Search Unity

  1. Megacity Metro Demo now available. Download now.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Unity support for visionOS is now available. Learn more in our blog post.
    Dismiss Notice

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

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by PitHeimes, Feb 12, 2016.

  1. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    You currently have to switch between the objects. We are discussing multi object editing. But there are some downsides that comes with it. We are trying to figure out an intuitive and "foolproof" way to overcome these. In this context, also evaluating auto-blending. So select to objects, click auto-blend and the "edged" get autoblended for a smooth transition.

    Enhancing the Mesh Geometry Manipulation tools is on our "long-time" ToDo list. Extrude, Pinch, Push, Smooth will for sure be not the end of the road. Currently focussing on polishing the shaders in terms of quality, flexibility and performance. Day 1 "Patch" already waiting to be submitted.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2016
  2. zenGarden

    zenGarden

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Posts:
    4,538
    So we should be able to do the basic mesh manipluationsPolybrush do ? It is planned for the tool release on the Asset Store ?
    About collision, it uses collision mesh to work with mesh modifications ? Some collision update button ?

    If i works and get the job done, that's good. I am not sure if lot of people will make blending between objects or will simply use AO baking to work faster ? I a not sure multi object painting is really needed.
     
  3. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Not for the release. It is on our To-Do list for upcoming updates.

    When deforming in the editor, the mesh collider gets updated in realtime. When using our API at runtime, you can choose either to update the mesh collider in realtime or just call it on demand.
     
    zenGarden likes this.
  4. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    A bit more detailed demonstration of our Parallax Mapping :)

     
    tapticc likes this.
  5. davidkrings

    davidkrings

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2016
    Posts:
    12
    That sounds fantastic! I'm really looking forward to the release.
     
  6. tapticc

    tapticc

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2014
    Posts:
    379
    Any news on release? Or is it in the hands of the Gods?!
     
  7. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Hopefully soon :) Currently in the making of the video Tutorials.
     
  8. tapticc

    tapticc

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2014
    Posts:
    379
    Awesome video tutorials for new products are much better than documentation imo :)
     
  9. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Thanks. We think so too. Nearly finished. Hopefully the Review Process too.

    For anyone who want to stay uptodate, check vertextools.pro and be sure to signup for our newsletter.
     
  10. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Quick update:
    We forgot to include skins for Unity Pro users. :rolleyes:
    Hope to be in store by the end of next week.
     
    hippocoder likes this.
  11. Teila

    Teila

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2013
    Posts:
    6,929
    Oh man, you know those Pro users feel about those skins! :)
     
  12. NVYVEStudios

    NVYVEStudios

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2015
    Posts:
    31
    Would love to use this when it's out on the store! Am I correct in assuming that the vertex painting tool itself would be compatible with Alloy shaders out of the box? They already include some vertex blending/colouring features in their shader set that we're using, and it sounds like the vertex painting part of the asset should be shader agnostic.

    Love that you're not duplicating meshes, that's always been a huge annoyance with other solutions.
     
    Deleted User likes this.
  13. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2010
    Posts:
    29,723
    Hello!

    General questions / thoughts:

    I was wondering if this all plays nice with Unity's SSRR stuff, and if its possible to export the meshes to Obj or something after they've been tinkered with :)

    Also, it would probably be really nice to have a fast path POM 3 blend shader, basically it's similar but maybe we can save bandwidth somehow. Not everything will need roughness or even normal maps per blend. So maybe things that can reduce the sample count further so we can abuse it much more than normal.

    How many samplers do the shaders use? We're trying to keep between 6 and 8 where possible. It's hard, I know :D

    How are the vertex colors applied? Do you do them in start, or is a new mesh asset created? I ask because we will want to LOD these with simplygon. This will mess up the vert colours somewhat but we can bake down approx for distance in texture.

    General suggestions:

    1. A variant of your 3 blend for much more blends ie a texture per channel. 6 to 8 maybe, using 2 textures. Can tint which makes it all have a point for underlying faster but more versatile jobs like general terrain that doesn't need too much detail which will be covered with props and so forth. Hopefully it'd cost less or the same as your 3 blend one, just per channel tint and per channel images for more variety while sacrificing per pixel colour data. Perhaps great with directionality from vertex flow, ie paths.

    2. I'd love it if all your POM shaders had a falloff range. There is absolutely no point in calculating POM beyond the near range - it should smoothly graduate to normal map, giving potentially big savings and encouraging a lot more use of it. Maybe you do this already, and I'm a foolish hippo.

    3. I would love to flow map paint for paths and dirt trails. These require UV directionality or they can come off looking a bit odd. Maybe that's already built in.


    I have many more suggestions, but above all I do love speed. Speed means I can actually use your shaders :)
     
  14. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

    We use 3 samplers per Channel. (Albedo and Metallic packed, Normal Map and Smoothness, Height, Occlusion and Emission packed)

    Colors are stored with a script based solution, so we do not spam your project folders with duplicates of meshes. Vertexdata are then applied at start if they are not already present.

    We already have plans for simpler shaders with more layers. Yes. :)

    They have. :) Would not have been possible otherwise to get the demo scene running at FULL HD with 60fps.

    Is already being worked on (It is already working too). We hope we included all Unity Pro skins by now. If everything is okay this time, we will begin to tidy up the code for the update.

    And we would love to hear those :)
     
    Last edited: Feb 29, 2016
    Teila likes this.
  15. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2010
    Posts:
    29,723
    Wow nice!

    Well first I need to get my sticky hands on your pristine asset and slobber all over it, then we'll be feeding back. Great stuff. Are the mesh colliders used for painting temporary? What if we have mesh colliders on them already? some do, some don't want it.

    Wacom support would be nice. I added that for some of our internal tools easily enough (it's just a bit of C#) but it can be a flake at times in Unity so I understand if not.

    Did you test on PS4 ? that's our target hardware.
     
    Tinjaw and Teila like this.
  16. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Mesh colliders are added if they are not already assigned and removed if they were not assigned before.


    Sadly, no :( But hell yeah, we would love to see our demo scene running on PS4. :D
     
  17. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2010
    Posts:
    29,723
    I'll see what I can do when it comes out. I'm due to make test builds anyway in a week or 2 to check our perf :) Any ETA on your asset coming out? We can't wait!
     
  18. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    We are going to resubmit tomorrow. So hopefully this week already :) If we did not forget something entirely stupid :eek:
     
    hippocoder likes this.
  19. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2010
    Posts:
    29,723
    There (might) be an issue if the mesh collider already assigned is convex, as it won't be accurate, so, possibly you'd need to check that flag and restore it (In case you missed it) :)
     
  20. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Praise the feedback. Is 'fixed' :)
     
    Teila and hippocoder like this.
  21. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2010
    Posts:
    29,723
    Regarding snow/water/sand coverage in realtime, it should be possible to have a shader property per layer without impacting performance that simply multiplies or offsets at the vertex shader level to raise and lower a particular layer if I'm not mistaken? So in winter we swap water texture for snow texture, and raise that, or when it rains we slowly raise the layer for water to make it increasingly wet? Or do you have a different system in place? :)
     
  22. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Exactly. We have a baseheight setting per layer in our shaders. This defines the base height of the layer and can just be animated with Unity's Animation System. If you want a bit more diversity you also have the option to use our API. You can adjust heights per Vertex there. Furthermore with our API you would not have to just swap textures. You could use a 3-Blend Shader, one Channel with Snow and one with Water. You then can slowly change the vertex colors with our API. With this, you get a nice blending between Snow and Water.

    As already mentioned: Our Vertex Color Animator is ready to be implemented in the first update. You can just paint the Mesh in the editor like you want it, save the state as keyframes, Ping Pong it etc. Just like Unity's Animation System. The Animation itself can then be again triggered with our API. We will post a demonstration of shifting sand after submitting the update. (But hey, we have to get into store first :D)
     
  23. gurayg

    gurayg

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2013
    Posts:
    269
    Hi,
    Since we will be doing lots of vertex pushing vcolor painting with this tool, I was wondering if there are any tools included that would lets us export the resulting mesh?
    I'm not very familiar with which file format supports what data, but I guess, ".obj" , ".dae" or ".fbx" should support most needed ones.
     
  24. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Since everything is fixed in terms of features for the initial release, I am afraid, No. But since this has been mentioned a few times, it will definitly be integrated in the first update :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2016
  25. gurayg

    gurayg

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2013
    Posts:
    269
    Very good news!
    Can I ask what file format you have in mind that can cover all data mastered by "Vertex Tools Pro"
    Also do you think that exporter will also work with you API?
     
  26. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    I just checked our roadmap, may not be in the first update. :( But definitly on our roadmap :)
     
  27. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Asset has just been resubmitted. Keeping our fingers crossed.
     
    TeagansDad, hippocoder and Teila like this.
  28. davidkrings

    davidkrings

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2016
    Posts:
    12
    Just logged in and what do I see? It's already accepted! Will buy it immediately and I'm excited for the Vertex Color Animator update!
     
    Teila likes this.
  29. Teila

    Teila

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2013
    Posts:
    6,929
    Yay!!!!
     
  30. gurayg

    gurayg

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2013
    Posts:
    269
  31. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Whoa, that was a fast review! Thanks to the Unity review team!

    We are very happy to announce that we are live now!
    Here's the link to the asset store, though most of you apparently found it on your own :D
    https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/55649

    We also put the first two of our video tutorials online (covering the basics of the tool and the heightbased painting process), the rest will follow before next week. The playlist will be updated then.
    So if you're interested in how the asset works, you should watch them here:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwOu64Qbw2duvlSBaUXN29RdCtia56Uei

    Also make sure to follow us on twitter, if you like:
    twitter.com/vertextoolspro

    So excited to see what you come up with when using VTP.
    Any further suggestions and ideas are of course always appreciated. Also, if you find any bugs or if you find things that work in a way you didn't expect them to work, please report here in the thread to help us make the product even better!

    As previously mentioned, we are already working on a first update, so stay tuned! :)
     
  32. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Just a little note:
    We just saw that we accidentally submitted VTP with unity 5.3.0.
    The update will be submitted with lowest possible Version (We aim for 5.0.0).
     
  33. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Hey there, sorry that we have missed that question. Yes the tool itself should work without any problems. Nevertheless we will test this just to be sure.
     
  34. tapticc

    tapticc

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2014
    Posts:
    379
    Congrats on release :)
     
  35. NVYVEStudios

    NVYVEStudios

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2015
    Posts:
    31
    Hey, no problem. Just picked up the asset and spent some time playing around with the painting tools- very easy to pick up and get going with! So far I can confirm that the painting does indeed work nicely with Alloy shaders, with the only minor annoyance being that the tool automatically paints all of the vertices red when initializing. I know why this is the case as that's the way your provided shaders are set up (red channel is "primary"), so that's more of a comment rather than a critique. ;)

    -edit- Removed a bug that has already been fixed and submitted by the developer. Also sounds like preferences to choose whether or not to assign red to all vertices by default are coming as well, for any fellow Alloy users out there!

    Thanks @PitHeimes for the quick support! +1 to a super responsive and friendly developer. :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2016
    Teila and Deleted User like this.
  36. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Thanks for reporting those bugs so far. The reported ones have been fixed and update is submitted. :)
     
  37. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Not to forget about: Compatibility for Unity 5.2 was also added. Hopefully will be available soon :)
    Working on the Animator in the meantime.
     
    Teila and S4G4N like this.
  38. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    For anyone interested you can view our documentation online here. :)
     
    lundon likes this.
  39. wolfen231

    wolfen231

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2014
    Posts:
    402
  40. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    3 new video-tutorials are available now on youtube.
     
  41. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Oh and v1.0.1 with Unity 5.2.0 compatibility just got approved :)
     
    Teila and tapticc like this.
  42. zenGarden

    zenGarden

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    Posts:
    4,538
    Does the PBR shaders have a roughness map and a metallic map ?
    Looking at the second video i just seen 3 texture slots : albedo-normal-combined ?
    Do you support same maps and conventions as Unity standard shader metallic ?
     
  43. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Yeah we do of course. To save Performance we use a packed texture. So third texture contains the PBR maps. Roughness, Metallic and so on.

    VTP comes with a tool to pack the textures. This will be covered in the 6th and last part of our video-tutorials. Probably doing that today.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2016
    wolfen231 likes this.
  44. wolfen231

    wolfen231

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2014
    Posts:
    402
    Hey guys. I am really liking what I am seeing so far in the demo scenes now that I finally was able to download the package.

    However, I have run into an issue. I seem to be missing some stuff on the material window. I also have some errors in the console that I will paste below the image.



    Several of these two errors are showing up in the console.
    Invalid editor window UnityEditor.FallbackEditorWindow
    UnityEditor.EditorApplicationLayout:FinalizePlaymodeLayout()

    and

    NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
    VertexColorStream.rebuild () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/VertexColorStream.cs:207)
    VertexStreamChildrenRebuilderEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/VertexToolsPro/Editor/EditorScripts/VertexStreamChildrenRebuilderEditor.cs:23)
    UnityEditor.InspectorWindow.DrawEditor (UnityEditor.Editor editor, Int32 editorIndex, Boolean rebuildOptimizedGUIBlock, System.Boolean& showImportedObjectBarNext, UnityEngine.Rect& importedObjectBarRect) (at C:/buildslave/unity/build/Editor/Mono/Inspector/InspectorWindow.cs:1231)
    UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()


    Any idea what is going on here and how to fix it?
     
  45. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Urgh, the first one seems to be a problem with the Unity Pro Skin again.
    Could you check 2 things:

    1. Switch the shader. So not the VTP/Glass one. Can you confirm this happens for the VTP/Metallic/2 Tex Blend too?
    2. Switch to Unity light skin and confirm that the issue is gone?

    For the errors:
    Which Unity Version are you using? Going to dig into that now.
     
    wolfen231 likes this.
  46. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Oh damn. Yeah another Unity Pro issue. Is fixed now.
    Just gimme a skype call to send you the updated file.
     
    wolfen231 likes this.
  47. wolfen231

    wolfen231

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2014
    Posts:
    402
    Both were correct.

    Switched to VTP/Metallic/2 the stuff was there.

    Switched to light skin and the Glass worked as expected.
     
  48. Danirey

    Danirey

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2013
    Posts:
    548
    Hi!

    Very good looking tool. Just one question... Can be used at runtime to paint skinned meshes?

    Thanks and good work!
     
  49. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Okay, for the Error with the Finalize Playout. Just Resert your layout to factory settings once. That should get you rid of that error when playing maximized.
     
  50. PitHeimes

    PitHeimes

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Posts:
    322
    Actually haven't tested runtime on skinned meshes yet. Will test that combination asap.
     
    Danirey likes this.