We are happy to announce the immediate availability of PlantFactory 2021.2. Head to the Software Center to get the update right now.
Not only does this release add new creation and integration features, but it is also the first step on an ongoing journey towards a major graph editing and nodal workflow overhaul.
Main features in Release 2021.2:
This release adds plugin compatibility for the following host application versions and render engines (bold items are new):
Scene by Aron Kamolz
Nodes have received a small facelift in this release. They can now be freely resized to take advantage of large previews. Previews can be enabled or disabled through a right click on each node (by default, they are enabled).
A navigator minimap in the bottom right corner helps when navigating large graphs. When dragging a connection out from a node towards the edge of the graph window, the minimap and the graph will automatically start scrolling while the connection remains attached to the cursor. Also, connection lines are highlighted in bold when hovering over them.
Connections now snap automatically to inputs and outputs upon release and nodes themselves can snap to an optionally displayable background grid.
For better readability, overlapping nodes are now indicated by a red overlapping icon. Disabled nodes are highlighted through a yellow striped pattern. Node parameters which are currently disabled, but still driven by another node, are displayed with a dashed connection line. Additionally, graph colors can be customized in the program options.
Published Parameters can now be edited in the top-level interface of metanodes and on the Preset Tab. They can also be reordered after being published.
The graph now uses much more efficient caching algorithms. Average computational times have been cut down to 40% compared to previous releases. This is especially noticeable on very complex plants with many nodes and / or high polygon counts and when switching presets in a plant.
Additionally, a new GUI scaling on HiDPI displays provides a much smoother and lag-free navigation and zoom experience.
Many new nodes have been added to the Geometry Miscs. node category for creating more intricate plant growth criteria and dependencies based on growth angle, direction and other properties.
A few nodes have also been renamed and split into new nodes for better UX and consistency.
New Math Nodes have been added:
Most math nodes now accept any type of input, be it a 2D Vector, a 3D vector, numbers or colors. Previously, most nodes were limited to just a specific data type.
The polygon distribution and topology in PlantFactory depend on the axis that runs through a segment. To improve the generated mesh and also prepare it for blending transitions, new parameters were added to the axis settings:
The standard blending algorithm (non-Subdivision Surface blending) has been improved and will now produce fewer concave curves, less divergence in blending and an overall better shape. Additionally, three new branch blending parameters have been added to the blending settings group on the children tab:
A new clearcoat material channel which is available within PBR materials makes designing wet or glossy leaves easy.
Using intensity, roughness, tint, index of refraction, an optional normal map and a flatten parameter for blending between the clearcoat normal and the regular material and mesh normals offers an industry-standard compatible set of coating controls.
When loading Substance materials with clearcoat properties, their maps are setup correctly in the material graph.
If you watched our #GTC21 presentation, you already heard the news:
PlantFactory now supports Live Sync for NVIDIA's Omniverse platform. Using the Nucleus core, you can easily sync changes made to a model in PlantFactory back to your Omniverse stage in real time.
We also developed an Omniverse Extension for editing previously exported USD files, even when picking up a project that no longer has Live Sync enabled.
Thanks to this extension, any PlantFactory USD mesh exported to Omniverse remains fully procedural and retains its editing capabilites in PlantFactory. Create your own Omniverse vegetation asset collection and apply changes to your assets at any time.
For more information and installation instructions, visit our dedicted Omniverse page.
You can now use the PlantFactory integration plugin for Maya and Cinema 4D to output native Redshift materials for all of your plants. Of course, this also includes all plants from the PlantCatalog.
This feature requires at least Redshift 3.0.46 (or any higher version) with the new OCIO workflow.
In Maya or Cinema 4D, set the render engine to Redshift and then load any plant you exported as a procedural *.tpf file with the PlantFactory plugin. When you then convert the plant to a native polygon mesh, Redshift materials are created automatically.
Before converting, you decide how you would like to transfer alpha maps: they can either be linked to Redshift's opacity channel or they can be loaded into a Redshift sprite node for best rendering performance.
In this first technology preview, Redshift conversion is supported in Maya 2020 and up and Cinema 4D R23 and up. We plan to extend the support to more versions and other applications with upcoming releases.
The PlantFactory plugin now supports Renderman 24 in Maya 2020 and up. Set the render engine to Renderman, load the plant with the PlantFactory plugin and then convert it to a native polygon object with Renderman PxrSurface materials.
This release supports basic material properties such as color / albedo, alpha and normal maps. More material properties will be added in the future.
We are proud to announce the first version of the PlantFactory plugin for Unreal Engine 4. The plugin supports Unreal 4.24 through Unreal 4.27. Just like our other integrations, the new plugin allows opening procedural plants in native *.tpf format directly inside UE4 and making adjustments to Season, Maturity, Health and any published parameter. You can generate new variations, adjust wind intensity, polygon resolution and switch between presets.
Once satisfied, convert the plant to an Unreal actor, animated or static, with native Unreal Engine shader graphs for the materials pre-setup by the plugin. This is a much more convenient way of bringing PlantFactory vegetation into your game than using traditional Export - Import workflows.
In addition to the plugin, a new "Export one part per primitive" mode in the Export settings from PlantFactory will allow producing an individual mesh for each plant part. With this option, native, procedural wind shaders from UE4 can be applied to static PlantFactory vegetation. Exported geometry with individual meshes per primitive can also be pre-processed for Unreal in other applications, for example with the Epic Pivot painter script for 3DS Max.
For a detailed list of changes, check out the full release notes.
Enjoy the update and happy modelling from all of us here at e-on!