Therefore, you either instance something within the points or visualize the vectors you build the quaternion with in order to have some kind of preview. In this case I aimed for building it via and vectors, which I usually set as visualizers to help me predict better what will the orientation be, because you cannot “see” where a quaternion points. There are different methods to assemble a quaternion. But.ehmm….you know, I can say I created my own version now. Matrix3 writing all this code, I realized SideFx ships Houdini with a node called “Orient along curve” now, which does exactly this with more options and probably better performance. Vector mesh by rotating up -> Equals to ROLL effectįloat pre_rotate_up=fit01(roll,-$PI,$PI) įloat mesh by rotating N -> Equals to YAW effect If you feel like I described before, you might benefit from Matt Estela´s Wiki, it covers rotation and orienting among other amazing stuff, it is one of my pinned tabs within browser.įirst thing I do is calculating based on the point Normal (previously calculated with the “polyframe” I assemble the attribute: I felt terribly lost when I first met them but I kept pushing so I am reasonably comfortable dealing with them at this point. It takes time to understand what they are, the way they morph into each other and the reasons of using them. Rotating and orienting stuff is hard to master, because you need to add quaternions and matrices to the usual vector stuff. With this in mind, I aimed for the most ambitious approach so that I could be able to properly place the bridge modules no matter their orientation (pointing X or Y). The project manager might not be happy if you tell him to tweak 500 static meshes to unify orientation. If you add to the mix unconsistent uasset orientation (some assets facing +X, others facing +Y, some sitting on the ground, others centered at origin, etc) then you are in trouble. It is hard to keep under control and do what you actually need it to do specially when it comes to instance uassets along a curve. Vector unreal actors through point attribute is key for succesfully build a level through HDAs. It comes in handy to be able to query where this curve is pointing any time it is needed. Vector you wondered about the pointwrangle before the resample node, it stores curve main axis and its orthogonal vector, used in further calculations. I use prim centroid and first point position to achieve that. There might be a zillion ways of creating gravity effect procedurally along a curve and I am pretty sure I change my approach every time.įloat perim=primintrinsic(0,"measuredperimeter",0) įloat slide=fit01(chf("Slide"),-perim,perim) įloat offsets the curve vertically, so I need to reset its position. Then I resample at will, to have enough resolution to bend the line and create the belly of the bridge.
UNREAL ENGINE 4 PROCEDURAL GENERATION CODE
It might look silly, but I found comfortable removing everything from Unreal´s curve but the tip points and regenerating the curve: I love doing accurate operations with VEX, specially in cases like this, where a short code outputs exactly what I aim looking for. I used to build my tools on top of complex node networks and calculations but I realized this leads to birthing a giant with clay feet. I found a good practice not to trust marshalling data between softwares, so I tend to redo from scratch as much as I can (the curve in this case), whilst keeping this principle in mind: “the simplest option is the more robust one”. An in-editor curve seemed to me a suitable starting point for the procedural bridge. To decide what to use as input for a tool I try to think of whatever I am creating in the most abstract way possible.
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