❀ DoN's Dynamic Mesh Effects ❀

[MaximeDupart]

Hello VSZ, i was wondering how you managed to get the inside of your masked mesh appear black ?
Thanks !

[VSZ]

Hello VSZ, i was wondering how you managed to get the inside of your masked mesh appear black ?
Thanks !

Just use a TwoSidedSign node and Lerp as desired. The value returned by the node indicates whether the current pixel being shaded is part of a backface or not, so you can use that information to selectively blacken out those. See the material function MF_SimpleCraterEffect that comes with the sample project for more (you should be able to load it whether or not you have the plugin...)

[MaximeDupart]

Just use a TwoSidedSign node and Lerp as desired. The value returned by the node indicates whether the current pixel being shaded is part of a backface or not, so you can use that information to selectively blacken out those. See the material function MF_SimpleCraterEffect that comes with the sample project for more (you should be able to load it whether or not you have the plugin...)

Awesome thank you !

[VSZ]

❀ Spring Sale ❀✿50%discount ✿

Just a reminder that the plugin is available at 50% off for a limited time.



The plugin is currently a "Featured" title on the Marketplace and has also been very well-received by its users.

Nearly every game/project will benefit from the plugin's rich functionality so do take the time to check it out!

Marketplace Purchase Link

[VSZ]

Tomorrow (13th) is the last day of the sale, just as a reminder!

If you're wondering whether this plugin will be useful for your project be sure to check out the video trailer and online knowledge-base to learn why practically every single game/project stands to benefit from the plugin's rich feature-set.

[Krenade]

Hi Don, can it paint easily onto character meshes I got from the marketplace? It seems good for a damage system? Also does it work well with the sequencer? Thanks, looks like a great tool.

[VSZ]

Hi Don, can it paint easily onto character meshes I got from the marketplace?

You'll need to prepare a 2nd UV channel for the character meshes as described in these knowledge base articles - Character Painting FAQ, Preparing your Mesh for Painting. That means you will need to export your marketplace meshes to your 3D tool of choice and reimport them back after adding the 2nd UV channel. This step is not required if the first UV channel has no overlapping faces, though that is very rare.

It seems good for a damage system?

Yes, that is one of the primary usecases for this plugin!

Also does it work well with the sequencer?

Runtime/in-game functionality is the main focus of the plugin, editor usage has not been tested/supported. I do know some plugin customers who found a way to run it in editor mode (with some tinkering) for landscape painting driven by splines, but as I have not personally tested this myself it is not an officially blessed feature.

Can you elaborate on your Sequencer usecase though? If it makes sense I may be interested in adding official editor-time usage support for a future update.

Thanks, looks like a great tool.

Thank you

[Krenade]

Runtime/in-game functionality is the main focus of the plugin, editor usage has not been tested/supported. I do know some plugin customers who found a way to run it in editor mode (with some tinkering) for landscape painting driven by splines, but as I have not personally tested this myself it is not an officially blessed feature.

Can you elaborate on your Sequencer usecase though? If it makes sense I may be interested in adding official editor-time usage support for a future update.

Thanks for your answers, they're very helpful! An example of Sequencer usage would be painting during a cutscene - for example, a wall having a decal applied at a specific time so it looks like a character in the cutscene put it on the wall. Would something like that be possible? I think it would be a cool feature I understand from your videos that paint effects can be loaded back into memory, so it seems possible I think?

[VSZ]

An example of Sequencer usage would be painting during a cutscene - for example, a wall having a decal applied at a specific time so it looks like a character in the cutscene put it on the wall.

Yes, that would be a cool feature indeed! It is technically feasible via editor-support + save-load/etc (latter is already available as you noted) but it will take some time and effort to design this properly, so I can't commit to this feature just yet... maybe for a future update depending on how easy it is to implement, but unconfirmed at this time...

[VSZ]

❀ Today is the last day of the Spring Sale, just as a reminder! ❀

Thanks to everyone who purchased the plugin so far during this Spring Sale!

[Lunaretic]

Is there an ETA on 4.19 support?

[VSZ]

Is there an ETA on 4.19 support?

I was planning to make some improvements (save size optimization, minor bugfixes, etc) before submitting. I'd like to allow for 2 weeks more as each update cycle is a valuable opportunity to add to the product

RodenHirata - I've been thinking about your Sequencer usecase again and just wanted to confirm whether you're baking your sequence out and including it as a cutscene or if you're playing the sequence as-is. If it's the latter, isn't it possible to just call the Paint Stroke node via a blueprint callback / collision event at the appropriate time and let it do its thing? If you are playing the entire sequence in-game the wall should be able to acquire the decal from the character (to quote your example) as long as you can supply the correct hitresult (iirc collision events should still work while the sequence is playing). If you're rendering your sequence out, then yes, editor-time usage and subsequent load back can be very helpful. Let me know what you think!

[VSZ]

Linux support coming for 4.19 update!

Among the other improvements coming to the plugin for the 4.19 update, Linux support is also planned.

ETA for submitting the update is around 2 weeks as mentioned in the previous post. Appreciate your patience in waiting for it!

[Krenade]

I was planning to make some improvements (save size optimization, minor bugfixes, etc) before submitting. I'd like to allow for 2 weeks more as each update cycle is a valuable opportunity to add to the product

RodenHirata - I've been thinking about your Sequencer usecase again and just wanted to confirm whether you're baking your sequence out and including it as a cutscene or if you're playing the sequence as-is. If it's the latter, isn't it possible to just call the Paint Stroke node via a blueprint callback / collision event at the appropriate time and let it do its thing? If you are playing the entire sequence in-game the wall should be able to acquire the decal from the character (to quote your example) as long as you can supply the correct hitresult (iirc collision events should still work while the sequence is playing). If you're rendering your sequence out, then yes, editor-time usage and subsequent load back can be very helpful. Let me know what you think!

Hi Don,

Thanks for your thoughts again on this! It's very kind of you. I am indeed rendering the whole movie out, as I need to edit it slightly with video edit software before use on the web, etc. I haven't had a chance to test your pack with the sequencer, but I know Sequencer sometimes has problems rendering certain things. However, Sequencer has received a lot of improvements recently, especially in 4.19, and is being used more - so I think its a good thing if you can support it more somehow I must find some time to check your asset...

[VSZ]

Hi Don,

Thanks for your thoughts again on this! It's very kind of you. I am indeed rendering the whole movie out, as I need to edit it slightly with video edit software before use on the web, etc. I haven't had a chance to test your pack with the sequencer, but I know Sequencer sometimes has problems rendering certain things. However, Sequencer has received a lot of improvements recently, especially in 4.19, and is being used more - so I think its a good thing if you can support it more somehow I must find some time to check your asset...

Ah in that case you do need formal editor-time/sequencer support.

One user managed to get editor-time functionality working with the plugin by dropping the "Don Mesh Painter Actor Global Actor" manually into the level (this is usually auto-spawned) and was apparently able to use invoke the paint nodes after that (via construction script/blutility/etc). I will try to see if I can add formal editor support for the 4.19 update. Sequencer support will probably need separate investigation though you may wish to try it out anyway...