Generate random points on a static mesh

Development Programming & Scripting Blueprint
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1

Is there a way of generating random points on the surface of a static mesh that items can be attached to? For example, points on a statue to which butterflies will settle and cover said statue? Using vertices perhaps? I’m hoping to use blueprints for this. Thanks in advance.

2

Yes. You can use line traces from outside the object, heading inwards. Put the butterflies at the intersection point ( you will need complex collision on for the mesh ).

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On object

You can also do this with PCG, of course. Then you can target the vertex data of the mesh…

3

That’s really useful, thank you. I knew PCG might be an option, but line tracing never occurred to me for some reason. I will investigate further.

4

Hey there @Astro-Chris! Clockwork’s setup is great! An alternative if you wanted to use vertices for any reason, you can use Rama’s Victory Plugin to get the SM vertex locations regardless of scale. I use this for finding verts and iterating on them at runtime myself.