So I downloaded some flora/grass texture from gametextures.com and I’m just wondering how I use it as flora? It didn’t come with a static mesh or anything but I figured I could just use another basic fbx for that. But I also noticed that these grass textures don’t have an alpha channel when I open them up in photoshop so I’m not getting any transparency in UE4. Any ideas?
Well, you are on the right track already. The most simple and common way of doing grass is to have a plane standing up straight, uvmapping it, then applying a dual sided material and dragging the mesh over to your foliage painter.
I’m not a photoshop king (I use Gimp) but there must be a selection tool which allows you to cut the background from an image. Just make sure tranparancy is enabled and your resolution is a power of two (256x256, 512x512 etc) so the engine can render mipmaps. If you export your textures to tga, the alpha should be imported alongside color information. You can then set Blend mode to Masked which will enable the opacity mask in your material. When you try this for the first time chances are you will run into some lighting/normal issues, some of which may be solved thanks to the 4.7 update. There’s a few links and videos that helped me in the past, I sometimes still go back to these pages whenever I’m doing foliage because there’s some really cool setups in there…
Yeah I just think its weird that gametextures wouldnt make the grass with an alpha channel. I cant make my own with it because it’s just too hard to select all the none grass. It’s all blurry. I sent them a support ticket so hopefully they’ll tell me why there’s no alpha channel, or give me an easy way to make one.
Haha no problem!
Hmm okay I’m back because I’m just having difficulty. Like this grass texture I downloaded works perfectly fine with a free plant that UE provides (SM_Cactus_F), but I have another grass texture I got from gametextures.com and it just doesn’t work at all. So I’m just really confused.
I guess I’m wondering how I go about making my own grass from scratch with these textures? Do I need to use some 3d modeling program or something? Make some model out of my textures? I’m just really confused…
You will need some modelling program to create meshes yes (3ds max, Blender, Maya etc). A texture alone can’t really be used for many thing other than landscaping or existing geometry. You can also use BSPs (http://blog.digitaltutors.com/unreal-engine-4-bsp-geometry/) but that’s more suitable for buildings and structures, not even sure if it can be used for foliage. There’s plenty of programs which allow you to generate models like trees, for example Speedtree and Arboro, though that kind of software tends to cater more to artists already familiar with stuff like this.
If it’s just a plane / flat mesh you want, I can easily send you an fbx based on your texture, that shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, just send me your textures and I’ll map them onto a plane 
You can then import it into UE and apply your material to it. But eventually you’ll have to either create your own assets or purchase items from for example the marketplace. 
Oooh I see what youre saying, I need to have a flat plane fbx and apply the texture to it. Or parts of the texture I want to use as the grass. Sounds like something I need to learn how to make. Any resources on how to make these planes and apply the textures to them? I searched thru youtube and such but seems to be more videos about high quality grass scenes in 3dsmax and such. Thanks
A simple Google search turns up a huge amount of tutorials:
UDK Grass tutorial - Epic Games Forums
In short, if you want to make your own grass, be prepared to learn how to use 3D modeling and texturing software. If you’re new to 3D modeling, fair warning: it’s going to take a while to get good at it. Otherwise, spend a few bucks in the Marketplace on some foliage and help support a working artist. They really deserve the money for their effort, and you’ll help ensure that being a 3D artist is a viable profession. By spending a few bucks on grass, you can stay focused on the things you’re good at.