Terrain Composer2 a next generation GPU powered terrain tool.

did you read the readme?

 

@eagle555

Hi Nathaniel,

Will it be possible to use higher resolutions for some nodes in the future? At the moment I'm thinking mostly about the object node. We want to use 25cmx25cm or 50cmx50cm resolution grids for foliage/detail/debris etc. Especially when the Unity instancing pipeline will be more polished and TC2 streaming will be added.

As Unity is working on the new terrain system they will probably introduce some new pipeline of adding grass/detail/small objects and I'm sure that you will be interested in adding appropriate TC node for it. I think that higher resolution than one object per meter for this kind of node would be required too.

At the moment the highest resolution for object node in TC2 (and some other nodes too) is 1 object per meter.

What do you think?

 

i read the readme and downloaded all, i am in DX11, but the scene doesn´t have a terran and nodes are empty.I have reimported many times and nothing.

Another question, is the object placement working in multiterrain?i have added rocks and many of them are in the air

thank you

 

Integrating RTP is planned to do next. The current order of implementation will be:

1. Advanced distance system for minimum spawn distance between trees and objects.
   
2. Integrate colormap/normal map with RTP.
3. Export images, like colormap/normal/height, etc. I want to make that each node can be exported, so also in-between results.
   
4. Make my custom terrain shader work, so colormaps can be created/used. Also WC satellite images.
   
5. Make it easy to generate WC terrain in TC2. Will be something like selecting the folder of WC area.

For each feature I will release another update.

Yes you have to read the 'README!' GameObject in the Hierarchy window . Stamp pack and example pack needs to be downloaded as well as Unity's default 'Characters' package.

Nathaniel

 

Ah yes I used an int instead of a float, have changed it now, can import the patch.

Yes currently the bottleneck is performance. I'm really curious what Unity's progress is on all this, and yes I will implement if Unity releases something new.

For streaming....I made some solutions that we use for our game development. I made this system 2.5 years ago, and am thinking of releasing something similar for TC2 streaming:

For our game we use a dynamic solution that I made.

Nathaniel

 

Here are the steps in the readme file:
1). Download and import the 'Examples' and 'Stamp' package below.
The 'Examples' pack contains free SpeedTrees and a building that is setup
for TC2 from Unity's free 'Viking Village'.
The stamp pack contains high resolution 4k heightmap stamps.
These packages are not included with TC2 to keep the size small.

2). Import the Unity 'Characters' package.
Unity Menu -> Assets -> Import Package -> Characters.

3). Click on the TerrainArea GameObject. In the Inspector choose a folder to
save the terrains to (click 'Change' Button). Then click the 'Create' button.
3x3 terrain tiles will be created.

4). Open the TerrainComposer2 window:
Unity Menu -> Window -> Power of Nature Software -> TerrainComposer2

5). In the TC2 window click the 'Generate' button.

Did you do step 3?

Yes for objects I had the issue that reading the height texture didn't match the terrain height exactly, will make a fix for this asap.

Nathaniel

 

@eagle555

Thanks for the patch and reply.

The object streaming video looks very promising. I'm sure that a lot of people would be interested in it.

I have a question about the image node. I'm testing it and looks like the input resolution is limited somehow. I wanted to use 2K image for 1K terrain size (with 2K splat resolution) to get 50cm splat pixel size but it generates lower resolution result. Acutally the overall node result is fine as it's 2K but I think that image node uses lower resolution. Same with 1K image for 1K terrain size (with 1K splat resolution). It looks like the image node has some resolution limit. Am I right?

I've tested this by painting 1px dots and lines on the image.

I'm thinking about other nodes as well. Would be nice to use image node + images with same resolution as the final output for objects, splat etc.

Maybe it would be possible to add a resolution setting to the image node so user can set it manually?

Another thing is that I can't get the proper results when using 'Color' as color select mode. I'm using same RGB values as the source image but the output is empty.
It generates some output when I'm using color range but the value range is much wider than the original color value. I was trying with different file formats like png, tga and jpg.

 

Thks Nathaniel, works for me only creating a brand new project.
Updating tc2 in a project, at least for me, corrupts the readme file and only can see the 3 green buttons, not the text.
Nice Scene!!

 

Just updated, great - one thing I've noticed is about tab says beta 7d. Is this just an omission or has my package not updated correctly?

 

It is actually 7i, I forgot to update the text...

Nathaniel

 

I'm trying to do different things with version 2.17, and very often arises such a thing:


Previously, I had no such stairs

 

Thank you for the further information. I need RTP for my project so i will wait for now.

Will it take long? not to rush ofc, but just for my own planning.

Cheers,

Xander

 

The image node shouldn't have a resolution limit. The image is read with the resolution of the output. So if splat texture resolution is 2k, it will read the image with 2k. I've tested here with a 2k image on a 2k splatmap, seems to work ok. Basically scaling the node would change the resolution of the image.

Yes indeed the 'Color' select mode doesn't get proper results, because I was using bi-linear sampling of the image. I put it to point now.

Nathaniel

 

Hi Nathaniel,
I have a project with many scenes with terrains in tile 5x5. To reuse these terrains in update to TC2 i must create terrains 5x5, delete the terrains created and drag the old terrains to these slots now empty. In TC1 it is more simple, i can add empty slots terrains. How can i do this in TC2? is the TC2 already have this option or not yet? Sorry for may bad english.

 

where is this runtime folder? my terraincomposer 2 package doesnt contain a runtime folder in the scripts folder. can you please include this?

also, i was wondering if the animate seed scripts can be ran at runtime. can the terrain be modified as simply as that during runtime?

 

my unity literally just updated with a new version with a script in a runtime folder, how quaint.

anyways, about the animate seed scripts, are thoes able to be run at runtime just like they are?

 

You can make a prefab of the TerrainArea. Then in your other Scene drag and drop this TerrainArea prefab and assign it to the TerrainComposer2 (unfold) -> 'Area2D' GameObject -> Terrain Areas in inspector. Then you can delete the empty TerrainArea GameObject.

Yes that should be possible.

Can you show a screenshot of the height output in TC2 window? You use stamps and/or noises?

Nathaniel

 

Morning guys, has anyone else ran into issues importing raw height maps into TC2? I export and terrain height map from a project, add layer in height map then tried to open or drag raw height map into layer but it does not accept it.

I can import into unity terrain but then it is not a editable layer in TC2.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Andy

 

Hi Andy,

What do you mean by "it does not accept it"?
A screenshot would help

 

Hi there, I just mean the height map file does not drag to the layer node. Its as if it does not accept the format (standard unity raw height map export). I cant really do a screen shot as nothing happens.

 

Anyone got any links to tips or videos for setting a river in TC2. I'm really struggling to get it in correctly. I've made a river stamp but the surrounding area's don't play nice.

The features for mountains etc are amazing but i'm struggling with finer details, smoothing out and simple raising and lower of small areas of terrain.

 

You can't drag and drop the heightmap directly, you need to drag and drop the preview image instead, for that need to place it in a RawFiles folder. I explain it here:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/terraincomposer2-documentation/#stamps

Can you show some screenshots (TC2 window, terrain)? Also of your river stamp?

Nathaniel

 

Heightmap resolution = 4097

 

i do hope you expand on the runtime documentation greatly. What you have provided is a good starting point to explore the api, but a full documentation and examples would help alot.

 

Hi Nathaniel,
I seem to be having a strange issue with the new terraincomposer 2 update. I have about 15 levels with terrains on and all of them have now jumped up about 70m, so everything I've manually placed is now 70m below ground. There were 2 levels that this hadn't happened on, but then I realised I'd been working on just the splatmap layer of those, and when I pressed 'H' those terrains jumped up 70m as well!
Has anyone else experienced this or just me? I can go through and manually drop them, but obviously this will take time and I don't want to have to do this again with each update.
Thanks!

 

Update: Also 2 of the levels won't load and crash unity altogether and the terrains that are working there's the 70m jump on the main terrain but the other square nodes I'd positioned have moved somewhere else completely, basically it looks like I have to recreate all my terrains?! Is anyone else experiencing this?

 

This is probably due to the 4k heightmap resolution, will take a look into this.

Yes I will expand this soon. What you can do is unfold the 'TerrainComposer2' GameObject -> Click on 'Settings' GameObject. In inspector disable the 'Hide TerrainLayer GameObject'. Then you will be able to see how TC2 layer system is constructed. Each node is a GameObject and you can attach your own scripts, etc.

If you have questions about it you can ask me here.

That is quite annoying. The update was a bit tricky to keep compatible with beta 6, because I made quite some changes in heightmap generation that were needed to fix multi terrain. I made that nodes automatically convert to the new version. So far only 1 person had issues with it. The next updates won't have that much changes anymore that I need to convert compatibility.

I wonder what this 70m can be. Maybe you can come on skype and we can fix this. My account is Nathaniel.Doldersum

Nathaniel

 

Hi Nathaniel,

I have problems with the update as well. My manually placed objects are now about one meter below ground and the terrain is messed up with stairs. I also use a 4k height map.

 

Hi Nathaniel,
I waited until I could test beta 7d release and I am still having issues with the Manual Object Placement functionality.
The functionality appears to deform the terrain as expected but for some reason the Position Y value of the object cannot be set, the value keeps re-setting to 0. This occurs regardless of how the value is set either in the inspector or via move tool

 

Hi,
I can't find heightmap export button in TC2? I made my heightmap and now I want to export it to .raw ( terrain is splitted into 16 parts/small terrains)


Thanks,

 

Sorry for the delay Nathaniel. Thanks for the link - The export from my height-map creator as 8 bit which was causing the issue.

Switching to 16 bit and now I can create stamps!

 

Hi, How can i use one texture that i get from satellite sources in each terrain of tile terrains like globalmap?

 

It seems that it's not possible anymore to use 4k heightmaps since the update. I tried with a new clean project, but every terrain I generate with 4097 has some parts that are covered with stairs.

My terrain is based on a heightmap that I created with some other software. It contains some small canyons that are build for 4k. When I reduce the heightmap resolution to 2048 they look really bad, so that wouldn't be a solution.

I waited for the update with my work, but I have to continue my project, so I think I'll drop this product now and move to GAIA.

To bad that it wasn't clearly stated that I'm buying a beta version.
Is there a way to get a refund?

Regards
Frank

 

Hi @franky_li,

I have seen this mentioned before (it was a fair while ago though). It's covered on here - http://www.terraincomposer.com/troubleshooting/.

It appears to be that the .raw resolution is lower than the selected heightmap.

Not sure if that helps.

doc

 

I sent email to support. The Terrain Composer is not working for me at all. Even the example scene didn't load. I believe it doesn't work on the latest version of Unity 5.4.1f. I have tried restarting Unity, turning off Graphics Emulation, reimporting.

If anyone has solutions on this please enlighten me.

 

I had a few issues with Heightmaps Frankie but is was down to not reading the docs properly or understanding the output from my heightmap maker. I can confirm that I have 4k heightmaps working at the moment so it is possible. (i made a river 4k heightmap).

One problem I am having thought if anyone can help is getting RTP working nice with TC2. I'm not sure which is causing the problem but tessellation is a nightmare, keep getting video card crashes. options keep getting over ridden (pixel error, basemap).

I'd give my right arm for a workflow tutorial integrating these two powerful but tricky tools.

 

I just wanted to update that I installed stamps and example package, already have Unity Characters packaged installed but the Example Scene still gives me errors. I have DirectX 12 on my machine.

EDIT: Look for fix below

 

I think the Kernel MethodAdd error occurs when Compute shaders are not possible on your setup, which Terrain Composer uses. I had these errors when I had DX9 as the preferred mode, and they disappeared when I switched to DX11 in Player settings. Looking at your screenshots, could it be anything to do with having Android set as your default player? Might be worth trying the default player as PC, Mac & Linux Standalone - DX11 just to see if it helps.

Might also be worth trying one of the other example scenes (the animated ones) as I found those easier to get working.

 

Hi Nathaniel

If I use blur or expand with multiple terrains, I get noticeable seams. Is there anything I can do about that?
For example, if I blur a height node, at the edges it seems to blur it with either 0 or it's wrapping around the heightmap (not sure which), as in the attached screenshot. I get a similar issue with splat nodes. I'm not expecting it to know about other terrains, but I'd expect it to clamp rather than wraparound?

Cheers, Joe

 

I can confirm that the Example Scene works if I switch to PC/Windows build and then create the Terrain, generate. It seems in addition to turning off Graphics Emulation on Android build I need to check the Auto Graphics API in Player Settings. It is now running fine in Android build with no issues

 

can we have an estimate when it will be available for mac user too ?
i purchased tc1+tc2 with the promise of having it quickly available for mac something like a year ago.

 

In my opinion, based on the update frequency and the roadmap, it seems that this will most likely be happening at the beginning of next year.

 

In case it's useful, my current workaround to this is to add a function in TC_Compute.compute

Code (CSharp):

1. bool IsInsidePixelBorder(uint id)
2. {
3.     return (id > resolutionX && id < resolutionX * (resolutionY - 1)
4.         && (id % resolutionX)>0 && (id % resolutionX) < resolutionX - 1);
5. }

and query this in the blur, shrink and expand kernels before it gets the surrounding pixels.
This does mean the outer line of pixels get no filtering at all, so maybe a better solution would be to check each surrounding pixel individually, or have a spare line of pixels around the edge which is a copy of the current outer line. But this worked fine for my purposes.

 

I have a question. I did a multi map in the old version. How to migrate to the new version , to be able to edit it? BUT keep all the geometry parts of the map

 

I took a look into it. And indeed there are steps at places. It has to do that the heightmap resolution that is generated is 4609 instead of 4097 because of continues tiling for angle and convexity node. It is strange that this larger buffer causes these steps. I reverted this for a 4k terrain resolution heightmap, the fix is in the attachment.

Another option is to use 2x2 terrain with 2k heightmap instead of 1 terrain with 4k heightmap.

If you want a refund contact me at support@terraincomposer.com with your TC2 invoice id.

Nathaniel

 

Hi, i'm using all my trees, rocks, plants on the objects layer, but im wondering how to mix them,,, atm they are just spawning the top layer, trees..

Thank you

 

You have to move the position of the GameObject with the mesh renderer you want to deform the terrain to, not the collision node itself.

I have not added this functionality yet, but is planned for the next updates. What you can do is export it with Unity terrain script -> Settings.

You need a special terrain shader for this like RTPv3. As global colormap is not included in standard Unity terrain shader.

I replied to your email...

TC2 attaches a terrain script to each terrain that overrides pixel error and basemap, you can disable this script (don't remove it just deactivate it). What Unity version are you using? And what heightmap resolution for the tessellation and how many terrain tiles?

Integration with RTP is planned for the next updates.

Yes TC2 needs at least DX11 working in the Unity Editor for compute shaders to work.

Yes I know this issue and this needs the same solution as what I made for the heightmap, to generate beyond the splatmap resolution to be able to read the values from the neighbor terrain tiles. I plan to implement this in the next updates.

Yes it works on Android when turning Graphics Emulation off. I've documented it here:
http://www.terraincomposer.com/terraincomposer2-documentation/#limitations

Sorry I still don't have an estimation date for it. Constantly things are coming up that take my time.

I will contact Unity and ask them when Metal will be available for Unity Editor, then it would work as Metal has compute shaders. If you want a refund you contact me at support@terraincomposer.com with tc1+tc2 invoice id.

Yes this would work but then outer edge doesn't get correct results, the best solution that I will implement is read the actual value of the neighbor pixel, so generate each terrain tile with higher resolution. E.g. if splatmap resolution is 512, add 16 border in total resolution will be 512+16+16 = 544.

You mean update from beta 6 to beta 7? If you already have placed objects, the heightmap with the update can be slightly different.

Nathaniel

 

You can use lower opacity in each tree/object node or on the entire group. Or use masks...

Nathaniel

 

Perfect Thank you!

 

And how to do it? how to transfer multieterrain with the new version ? what steps need to do for transfer?