Unreal Engine 3 - MASTER THREAD

[BHJ]

Thanks for the link Scruffy - but I couldn't find anything on exporting vertex alphas from max.

I know about using the meshpaint to blend textures together; but that's not what I'm trying to achieve. I'm sure it's probably quite simple - either that or not possible. Essentially I'd like to import a second mesh made up of lots of blend strips, keeping the vertex alphas I assign them in Max - So I can have the edges fade out to complete transparancy, while keeping the centre opaque and didn't want to have to paint each individual 'strip' in the mesh.

[JordanW]

.ase file format does not store vertex alpha, you could try importing it as either vertex color R G or B

[Scruffy]

without making a tutorial for it, the easiest way to explain how it works is this.

If you know what vertex color you want to have control which aspect of your asset (changing color or tweaking the alpha on something) just select the vertexs in question inside max and on the right scroll down untill you see 'Vertex Properties'. By changing the color value (not the alpha since it does not export in .ase format) to what you want, you can then export that as an .ase format, but make sure you have 'vertex colors' checked off when you do this, or all that information will be lost.

When you're in the engine, whatever color values you changed, plug those colors into the material editor. for example, red can controll the blend between two different textures, and blue can controll the alpha fading.

there are ways to set up shaders in max to visually see what you are doing, but that will take a tutorial to show.

i hope this helps you out...

[BHJ]

@ JordanW / Scruffy

Cheers guys - I did some quick tests last night and have got this pretty much sorted now using vertex colour rather than alpha. It'll only be 20minutes work to switch over the vertex alpha values to colour in max - which is a lot better than painting in all the values manually!

Thanks again.

[BHJ]

**New post to flag the thread to others that may have read my previous post**

Hey guys, got it working - kind of :) any way I could set up my material to get a smooth gradient rather than this 100/0 effect that I have going on at the moment?

The alpha look smooth but the actual mesh is chopped -

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/2875/vertexalpha.jpg

Cheers.

[Neox]

are you using alpha masked? i guess so, alpha masked is always one bit, you need to use a translucent material with the mask in the opacity slot

[ivan0v]

I have a question. How can I check the polycount in the unreal editorif it's possible? It will be realy helpfull thks

[Neox]

look in the generic browser you find the primitive stats

[ivan0v]

thks found it

[ofca]

hi there,

a little question i have, maybe someone of you guys could help me.

i try to do fluids. put FluidSurfaceActor to the scene, FluidInfluenceActor too put in the scene, connect them and...

how works influence'Fluid_Wave' and 'Fluid Sphere' ? others 2 i could start, but this... nope.

And one more...

Do you know how to connect 'RB Radial Force Actor' (for example) to FluidSurface ? you know, to make waves with force...

anybody ?
thx,
ofca

[wisebrownmonkey]

have a problem. I exported a mesh using actor x from maya 09. It is about 9500 tris. When I imported it into unreal it drops down to about 6000 tris. The problem is that some of the geo is missing. I have alphas on it, but i exported with the alphas and with out and it still has missing parts on the mesh. I exported checking only "selected items only".

[katana]

I went through this the other day only to go back to maya and realize some of my verts werent merged. I group everything as one mesh as well...not sure if you do the same.

[wisebrownmonkey]

It still wont import. I tried the merge the vets. Itook it into the UDK dev kit (originally it was Unreal 3), and i get "generate/imported vertex count ratio(6836/3476) exceed expected percentage(96.66 percent vs 25.00 percent expected)."

[katana]

hmm..I get messages like that too, but the mesh looked fine...I'll have to take another look.

Can you show a pic of those areas that are built in the 3d app and what it looks like in UDK?


*Edit; I had to confirm this with my own mesh. Unreal won't draw convcave patterns, so if you have anything like that, it will explain the loss.

[Justin_Meisse]

question: you make a post process effect in the post process editor, how do you then get it working?

The only tutorial I've seen that might show me how is in the subscription area of 3D Buzz, I was about to break down and pay $35 just to get access to that tutorial but I figured I'd check here first.

[Scruffy]

it's easy enough to get a post processing through either the 'world properties' or a 'post processing volume' box. This bypasses any scripting that may need to be done.

here's a tutorial of mine.
http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com/UT3_Post_Processing.html

Hope it helps.

[ImSlightlyBored]

yeah but thats got nothing to do with material PP effects... its just the standard chain.

[Lamont]

If you are in the default UnrealED, you can script the change in the used PPE per game using Kismet I believe, per moment. I would recommend doing it this way in the retail UnrealED as the PPE's are tied to everything in the game and will break the install.

[Justin_Meisse]

well I'm trying to do an outline and vignette post process for a project.

[Orgoth02]

anyone know a good way to view wireframes instead of the viewport switch?

[Ben Apuna]

To get a wireframe view while ingame, press Tab to bring up the console, then type in the command show meshedges and hit enter.

[Ewalton]

Sooo....Im working with a group to create a total graphics overhaul of Unreal (actually UDK but same thing) that is basically a First Person grocery store food fight. Its a school project and its going well...

Basically the weapons (bullets) are particle systems that are thrown through the air. How can I make just the single object rotate in the particale system window. I have been able to create nice expolison particle systems for when food explodes (its been fun) but cant seem to get just a single object to rotate in space in the cascade editor.
Im sure their is a simple way to do it but Im running out of time for guess and check method.

Any Tips???

thanks

[nxh]

Pretty sure this hasn't been answered yet, sorry if it has.

I have a level set up with terrain. Recently, when I switch maps from the terrain map then come back (going to a building interior map, then going back outside, essentially) there are large patches of terrain that aren't rendering. The collision is still present, I don't fall through the floor, but the patches stay gone until I've walked around the level for a while.

Looking away and back doesn't seem to force them to redraw, but they will only draw when off-camera (I haven't seen any of the patches pop, anyway.)

Sorry, I know this is a very vague question, but perhaps someone has encountered something similar and has a suggestion.

[Ben Apuna]

nxh:

I've had disappearing problems once or twice in the past when I had the editor open along with a bunch of other apps for a long period of time. I believe the problem was my system was running out of vram or ram, a full restart of the whole PC seemed to always clear up the problem. The system I had been working on at the time had only 1 gb of ram and a 256 mb video card.

[Lamont]

How can I make just the single object rotate in the particale system window. I have been able to create nice expolison particle systems for when food explodes (its been fun) but cant seem to get just a single object to rotate in space in the cascade editor.
Im sure their is a simple way to do it but Im running out of time for guess and check method.If it's just for the particle, just do a rotation in the material for said food item. Just a guess, didn't actually do it.

[PixelMasher]

initial rotation and rotation rate dont work?

[Lamont]

I think that only applies to sprite-based particles.

[OBlastradiusO]

For some odd reason everytime I rotate my decal in Unreal 3 editor it crashes. I rotate it manually and also within the properties. Also the decal texture is not within my custom package it's a original game asset. Any suggestions?

[TommyRose]

problem.... disappearing mesh.

Here's he model in maya: http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/4823/glasso.jpg


here's the mesh in the editor:http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9458/glass2.jpg



Within the Unreal static mesh editor it looks fine. Untextured but fine. When i place it within the level it comes out as that solid block of gray and then when i build and play test the level it's completely not there.

any suggestions?

[Ben Apuna]

You are currently working in "Unlit" mode you need to toggle "Lit" mode on, add some lights to your scene and finally do a lighting build.

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss273/bapuna/glass2fix.jpg

Also it looks like you're using the old version of Unreal, do yourself a favor and get/use UDK (http://www.udk.com/) (Unreal Development Kit) instead.

[TommyRose]

Thanks BenApuna.

Lit wasn't the problem, something to do with importing into a development package vs the actual level package.

as for UDK, yeah I'll be switching to that at the end of this semester, but our final is to turn a finished level using UE3.

[Jesse Moody]

Tommy.. No Ben is right. The mesh will not show correctly in unlit. Even more so when you have no textures on it.

BUT THATS THE LEAST OF MY WORRIES AND SHOULD BE YOURS.

WHY IN THE HELL IS THIS USING 18684 TRIANGLES? Are you out of your mind?

http://artbyjessemoody.com/help/HOLYPOLYWASTAGEBATMAN.JPG

[TommyRose]

HAHAHAHA...... ugh..... yeah I knew that was a lot of tri's, but see I've been self teaching myself maya for about 2-3 months now so I'm just getting the hang of it.....

here's the wireframe, what could i have minimized?

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/9878/wirek.jpg

[alexl]

Everything :P your model should only have enough geometry in it to describe the silhouette, all the other details can be baked into a normal map. More stuff to learn, yay :)

[Scruffy]

if something shows up in the editor (geometry wise) it should show up in the game, if it doesn't, make sure the package that you imported the mesh to is saved so unreal has a package to read the geometry from.

and yes, your mesh is WAY too high. most of that detail can be stored in a normal map. it's basically a box with things to hold it up right on top. unreal handles polygons rather well. If geometry for this is around 350 to 500 in total, it should be fine.

Study the mesh they include in unreal to see how they utilize all of the details. i would recommend learning normal mapping, it will help a lot.

[natetheartist]

-off the topic at hand.

Is there a way to accuratly display the total texture space used in a package?

Similarly, what is the best way to view total triangle count in a scene including foliage volumes? particles?

[CharlieD]

Quick question: How do I increase the level of detail and resolution in unreal editor for screen shots?

I've tried reading through the first few pages, but find myself more confused than when I started. Thanks in advance.

[Lamont]

Ok, so you want larger screenshots? It's been mentioned in this thread. Search tiledshot. And reading the question exactly how it sounds, if you want more detail it would mean more art.

[CharlieD]

Okay thanks, i'll search that. By detail, i meant higher res textures. I have 1024x1024 texture sheets on my models, but it's showing up much lower res than that.

[Lamont]

Ok, check the... Can't think of the name. But your texture lod/compresstion settings.

[metalliandy]

Okay thanks, i'll search that. By detail, i meant higher res textures. I have 1024x1024 texture sheets on my models, but it's showing up much lower res than that.

In the texture properties (double click the texture in the generic browser) change the LODGroup to TEXTUREGROUP_UI
Its not shippable like that but its great for screenies :)

[maestro]

In the texture properties (double click the texture in the generic browser) change the LODGroup to TEXTUREGROUP_UI
Its not shippable like that but its great for screenies :)

I did not know this, thanks!

[metalliandy]

:)
Glad to help!

[00Zero]

TEXTUREGROUP_UI ? I used to do skybox. both work?

[metalliandy]

Yea, i think both work ok :)

[Envelope]

Aside from selecting the groups in-editor....You can find and permanently alter these settings (for all TEXTUREGROUPS) in "UTEngine".

If you change them in DefaultEngine.ini I think it will change for both in-Editor mode and in Game mode.

Or you can go to simply view what the settings are for each group if you are just curious.

TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=512, MaxLODSize=2048,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFi lter=point)

TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=1024,MaxLODSize=4096,L ODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)

[MattBradley]

I'm looking to make a fluid surface just render as a wireframe. I cant figure out how to do just the fluid and not everything else. Anyone know of anything?

[Mique]

Does anyone know how to turn of the sound that plays when you are playing in the editor?

It's really annoying, and I can't find any settings for sounds anywhere.
I've tried to find some settings for it in the config files, but couldn't find any.

Anyone know how to turn it of?

[fearian]

Archive thread? do'h. :poly127: