Quadmesh Billboard (Fuzzy)

Cool fuzzy technique for plants!

{{0xc0009f22d0 0xc0009f22d0 image.png  alt text alt text 0xc0007c6d20} 0 false}

Blender


  • Fuzzy sections must be quads. Evenly spaced generally works best
    • The size of these quads greatly affects the final result!
    • Zbrsuh quad remesh works great for this
    • Tris just kinda get eaten
  • Make a material separation for where you want the fuzzy to be
    {{0xc0009f22d0 0xc0009f22d0 image-1.png  alt text alt text 0xc0009d0840} 1 false}
    • Duplicate your UV and set it active (camera button)
    • Name does not matter as long as it is the second in the list
      {{0xc0009f22d0 0xc0009f22d0 image-2.png  alt text alt text 0xc0008548a0} 2 false}
    • In edit mode, select all the quads, hit U -> Reset
    • This sets all the quads to individual square UVs - exactly what the material needs
  • Export from blender

UE


After importing, make sure the mesh does NOT generate lightmap UVs (this overrides UV1!)

{{0xc0009f22d0 0xc0009f22d0 image-3.png  alt text alt text 0xc000855200} 3 false}
You have to “apply changes” after unchecking it
{{0xc0009f22d0 0xc0009f22d0 image-4.png  alt text alt text 0xc0009d0840} 4 false}
In UE, set the material instance parent to “MI_DefaultBillboard”

  • This sets the material to Masked and enables the billboard code
  • You can set those values manually on any foliage material if you would like

Make sure any opacity mask textures you use are set to “Alpha” compression

{{0xc0009f22d0 0xc0009f22d0 image-5.png  alt text alt text 0xc0009d0cc0} 5 false}

  • I’ve provided a few options under /Game/Lunos/MaterialLibrary/Foliage/MasterMaterials/Textures
  • You can tweak the “size” of the billboards with “QuadmeshBillboardSize”
    {{0xc0009f22d0 0xc0009f22d0 image-6.png  alt text alt text 0xc0009d1020} 6 false}
    • At a certain point (too low or too high) values start looking real weird. Remember that the scale of the initial quads is important to getting the effect right. You may need to experiment with different topology
  • These should work with WPO animation stuff, but I have not tested everything.