Vertex colors for sway + wind

Authoring vertex colors for various animation effects

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Color Style Function
Blue 0 - 1 gradient leading up branches Directly controls how much the vertex sways
Green Random solid value on individual elements Applies a random offset so different parts of the plant sway at different intervals.
Red Currently unused
Alpha Currently unused

Vertex Paint workflow

Download “Enhanced Vertex Color Tool” (Tarmunds Addon) and install.

For Sway Wind:

  • Start with Blue Gradient to control affected area of sway
  • Select individual meshes and apply random green for sway randomization of leaves or fronds

This method is tricky for merged meshes or meshes with fronds that are attached to a body that you want to move independently. I found trial and error works best with hand painting the green random sway channel first then applying the blue gradient to control overall sway.

Unreal

Make sure you have Import vertex colors checked when importing into Unreal!

After importing your plant and making a material, you turn on the sway effect in the material instance.

{{0xc000683630 0xc000683630 image.png alt text alt text 0xc0009b3860} 0 false}
Remember to check both boxes! There are a handful of settings, notably sway amount and speed. All plants double these effects in the desert sandstorm.