Question about foliage/mesh in maya/Unreal Engine 4
polycounter lvl 6
Hey everyone. Hopefully i'm posting in the correct place. So i have an idea for creating a video game that i want to pursue. I'm not going to post details on game, but i'd like to make it somewhat older n64 titles (like super mario 64/Conkers Bad Fur Day).
So my first question is..
1. Do i create foliage inside of maya and import my own into unreal engine 4? What are the best steps to do this process? i've seen some videos using speedtree. I'm not 100% sure what the benefit of using speedtree over photoshop is.
2. Once i've created my foliage.. How do i go about adding things like grass to lets say.. a wall? Would i need to model that out in maya and create foliage on each separate mesh? or would i be able to add my grass to the wall in unreal engine 4?
So for example.. I model a wall or an object that i want covered in grass.. how would you go about doing that? seems like a weird process. I can't find any videos showing how to do this.
3. what kind of shader to i use for grass in maya? does grass and such work the same way that a normal mesh would work with shaders?
4.What is the most effective way to model a level? The way i do it is create the entire level in maya then export to a game engine. I've tried this with unreal engine 4 but it imports everything as one and doesn't allow me to move anything.
Sorry for the long post. Hopefully it's simple enough to answer. My biggest question is number 2. Thanks a lot in advance. Wish they taught all this in college but they don't.
So my first question is..
1. Do i create foliage inside of maya and import my own into unreal engine 4? What are the best steps to do this process? i've seen some videos using speedtree. I'm not 100% sure what the benefit of using speedtree over photoshop is.
2. Once i've created my foliage.. How do i go about adding things like grass to lets say.. a wall? Would i need to model that out in maya and create foliage on each separate mesh? or would i be able to add my grass to the wall in unreal engine 4?
So for example.. I model a wall or an object that i want covered in grass.. how would you go about doing that? seems like a weird process. I can't find any videos showing how to do this.
3. what kind of shader to i use for grass in maya? does grass and such work the same way that a normal mesh would work with shaders?
4.What is the most effective way to model a level? The way i do it is create the entire level in maya then export to a game engine. I've tried this with unreal engine 4 but it imports everything as one and doesn't allow me to move anything.
Sorry for the long post. Hopefully it's simple enough to answer. My biggest question is number 2. Thanks a lot in advance. Wish they taught all this in college but they don't.
Replies
[ame]
They cover almost all aspect you ask. They use CryEngine but the knowledge is pretty universal.
thank you kindly, i will watch these videos. I appreciate you taking the time to answer!
SpeedTree will let you import a mesh into the modeler and model foliage around/on top of it. SpeedTree also generate LOD's, wind effects, AO, automatically on exporting to UE4, Hope that helps!
oh wow that sounds great. So instead of trying to create foliage on my model (Lets say a old ruined car) in maya then exporting it into unreal.. i should use speedtree to place that into UE4?
The way i was thinking of doing it was this
Model out my wall which looks more like a bush. Then add the leaves and what not to it in maya, export to unreal engine and then have the wind movement. But wouldn't the bush wall move since it thinks the object is one big foliage?
heres an example of what i want to create
P.S. I saw 90% of the videos that i was linked to earlier. Great and informative but i didn't find what i needed
I found this tutorial explaining a way to do it.. but seems rather outdated.
http://www.cgdigest.com/how-to-model-a-3d-hedge/
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Foliage
My favourite tree is the one posted in the Airborne thread.
The thread can be found here, and here's where the artist posted his wireframe.
the art style for that tree actually is exactly what i was looking for. Thanks this actually answered my question. Do you happen to know what shader would be best for this art style? Shaders are a whole different world for me lol.
Whats the difference between applying shaders in maya and applying shaders in UE4?
Sorry for being such noob T.T
The material will by default use their default PBR material shader, which you can change on the left hand side of the material editor under material. The wiki has all this information with pics included.