Unreal Development Kit Basics of SpeedTree to Unreal Part 2 - UDK Tutorial

[Mazatracker]

To get nice lighting you need:

- in Photoshop fill empty area with fill color (127,128,254) or create proper Normalmap for your leaves in software like Crazybump and paste into Normalmap texture

- Merge all possible layers together, head to the Channels tab and invert Green Channel

- Options to set in Unreal (for texture you need to set 'em while importing):

img594.imageshack.us/img594/11­14/optionsv.jpg

- Distance preview of tree:

img822.imageshack.us/img822/61­66/previewka.jpg

[CHADALAK1]

My textures are in .dds for some reason... there a way to fix that?

[CHADALAK1]

@CHADALAK1 Nvm i found out how to change the format

[TastyRabbitStew]

I have a problem where the trees have a card around them when I view them from far away...

[TheOneMindtraveller]

Thanks alot. Worked great! With the latest UDK I had none of the problems you had at the end :)

[thibaulteram]

Can you real time chance the texture of the speedtree, if there is a way what is it then? It's not a problem for a mesh but I not seem to work with speedtree..

[Cindorellatellstory]

Hey guys. I followed this guide but with my own palmtree. However, when i insert it into my terrain, and use "Play from here", i can run straight through it. How do i fix this, what did i do wrong? Do i need to convert it to a Static mesh somehow?

Regards

Cindorella

[TheMoreiraJoao]

@Cindorellatellstory I think you need to make an force barrier. once I put one cube around it and changed his color for invisible. try it. ;)

[ozal91]

@Cindorellatellstory u need to add hitboxes, there is a easy way to do it /watch?v=VI85JIiHlyY watch from 3:00 onwards

[ubberbob]

Test and retest = Import failed when i want to import my .str into UDK...Wtf?

[CHADALAK1]

@ubberbob I am having the same problem :/

[SenorDonut]

dude. Great tutorials. Great video quality, good speed and a clear voice! thanks bro!

[Danuxsy]

why does one of my tree become transparent when i have another tree in the background.

[Xalotas]

Hey Dudes...

I would use TriFoils instead of Leafcards :)

[omar1131]

well you can have a directional light but it basically crashed cuz you didnt had the lightmass importance volumme,i did the same thing except just added the lightmass volume and it worked fine

..

great tut though.

[EasyKnightStudio]

When I save the package and project and exit out when I go back and open project the tree package doesnt load and it says the files missing even though I can find it outside the program... How do I fix this?

[MrFamusbal]

Answer dickhead. How can i disable going  through trees!

[insectum7]

@MrFamusbal Make collision numbnutz, see below!

[MrFamusbal]

@insectum7 Oh I was not maked collision but I see in video. Sorry raven and everybody. Its my problem.

[MrFamusbal]

Man I can go through the trees. How can i disable it?

[SavageLegacy28]

Whenever I place my SpeedTree model into my level, I build the map, then when I shoot the tree, the bullets go right through the tree, or when I run into the tree, I run right through...I have already changed the collision type to block all objects in the properties for the tree model itself, please help. What is the problem?

[meatpuppet666]

@SavageLegacy28 You need to generate collision in the speed tree modeller. It's one of the options on the top menu.

[SavageLegacy28]

@meatpuppet666 Alright, thanks man.

[RoyHatcher77]

Speak louder



[BodiesEatingDaggers]

Someone help. Whenever I start UDK, I don't get the little red cube -- so when I try to make the area in which to place the tree, it won't load. DX HELPPPP.

[SavageLegacy28]

@BodiesEatingDaggers I would try completely uninstalling UDK (including user created files) and reinstall a fresh copy, try this and let me know how it goes.

[ricolasbacchus]

Pretty sure noone's gonna see that but i try :) I followed all the instructions and it works well until i import to unreal. My speedtree complier export as .SRT and unreal want me to import only SPT. Is there a way to change that?

Cheers

[turner006]

On my tree, Instead of having proper leaves it has like rectangles with that little picture you get one you first compiled it in SpeedTree Compiler. Any suggestions?

[fuzeblu]

@turner006

Plug your node into the OpacityMask instead of Opacity, it should fix the problem.

[antDesignsify]

@turner006 It sounds like you haven't linked up your opacity correctly once in UDK. Just use 2 texture samples with the diffuse, plug the black tab of one into the diffuse slot on the master node, then the white tab on BOTH of the texture samples into an add node (A and B). The add node then links to the opacity mask tab on the master node.

[birdhouse13579]

why can i walk through my tree? :O

[birdhouse13579]

@birdhouse13579 oh sry :D i didn't watch collision tutorial :D

[MujahideenDragon]

These tuts are a bit outdated, I just ignore stuff that I can't figure out and do my best.

[MujahideenDragon]

Dominant directional light works fine with my tree...

Must have been a bug with the old UDK.

[Sergiusz1996]

I have the same problem :(

[Podlipny]

Hi when I try to import my SRT tree UDK give me fail "import failed" and tree have 0 triangles, 0 vertexes any idea why it is happen?

[MonkeyOfGG]

@Podlipny Same thing with me. The solution is to use the SpeedTree provided with UDK for your trees (it is located in the UDK folder under the Binaries folder). Compile/model using that and it will work perfectly. Import Failed is displayed when you try to import a compiled tree not compiled with the special UDK version.

[CHADALAK1]

@MonkeyOfGG I am using the UDK version... still same error

[Frosty360]

Thank you :D

[StephenWebb1980]

I can't seem to get collision setup for my tree. I have the collision properties set [BLOCK_ALL etc] yet I can still fire though it, and walk through it. Also, I noticed that after a light rebuild [when using a dominate directional light] that the shadow goes from fine to blotchy - if I move the dd light the shadow shows correctly again...if this some sort of engine bug?

[RealDaveTheFreak]

Nice tutorial, now I know how to get speedtrees into the engine and I cannot wait for more tutorials to come!

Though: in comparison to part 2 you're voice is very low and I had to tune up the volume pretty much like two times. My windows had an error and I appalled as hell cause it was damn loud!

[y789789123]

k umm when i make my tree and i leave it on opaque like u did it comes up like u so i went back and changed te blen mode to masked and now when i go back to my tree no leaves are showing up just the twigs if i take off the leaf material i see the grey boxes but when i put it on its gone.... please help I did exactly as you thank you

[XxIxXace]

When I press play level my tree doesn't show up can you tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[MrPrabodh99]

This is amazing video, this is better for us to start and to enter in speedtree software, so now atleast we know a basic tool to create tree just because of your help. Many thanks.

[tlws1989]

Hi,Raven,i did everything and yet lighting does not build the way its spose to.even setting the tree and lights to dynamic.

also,the once ive imported the tree files into udk,

all the files always seem to be in external packages.hence when i save everytg and startup

the next time,everytg isnt in the content browser..

hope you will help me with anytg you can. thanks.

[JacksonSpratt]

Hey if i some how make money off of Unreal you are going to get some too okay raven?

[snyper1243]

I haven't got a TextureAtlas_Normal file in my folder. What have i done wrong?

[randomperson304]

OK I did everything according to the tutorial (except the fixes for the problems you had cause I'm fine without adding those). But the dynamic light does not work even though i have set it to use dynamic shadows. Dynamic lighting only works when i DON'T rebuild the lighting.

Also great tut.

[100GPing100]

to fix the black leaves, in the material editor, connect the add box to the UV's square on the back of the normal, here is a screenshot fo how I made it:

img205.imageshack.us/img205/63­82/speedtreeleavesmaterial.png

[Theillusive85]

thanks for that work first time for me.

is there any way to export the tree into max afterwards?

[Matchewawa]

I changed the LOD just as you did but it still crashes. I don't understand level of detail so I don't know where I should put the LOD for optimal performance.

[Catonzo]

I keep having an recurring and extremly annoying problem with SpeedTree.

Sometimes, at completely random, it switches to some sort of manual generation.

By that I mean that my mouse pointer switches to somewhat of a "+" sign, and wherever I click in the circle I start generating trunks, twichs, roots, whatnot by hand. The problem is then that I cannot leave this mode, as it is stuck that way until at random times it switches back to normal. Usually after many restarts of SpeedTree.

[Matchewawa]

@Catonzo ya ive heard of the mode and its also happened to me

[Catonzo]

@Matchewawa

I managed to "fix" it though, seems to work by simply clicking Space, unless you already knew that :)

[hkev96]

hey how do you make it into a mesh?

so you can put colision on it?

[Fridabeekman]

Hey raven, the tree doens´t have any colission? How can I fix this because there aren´t any options for it in the mesh options

[thepryest]

is there a way to export the tree as an obj to use in maya? or would i have to use the 3ds max to export it as obj? I want to further refine my tree in zbrush

[BigdogWitBigdog]

HEY ray, I make the tree the map ect, but when I close UDK and come back the next day or whatever it says the speedtree couldn't be loaded but I saved the tree what going on?

[RavenKnight11]

My tree looks awesome! Excellent tutorial! ^_^

[Nascar1555]

mine still crashes!

[Nascar1555]

my tree does not show up in the UDK content browser HELP!!

[AdeonC]

Very cool for far away details. But I don't think these 2D branches look good closer.

[WatchingPaintDry0]

u sound like a bomb technician to the people who dont understand lol thanks for the help brah

[harryfisher24]

hey stupid question but.... how do you get from UDK to SpeedTree. do you download it? cos it says its included

[KnightFlare313]

For me UDK was crashing because of the "Use Precomputed shadows" option. The second i turned that off under the trees lighting properties i could build the lighting with or without lightmass.

[anfauglir56]

Don't remove the normal map at the end just retouch the normal map texture of the foliage and remove the black part and put the basic normal map blue instead.

[MassHav0c]

Very nice tutorials bud =)

I've been trying to figure this out for awhile now, but when I import a tree from the compiler, create & add all the materials to the tree & toss the tree onto my level... it looks great right next to it, but when I back away from the tree, at a certain distance a gray square appears around the tree...

What is causing that? google searches come up empty =/ Let me know if you or if anyone else knows. Thanks!

[KyleSimonEaster]

i have this same problem :/

[MassHav0c]

Hey Kyle I found out it's from making the Billboards in Speedtree. I exported without billboards and I do not have the problem anymore. BUT without Billboards to make low poly trees for HIGHLY wooded areas, a large tree population will cause framerate drops. Is there a tutorial for Billboards? How to create and implement them properly?

[KyleSimonEaster]

@MassHav0c

i have no idea about the billboards, i have a city with a few small trees around the place, but around this city there is mass forrest... and all you can see from inside the city is lots and lots of Default texture blocks or whatever they are haha. Can you let me know if you find out how to fix this ?

[KyleSimonEaster]

@MassHav0c

i have fond out how to fix this :D i will make a Tut and post this onto Ravens tutorials so people can find it and not have this problem

-kyle

[MassHav0c]

@KyleSimonEaster

awesome! Please do, I kind of gave up on speedtree for a little while and began modeling static meshes in Maya 2010 and exporting them into UDK.

SO I am excited to see your tutorial!

[KyleSimonEaster]

@MassHav0c im not 100% percent sure if i have done what you ment, but if you follow exactly what raven has done on his tutorials for speedtree including making the billboards, export them to udk and place them on your map... double click your tree and scroll down the the very bottom open "speedtree" and uncheck "use billboards" The tree looks exactly the same works the same no difference but the tree doesnt change when you get far away.. the tutorial is on my channel :]

[Thijsiiy]

Just one question: you can walk trough my tree. How can i fix that?

[Thijsiiy]

Thank you for making this Tutorial! I know how to do it now :)

[redonix76]

you can also open up an in game normal map texture properties and compare it to yours. make sure it matches the good one...

[redonix76]

your normal map is not set up correctly. import just the normal map and in teh compression settings, make sure its TC_Normalmap. You can see the difference in color of the texture once imported.

[maik2m]

For realtime-shadows check dynamic, uncheck static and precomputed shadows...it works with lightmass and dominantdirectional light.

[TheMarc1k1]

Thanks for making these tutorials! they are really helping me use the UDK engine in ways I wanted to use it (For instance the fracture tool! Brillient!)

I'm having trouble with the tree - When I load up the map (On Pc) the tree's shadow shows up however the tree itself dosen't (it does show up in Build -> In Editor)

any solutions? (I didn't do that most of that billboard stuff - could that be why?)

[Danbanna]

For some reason mine just show the 2d sample on all of the leaves, its like the leaves are sticky notes. Anyone else getting that problem?

[D1onius]

maybe you made a 2d texture sample instead of normal: texture sample

[NoLife4Ualll]

Wish I knew as much about this as you did. :/

[falconianuk]

seems something gone wrong here, my leaves are black, even after recompiling the whole level including lights, and the tree trunk looks like it is inside out, so I assume the normals need flipping? don't know how to do this, is there any other tuts on speed tree here in Utube?

[raven67854]

@falconianuk

No I do not know if there are any others. You should rebuild your tree in speedtree. Sounds like something went wrong when it was compiling.

[falconianuk]

thanks Raven, your tutorials are an inspiration, keep them coming.

[standaway1]

@raven67854 How do i make the tree block weapos and everything, ive done it in the f4 properties i think but i can still run and shoot through it?

[MrEliiz]

@standaway1 dubble click on the mesh in the content browser and create a collision box for the tree, aslong as you dont need to go close to the tree you should be able to just use a simple z-collision.

[D1onius]

its propably a shadow issue, try make a light & set the light to dynamic. that fixes most dark issues. ^^

[StegoMan]

@falconianuk me too. 

[HowdyAntti69]

My tree's leafs are black for some reason. ;_;

[EricGRock]

mine 2 :O

any tips on how to fix this?

[raven67854]

@EricGRock, HowdyAntti69

Do you guys have the lighting set to dynamic for three as well as the light?

[falconianuk]

if your leaves are black, then unlink the Norm material in the leaf, it worked for me, all the best.

[vykintask]

Hi Rave, thx for nice tutorial, but I followed it twice and alpha does not seem to work on leaves, I did follow your correction. Any tips?

Thx again

[falconianuk]

are there any tuts on sound here, like Ambient sound and sound cue's?

[zlayzer]

Could you make a few tutorials showing how to export from 3ds max into UDK?

If you havent done a tutorial for that already :P

[raven67854]

Already done zlayzer :).

[Phifly130]

I have a problem and a little help would be appreciated =D. K, so I had 1 point light, built the lighting without lightmass, and it still crashed. Am i doing anything wrong or is it just my PC?

[Darkhal08]

Thanks for doing these UDK tutorials, I'm new to UDK and now I know Some of the Basics of it thanks to you. :D, So far I'm loving Unreal Engine 3, It's a fantasic engine to use and pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Well the Basics anyway :P, Thanks again 5/5 :D

[raven67854]

Your welcome :)

[SHOOT3RiG3ARS]

This could be good to hopefully use this editor with gears of war for windows maybe.

[Darkhal08]

Gears of war was build in Unreal Engine 3. So there should be no problems making mods or maps or anything really with UDK. :P

[SHOOT3RiG3ARS]

One thing I noticed though, this is a newer build of the unreal engine, and the files in gears of war are a different format (.war)

[Darkhal08]

The Engine has probably been updated since then. Also UDK is only a small taste of the Unreal Engine 3. There not going to give out the full engine for free you know. To get the full engine you have to have permission from the creators and have a Licence from the creators. Not to mention it costs alot.

[raven67854]

With the UDK you get the full engine. The only thing you don't get from epic games. Is Source code to unreal engine(Which is where most of the cost is coming from.) And dedicated support. When you purchase any game made by epic games you get the full binary of that version of the unreal engine. However like I said before you don't get source code. So you are limited to whatever you can make with the UE3 Binary.

[Darkhal08]

@raven67854 Ah, fair enough lol. Nevermind then I'm wrong lol. Thanks anyway lol

[dorgeshuun123]

@raven67854 When you say "limited" by only having access to binary, would you mind elaborating? and explaining some of the implications of only haveing access to binary?

[SHOOT3RiG3ARS]

It is the full unreal engine. They distribute this for non-commercial use.

[Weapon7rigger]

I don't know if you realised, but there was a bug with speedtree in that version of UDK. I've downloaded the beta 2 version and don't suffer that error when using lightmass or poinlights.

[raven67854]

Yes I know.. But when I made this tutorial the bug existed. So that's why i mentioned it.

[Weapon7rigger]

Ok. Just thought I'd mention :)

Great job on your tutorials man, looking forward to the next one.

Thank you from an extreme noob who can now build good looking levels! Keep up the good work

[raven67854]

No problem glad the tutorials helped

[juzzlookin]

Great video, thank very much. Especially the crash issues, at least we know its not just us. Please give yourself a well deserved, pat on the back. :)

[raven67854]

Thanks I will :). Also like I said above update to UDK Beta 2 and most problems should be fixed.

[dahvez]

how would you go about putting collision on the tree?

[raven67854]

I will upload a tutorial for adding collision. I'll do that hopefully tonight.

[Krynsanth]

@dahvez

You need to generate a collision box for the tree in the SpeedTree Modeler.

(Tools->Generate Collision Primitive)

Be sure to compile your tree again.

Once you do this, your tree will be set up with default collision+physics that should do what you're looking for.

Hope that helps.

[bbjbtb]

I am using directional lighting and yes i have the full tree shadows on my terrain and yes the are even animated. you have to go to the tree properties and uncheck Use precomputed for it to work with directional lighting. With USE PRECOMPUTED checked your trying to create a STATIC shadow map when in it supposed to be animated.

[bbjbtb]

The trees do infact work with the lighting. open the tree properties and under the Speedtreeactor/lighting, uncheck USE PRECOMPUTED.

[raven67854]

Yes lighting still works so long as you don't use a directional light. If you turn lighting to dynamic then rebuild the lighting it just crashes if your using a directional light. Hopefully the bug will be fixed in upcoming updates to the UDK.

[donniedarko88888]

you reminded me of Bob Ross while painting :)

[raven67854]

Hahaha awesome :D

[AlbinoJedi]

Do you think if someone had a really high end/powerful computer then all those "crashes" and "freezing" won't happen?

[raven67854]

Depends. If you use a directional light when you bake the lighting its going to crash. If you mean when you first apply the material maybe. But I have a high end machine and it still freezes. Other than those 2 things I am not sure what you mean by crashing or freezing.

[AlbinoJedi]

all the times you mentioned why the program would crash or freeze in this video.

[raven67854]

Has nothing to do with my PC or anybody's PC. Just the programs themselves still have a few quarks.

[AlbinoJedi]

oh. ok then.

[polish36]

Hi, right now the directional light doesn't work with leaf cards. You have to use leaf meshes instead (this is a bug in the UDK).

[raven67854]

Ah thanks. I was wondering why that didn't work.

[cokeandbuns]

woooooooooot. ur the man. i keep crashin my PC trying tot do speed tres lol

[raven67854]

Thanks :)

[Reitl]

It crushed to me when i dont used lightmass at end

[raven67854]

Yes I said at the end if you don't use lightmass it will crash :(. I have no freaking idea why...

[hyawatha15]

Thanks!

[raven67854]

Your welcome sorry the tutorial was late.

[lawofblacksolja]

WOOOOO TREES

[raven67854]

haha yep