TC2 Node Painter - The TC2 extension for painting the world!

I didn't understand exactly how to move the terrain up and let let Painter subtract terrain from the imported height map.
Can you show me some screenshot ?

 

I'll make the video today, showing all of this
Edit: Sorry, something got in between. Will have to delay it to tomorrow.

 

No problem at all, thank you for your efforts

 

@MaximilianPs Ok, finally got it uploaded...

In this one I briefly cover some tips for working with large scale terrains in unity and how to integrate painters into your workflow.
It is less structured than the others but I hope that helps a bit
Seneral

 

New problem
Even if I use "Replace" it still paint with just the altitude terrain, but the profile remain the stame from the RAW file.

I've made a painter, and a mask that's linked to the painter, but still doesn't work as expected
Also "Lag" as hell..
I've also tryed by using Curve, but the entire patch with TCNP get extruded very hight, about 1000.

 

Ya went over that shortly in the latest video, it refers to another tip video (Terrain Plateaus). In short, this requires a special setup - one additional layer. The weird behaviour of the layer setup of yours is expected, since it adds to the terrain. Well, just watch the video

Hope that helped.
Regarding the lag, in what sense? There's currently no known case where lag appears, except if you have a very high resolution over 4k, a very slow PC or memory issues. If it is memory (just monitor in task manager), you can lower the undo stack size as described in the docs.
Seneral

 

yes, I've already watched it a bunch of times, I'll try so experiment something different.

 

Hm, does it not work in a way? Do note I put the complete layer I made in the video in the description, you could just drag it in your project and test that

 

I'll try to face the problem in a different way, i'll make a brush the with mountains from the raw file, then I'll paint all by hand.
On this way I'll have no raw file to import and more simple TC2 configuration is, better is. (I hope)
It's a very huge terrain, and I need to keep the things simple, because "to make a mess" is really easy.

 

Did it work out for you? If not, we can chat about this, since I can't seem to get your specific problem Would gladly help you.
Seneral

 

I guess all my issue are coming from the fact that I'm using a 13x13 terrains grid, the terrain and the maps are shifted by -5000 on X and -7000 on Z , but most of all it's shifted on Y 'cause I need to draw rivers, and that complicate my life a lot

 

I wonder why I didn't test it before.
If I create a single terrain (1x1) it works very smoothly and really fine.
At this point I'm wondering what happen if I prepare all on a single terrain and then re-import the whole configuration on a 13x13 grid.

 

Don't see why that would be a problem, if you handle it right... Just tested it with, works fine. Created a multi-tiled terrain, offsetted the terrain area in all axis, then the top layer nodes to correct the offset (so a newly created node will be right in the center of the terrain in the scene) and everything works just fine.

I still not get what your problem is. If it is performance with multiple tiles, I have a older TC2 version modified to use the partial generation feature I developed for Node Painter, which means only the areas that are modified are regenerated at all times (not only when painting, but when moving a small node, or change it's values, only it's area will be updated, not ALL terrain tiles). This should speed it up quite alot and tbh I wonder why this has not been done at start Might get it integrated, it's easy. If you want, I can send an updated version to you.
If it's something else, please tell me...
Seneral

 

Onestly?

 

@MaximilianPs Well that's never good! Can't help you in that case I can just recommend you to rewatch the video, and either get it working or tell me the actual problem if you find it
Wish you best luck! Seneral

 

@Seneral When I export the Raw file, it get flipped on Z axis (I guess), 'cause when I re-import it is flipped down.

 

Ya, observed that recently. I will prepare a fix next weekend! Thanks for noting

 

Any idea how to fix that dark borders?
It happens just when I paint, I mean that the splat map without using TN2NP it's fine.

http://i64.tinypic.com/30wkr4y.png

[€dit]
I Notice that it isn't so visibile in gambe, but still present, and very noticeable from the far.

 

This happens when that pixel isn't assigned to any splat.
The most likely possibility is that the mask node for the affected splat is missing in the top row (remember you have to add it to the painted layer AND to the group). This is most likely since you can see a small red dot on the final mask node.

Also, it seems you don't have ANY procedural splat nodes, right? In that case, you can completely remove ALL mask nodes in the group mask (the top row) and replace it with a shape/constant white node, since you don't need to mask with procedural content below that layer

If you don't know what I'm talking about we can chat so I can further clarify
Seneral

 

Nope, indeed I have a procedural splat which is the second from the bottom, it's the one create procedurally and based on the terrain's height.

Indeed I was missing a Mask on top, which was the second from the bottom I've made a copy of his mask, but the problem at the moment still be present.

I'll made a new check to see if all nodes are correctly linked.

[Edit]
No way the problem still present.:\

Here is the completed tree
http://i68.tinypic.com/2hfm24i.png

 

Well the procedural content is meant to be put BELOW the paint group, not in it, since that defies the whole meaning of the mask ontop and the lerp mode. Also with procedural splats, why not make an eraser channel, that is the whole point of mixing procedural with manual painted splats... I can just recommend you to follow the tutorial on point, since the problem here lies in the incorrect/unlogic setup of the nodes. I can understand it's hard to get around it though, so just try it out:
Use one eraser channel that is not assigned to a node so you can return to the underlying procedural splats, instead of the red sand splat that currently would replace all procedural splats.
Again, refer to this video for details:

Seneral

 

@Seneral , thank you for your patience

I'm back,
after a complete "re-Splat"
for some reason now I've a a white "background" when I paint.
I can use the Curves, from the - Alpha's Mask Group, but it will create a "gap" which make impossible to paint 2 texture side by side.


Here is the Splat Manager.


You can click on pictures to have a bigger view.

 

Btw, to keep you updated, we resolved @MaximilianPs issue over a screenshare session this weekend

 

Yes indeed, sorry for the delay I was pretty busy on the last days.

 

Hey everyone,
just wanted to note this asset is now live for about a year now! Thanks very much for all of your support
I'm currently in final essay phase of Abitur, planning a trip after it, learning another language, and working on a completely new tool, so it was hard finding time to implement some new features for TC2NP. Hope you can understand.
Still here for support, that you can count on
Best regards, Seneral

 

Hello everyone,
I have an announcement to make: This tool will be free from now on!
(Probably will take effect very soon)

Don't worry, I will continue support just as I've done so far, especially for those that buyed the tool. TC2 Node Painter is NOT being deprecated! This is my hobby so you can count on me continuing it. I still have alot of future stuff planned

Also, since this is kind of spontaneous ( I apologize ), if you purchased the tool in this month (April 2018), you are free to PM me for a refund if you feel like it

Best regards,
Seneral

 

I will not, after all support that you gives me, you deserve it ;-)

 

Thanks very much for the kind words Ya, intend to continue it like before

 

Been meaning to purchase this, and finally went to do so yesterday -- and lo and behold, it's free! That's awfully generous of you, Seneral!

But already I need som help. In both the Heightmap demo scene and a new test scene, the Brush palette looks different than in the videos and manual -- there are no brush icons, just numbers, and the sliders are different -- see screenshot. What do I do about that?

And when I try to paint on the terrain to modify the height, the brush is always square, and has extreme values -- I have to reduce the sliders to .001 or so, else the terrain goes very high.

Am I doing something wrong?

thanks!
Dave

 

Hm never seen that, it obviously can't find any brush textures - that's why there's no selection bar, and without textures, shaders by default assume a square white texture, which explains the painting. Sliders are normal, only the first default function brush has some additional parameters (hardness and falloff), probably what you've seen in the videos. Since it is also 'dynamic' it is also not there.

So, the painter fetches all the brushes automatically from 'Assets/Node Painter/EditorResources/BrushStamps'. Can you verify that this path is existing / correct and also valid in the Settings window ('Window/TC2 Node Painter Settings', Folder Location section)?

You probably moved the whole extension, in which case you just need to adapt all of the paths found in that settings section to their respective new locations. See the docs for more information.

Seneral

 

Thanks! Yes, that was the problem -- I'd moved Node Painter into a subfolder in my project. So I've updated the paths, and now the brush icons appear in the inspector. Whew!

But now on the terrain, and in the Value-Format New Canvas Preview, the brush icon is pink, with errors in the console, below. I'm on Mac High Sierra, Unity 2017.3, with Mac Metal Editor enabled (necessary for TC2). Any idea if that's fixable?

Shader error in 'Projector/BrushOverlay': failed to open source file: 'PaintUtility.cginc' (on metal)

Compiling Vertex program
Platform defines: UNITY_ENABLE_REFLECTION_BUFFERS UNITY_PBS_USE_BRDF1 UNITY_SPECCUBE_BOX_PROJECTION UNITY_SPECCUBE_BLENDING UNITY_ENABLE_DETAIL_NORMALMAP SHADER_API_DESKTOP UNITY_LIGHTMAP_RGBM_ENCODING


Shader error in 'Hidden/BrushGUIViz': failed to open source file: 'PaintUtility.cginc' (on metal)

Compiling Vertex program
Platform defines: UNITY_ENABLE_REFLECTION_BUFFERS UNITY_PBS_USE_BRDF1 UNITY_SPECCUBE_BOX_PROJECTION UNITY_SPECCUBE_BLENDING UNITY_ENABLE_DETAIL_NORMALMAP SHADER_API_DESKTOP UNITY_LIGHTMAP_RGBM_ENCODING

 

Ah Mac
Definitely fixable, taking a look right now.
What bothers me though, it's only those two shaders that complain, both in the vertex program, about PaintUtility, but neither vertex shader makes use of that include file. Also, the canvas projector uses the same vertex shader.
Those vertex files are the standard vertex shader files for projectors and GUI shaders. Will take a look if anything happened there on unitys side in the default shader sources, unlikely though. Most probably mac specific though, not getting these errors.

Doubt there's any more info you can give me? Any more detailed error log when directly selecting the shaders (BrushGUIViz and BrushProjector-Overlay in Shaders/Painting)? Really no other shader complaining?
Any comments of unity changing these shaders automatically at the top of the files (including PaintUtility.cginc)? Sometimes unity 'upgrades' them...
Finally a blind try, add '#define CALC_BRANCHES 1' at the very top of PaintUtility.cginc and see if that changes anything.

Thanks for your assistance,
Seneral

 

Well, I came back to this now, and those errors are gone, and the brushes look good on the terrain! Weird....but good!

EDIT: But hmm, I'm having some odd behavior when painting splats -- it doesn't appear to be doing anything until I change the splat selected on that node, and then it appears and looks real good. But I have to adjust that slider each time I paint.

And there is this error in the console -- so probably I missed something with splat painting. I'll watch the videos again to check that, but here's the error:

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
TerrainComposer2.NodePainter.NodePainter.CheckNodeTargets () (at Assets/AssetStore Tools/Node Painter/Scripts/Core/NodePainter.cs:324)
TerrainComposer2.NodePainter.NodePainter.Update () (at Assets/AssetStore Tools/Node Painter/Scripts/Core/NodePainter.cs:292)

 

Don't think I can quite follow - so you followed my splat painting video with the multi-format canvas and each time you try to paint on a channel (splat) you have to go to the masked splat node in TC2 and change the splat it is assigned to?
Did you make sure you have the 'Auto' generation enabled in the TC2 window? If that's not the issue, instead of changing the splat on the node, does the 'Refresh' button work?

Finally, that error means you have a node target unassigned. So in one of your channels, you added a node target field but did not assign a node. Of course that should not trigger an error, was a simple bug, will fix that

On a different node, will have a small update ready soon, with some fixes and internal improvements, aswell as (hopefully full) support for non-square canvases.

Seneral

 

Hey everyone,
just submitted another update, 1.2.1, which adresses mainly minor things:
@gecko

Here's the link until it is accepted on the AS:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9rvpfj51aey7qh/1.2.1_NodePainter_5.6_upload.unitypackage

Seneral

 

Thanks -- and yes, my problem yesterday was due to my own ignorance, sorry for the false alarm.

 

If it happens to you, it happens to others aswell - if there's anything related to workflow that can be improved / was unclear, let us know
Glad it works for you now though.

On a different note, I consider (after user request) to add support for other tools that could benefit from a painter.
Namely MapMagic, which would very much fit in the pattern that TC2 needed aswell.
The core itself and TC2 related stuff is separated either way so that should be easily possible.
If you have suggestions / other tool ideas regarding that, please post here. Don't know when that will be realized though...
Seneral

 

Hi,
I'm trying to import a raw heightmap file from World Composer - has anyone tried this successfully? I get the "failed" white background with a req question mark image in node painter window.

Thanks!

 

Hm, the raw file should be the correct format, since TC2 and Unity terrain use it aswell as TC2NP. Does it work if you load it into either of those other two (in a TC2 raw node or directly into a unity terrain of the correct size)?
Besides that, if it fails, there should be no such question mark in the node painter window, which makes me think that this is the actual data in the raw file (or a completely different problem).
If it really failed to read, it would probably throw an error or be some distorted mess
Seneral

 

Hello everybody,
I'll be on a trip to Japan from the 26.06. to the 19.07., so support will be slower, and I'll have no development PC there.
I'll try my best to answer!
Seneral

 

Have a safe trip man. Enjoy Japan! It's a beautiful country.

 

Thanks! Yeah, it definitely is (safe and beautiful). Quite a lot of devs I had come in contact with come from here, too

 

Hey!
First of all, let me thank you for an excellent tool! TC2 + TC Node Painter is a great combo for those who are looking to bring their terrains into the entire new level!

However, I faced an issue today. For some reason, NP cursor is not aligned with actual OS cursor... It's far away from it which makes it almost impossible to use NP

Any chance this can be fixed? It wasn't observed before (was using NP for a couple of days).

Details:
OS: MacOS Mojave
Unity 2018.2.16f1 Personal
Screenshot attached

 

Thanks for your kind words
I'll look into it, downloading 2018.2.16f1 now and see if they changed anything.
Let's hope it's not platform dependend (too many Mac-only problems recently...)

 

Ok so I can't get 2018.2.16f1 on linux to run at all so I fired up windows - and as expected, the cursor works just fine on windows.

For clarification:
1. Does the brush in the GUI preview work fine, or does it also show an offset?
2. Is only the Brush projection on the terrain offset and NOT the actual painting, or both?
3. Is the offset dependant on the mouse position, or fixed? Is it vertically inverted or anything similar?

If you want, you can check in NodePainter.cs/CalcBrushWorldPos(l.632), there is the brush position calculation. It involves raycasting against the terrain colliders and messing with editor-dependant mouse position transformations. If there is a platform-dependant bug, it's there.
Experimentally, you can modify the following line (l.644) (37.5f is the toolbar header height of the scene view):

mousePos.y = (Screen.height - mousePos.y) - 37.5f;

to these:

mousePos.y = (Screen.height - mousePos.y);

mousePos.y = mousePos.y - 37.5f;

mousePos.y = mousePos.y;

And see if any of these modifications work.
Seneral

 

had the same problem. this is how i got it to work. open/edit the NodePainter.cs,
add to usings;

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEditor;

navigate to the CalcBrushWorldPos() method.
and replace;

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. // Prepare mouse raycast
3.            Vector2 mousePos = Event.current.mousePosition;
4.            mousePos.y = (Screen.height - mousePos.y) - 37.5f;
5.            Ray mouseRay = Camera.current.ScreenPointToRay(mousePos);
6.            RaycastHit hit;
7.  

with;

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2.  // Prepare mouse raycast
3.             Ray mouseRay = HandleUtility.GUIPointToWorldRay(Event.current.mousePosition);
4.             RaycastHit hit;
5.  

 

Thanks a lot! I had the same issue, and this edit fixed it.

Actually, something similar was also causing problems with the TC2 editor when it first came out. Apparently Apple created a screen coordinate system that can handle both regular and retina resolutions when those screens were introduced in 2012. Using calls that return pixel values like Screen.height and mousePos.y result in coordinates with half the required value on a retina screen: when I put the mouse in the lower right corner of the Unity scene window, the brush was right in the centre

I came across something similar when making an iOS app some years ago, but I had no idea how to fix it in C# & Unity.

+++++!

 

Ah thanks, was wondering what they could have implemented differently. Will try to fix it so that it won't throw errors at runtime (UnityEditor reference). But right now all that (switching to windows, fixing, packaging and uploading) will have to wait after the worst of the exams are over - sorry!

 

Hey there, just discovered the node painter, what a godsend! I was previously using a really hacky collision based system to paint roads onto my terrain. I have a problem though. Whenever I add a basic splatmap/heightmap node and try to paint, nothing happens, no matter the intensity or hardness of the brush. Even if I set it to replace mode, still nothing happens.

I can unreliably get it to paint by restarting unity 2-3 times, but then it does this, where it shoots up to the maximum value for a brush. This doesnt seem to actually paint that value on the node though, since when I click refresh it is back to normal. It seems to only occur on click and hold, not single consecutive clicks.

Any ideas?

 

That reminds me of a very rare, not reliably reproducable bug where the scene view is somehow finding it's way into the render textures of TC2NP.
It usually only affects the visualization textures (meaning, after another paint / undo it's fixed) - that luckily seems to be the case for you aswell (since the painting preview in the GUI seems unaffected, aside from the flickering).
For you though, it obviously is reproducable, which might be a chance to finally fixing it.

That unfortunately does not explain why most of the time it does not paint at all for you. First time hearing about that...
If it would at least work reliably in the examples I could say it's the setup, but if it's not, no idea.
But you say that after a refresh, that what you painted is gone again? That is weird because in the preview it looks like it is actually painted properly internally, just assigned VERY wrong.

To verify, if you undo and redo after painting, does the terrain look good again (like in the GUI preview)?
If you try to paint in the GUI preview, not the scene, does it assign it properly?
Do modifications work properly (modifications tab and adjust height or contrast)?
Can you list me what tools you are using that could interfere with scene view / gizmos?
Unity editor version to be safe, as well.

Again, don't have any time at my hands right now unfortunately, at best next week thursday onwards.