Latest Contributions by BenjaminNeukom

Hi Nico. Thanks for reaching out. Could you open the "Output Log" in Unreal (Window → Developer Tools → Output Log) after importing the Datasmith file and check if you see any related error messages? If you don't find anything, could you send me a zip file of the Datasmith file and asset folder (building.udatasmith and building_Assets) so I can investigate further? Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi @ETMP!   No problem! Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to hit these "blue figures" from far away. Can you try walking a bit closer to them and aim the laser directly at the figures (not the blue lines on top) and then pressing the trigger button?   If that does not work would it be possible to send us the whole project (via Dropbox or similar) so we could test it out ourselves?   Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi @Anonymous User 🙂 Thanks again for your great input!   I think it would be nice if we could export CE streets (lines) as UE4 editable splines.   The use case(s) for this feature would be to mix the mesh/modeling creation abilities of CityEngine with the landscape spline capabilities of UE4.    I think it could be the next step for Vitruvio of being able to generate streets in-engine.  In my limited experience with Vitruvio, what I saw was the ability to use a spline generated "fill mesh" by filling the spline circle, good for buildings, but useless for streets. One issue is that Datasmith does not support Splines right now, so getting them into Unreal requires some Python scripting on CE side and custom importers for Unreal as well. Hopefully Datasmith will support Splines in the future to make this easier. But you are completely right that it would be very convenient for normal "static" Datasmith exports as well as for Vitruvio.   The stream restoration project/model I did used  CE for modeling the stream with a UE4 spline mesh for creating the water, another use case for spline export from CE.    The other use case idea I had in mind, I discussed using the fence code to make a monorail model in the CE board, I want to take it from CityEngine and ride the monorail in UE4 Sounds like great use cases! We were actually doing some testing internally as well with cars which use the spline system from Unreal to drive along streets which were exported from CityEngine. Hopefully we can get some more work done and make that workflow available to users in the future (again would most likely require spline support for Datasmith so it can be exported easily).   Best, Benjamin   ... View more

Hi @Anonymous User    Thanks for the response!  For a clarification on my asset question, yes I was thinking that when we use @File materials/textures/static mesh assets such as CGA's i(tree.fbx) in CGA code they could pop up in Vitruvio in UE4 with associated asset parameters (actors, materials, textures), allowing for drag and drop replacement.  Thanks for the feedback. That would indeed be very convenient. We have also thought about "similar" strategies for replacing instances/materials. I'll add it to our list.    I am assuming that for the demo pictures you guys made (which look amazing by the way!) that the streets shapes were imported by the standard CE means?    And then you just apply the RPK rule to the shape? Thanks! Yes the streets are just normal Datasmith exports from CityEngine (so no way to change them again in Unreal) and only the buildings use Vitruvio (eg we exported the initial shapes only and the buildings are generated in Unreal). But we were also thinking about improving that as Unreal has built in Splines support which we could use for street generation as well. We will have to look into that a bit more.   Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi @ETMP!   I want to know what is meant by "must have at least two Branches." Branches means "scenarios" in this context (we use ArcGIS Urban terminology). If your CityEngine scene contains scenarios you can automatically export them as described here.   Otherwise you can also add them in Unreal Engine by adding a BP_Branch Actor to your scene and attaching it to the "MountainView" BP_UrbanEvent (in your case) as seen here:   All geometry Actors which are attached to these BP_Branch actors will belong to that scenario.   Let me know if that helps.   Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi @Anonymous User First of all thanks for your feedback! As you might have noticed we moved the plugin to Github (https://esri.github.io/cityengine/vitruvio). We are also working on an official release on the Epic Marketplace.  Your workaround for saving the procedurally generated meshes still seems to work but we are also working on improving that to make it easier for multiple Vitruvio Actors as well as fixing the material issues you've mentioned. In my very limited experience with Vitruvio, I was wondering if it was possible to attach actors to blank Vitruvio fields where we would define assets in CityEngine?      Not quite sure what you mean. Do you mean for example inserted Assets from CGA (if you use 'i("tree.fbx")') or materials? Replacing assets is not possible at the moment, but we have also thought that. Materials can be "replaced" in the same way as with the Datasmith exporter (see CityEngine Datasmith Export Help). Does this help? Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi! Thanks for your feedback! I tested the Project with 4.24.3 and it seems to work. Are you trying theVitruvio_Minimal_Demo.zip? What exactly does not work for you? Can you open the project? Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi! Sorry, yes you are right. I might not have been clear. But I dont think "All" geometry generated by the cga rule are merged. By "generated by CGA" I mean for example geometry which is generated using the extrude or split operations in CGA. So, I think there must be something in the cga rule that generates plantation in a different way than other elements? If you insert an external asset (for example a "plant.fbx" or "lamp.obj") using the insert operation (for example by calling i("myPlant.obj") in CGA) it will be in a separate Actor in Unreal (or an instanced static mesh component). Those can then be replaced. There is also some information in this blog post on how we are doing "asset replacements" in Unreal. Let me know if that helps or you need more information    Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi! Currently all the geometry which is generated by CGA (not an inserted object with the insert operation ) are merged (as specified by the export options, for example "per initial shape" or "by material"). Typically objects like benches or lamp post are actually inserted (with CGA insert command) objects so they should be instanced as well? So the only way to achieve what you want is to use CGA insert operation for all the objects you later want to replace in Unreal (we actually do this as well for some of our demo content). We do not export all leaf shapes (CGA essentials—Help | Documentation ) as Actors. Our thinking is that exporting all objects individually would lead to a lot of Actors/instances in Unreal which in turn will lead to bad performance for larger scenes. Let me know if you need more information or this was unclear Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi Kenneth   First about the opacity thing. With CityEngine 2019.1 (which one are you using?) the Unreal export should automatically choose the right "opacity mode" for you, so you actually should not need to do anything special in CGA. But, if you are setting material.shader to some shader path in Unreal (like "/Game/Materials/CityEngineMaterials/M_CE_Opaque") or you set the opacitymap.mode to opaque the automatic opacity mode selection is not triggered anymore.  If you think you did everything right you can also send me a zip of your project so I can have a look   About the PBR (specifically for Unreal). Typically what you are interested in are the roughness map and the metallic map (here is a good description: Physically Based Materials | Unreal Engine Documentation) in combination to what you typically use like diffuse (which is the same as the colormap in CGA), normal and opacity maps. Let me know if you want to know more. Cheers Ben ... View more

Hi! Could you send me the log file (via private message) so I can have a closer look? It is in the Saved\Logs folder of your project. Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi We are having troubles with the Marketplace currently. We are working together with Epic to resolve the problem. I'll let you know once everything works again! Cheers Benjamin ... View more

Hi Theodore We are sorry for the confusion. The other document is currently being updated as we wait for Epic Games to review and publish the new VRExperience Template. I will let you know once it is released. Cheers Benjamin ... View more

Hi Gary Did you see any error while importing the Datasmith file (in the Output Log. You can open it via Window/Developer Tools/Output Log)? Are you assigning custom materials in CGA using set(material.shader, "custom/unreal/material")? If not, could you maybe send me (you can send me a private message) the Datasmith scene so we can have a look at it? Best, Benjamin ... View more

Hi Aleksandr We are working on it. It will hopefully make it into the next release. Best, Benjamin ... View more