one in the asset folder , this is most of time works for me within anything not with vertex painter . try it out and see if this work as long as you didnt export your final painted mesh inside the editor

 

I'm afraid the transfer to a new mesh is not possible, sorry.
A higher brush size is noted, a few people have mentioned this. I'll see if I can get back to you with a quick solution.

 

First of all I would like to say that this tool is very powerful and after a day of use I'm impressed.

Unfortunately I'm using this in a VR project and when I have any of the VTP shaders enabled it causes a huge frame rate drop and it seems to be effecting the XR.WaitForGPU thread specifically. You can see in the attached images the impact this has when using the Standard Shader vs. VTP 3 Texture Blend Shader. Any advice or suggestions?

Specs:
i7 8700K @ 3.7 GHZ
16GB RAM
GTX 1080ti
Unity 2013.3.0f3

Thanks,
Sean

 

Hi everyone, getting the error "undeclared identifier '_TexScale5' row 118 in the "SplatBlend_5Layer" shader, anyone got a solution for this? Unity version is 2018.1.3.

 

Hey can you show us the shader settings in the inspector? Especially tessellation and parallax are expensive in VR.

We don't have a "SplatBlend_5layer" shader. I see you attached an image, but it's not loading for me. Can you check the shader that you are using again?

 

Many tnx PitMeimes. At the moment I just repainted the mesh and...well, it's much better than my first attempt.