The process layer step now allows you to send individual layers (or the whole scene at once) to be optimized and unwrapped through Enviz.
The overall goal is to unwrap the scene first so that you can set the scene up and bake the lighting onto the geometry. The concept revolves around projecting the textures of UV channel 1 on to the channel 8 to maintain those render quality textures followed by optimisation later.
Refresh List:
Refresh the List to either show or update the statuses on every layer that's applicable in the scene.
Auto:
The Auto feature is a automated polling system that will continuously monitor/update the list-box for layers being processed - this will toggle on when you send layers to be processed and toggle off when everything is cleared.
Import [Selected]:
Imports selected layer/s back into the scene
Cancel/Reset Layer:
This button purges all the processed information such as:
Shell material Data (keeps the original materials)
Optimisation
Clears billboard data
Notes/Tips:
The unwrap parameter (UW) is purely based off having a UV channel 8, therefore you can manually unwrap packs if you are not completely confidant in the automatic unwrapping by simply creating your own pack and then moving it to UV channel 8.
The plugin will then automatically register it as UW.
No layer should really take longer than 15 minutes unless it's a very complicated layer over 2 million triangles. Don't be afraid to re process it after 15 minutes
Unwrap
Unwrap
The Unwrap button sends the selected layer/s to the VM to be unwrapped. This process will do a handful of things such as removing tiny objects ( i.e. threads) to help improve the quality of the unwrap. Once the unwrap is complete and it imported, you will have a layer that has a pack on UV channel 8 that is ready to bake.
Pack Only:
important: The pack only button WILL NOT unwrap an object for you
When you send a layer using the pack only button, it will consider all your highest UV channels as unwrapped. This is extremely useful if you want to manually unwrap your own objects or you want to rerun the packing function of the plugin.
Things to consider:
The pack button will always grab the highest UV channel on every object
EnvizPro Modifier
EnvizPro Modifier
The 'EnvizPro' modifier is the bread and butter of the processing section. It is used as a version control for each object/layer so that the user has the ability to return to previous stages of the project. It is important that you never collapse the stack at this stage because this can lead to locking in your processed layer.
When is this Modifier applied?
The modifier will be added to each individual object that has been sent to be processed along with the object/s being frozen - do not delete/collapse the mod from the object or rename the object.
If the layer is being unwrapped, the plugin will collapse the modifier for you once the layer is imported, however, if you are Optimizing a layer then the modifier will remain applied. This allows you the option to view the original object or the optimized version by simply using the 'Toggle Selected Optimization' button located in the plugin below.
Note:
The plugin tries its best to maintain as much of the original data (including the original names of the objects) in the scene.
The modifier uses the name of the sent object as a way of guiding the objects back to it's original state. the processed object will return with a prefix of "PROXY_" but then will be allocated to the object with the modifier, hence why it's important to leave the layers when they are being processed.
If there are any issues, please contact Blake for support
Texture Density
Texture Density
The Texture density options located below the Unwrap button help you change the size of individual objects compared to the rest of the objects in the layer. In the example below you have 2 identical boxes that have been unwrapped together with different density values.
The highlighted object had been assigned a value of 2 while the non-highlighted box was given a value of 0.5. These values can be set where it says Override and these act as a multiply value i.e.
0.5 = 50%
1 = 100% (default value)
2 = 200%
10 = 1000% (max value)
Then press 'Set'
This can be used by areas of a layer that you want to keep baked however you may understand that it does not need much texture quality (or you know this object will be either black or white).
Note: When you select an object in the hierarchy, it will automatically show you the Texture density value in the 'Current' window. You can apply a TD value to multiple objects however it will show ' - ' when multiple objects are selected
Optimise
Optimise
Optimising your scene is step that will always be used after everything has been baked and applied to each layer. This step allows you to dramatically reduce the triangle count of your entire scene while maintaining these high detailed textures.
It is important to apply these textures to the layers you have baked when beginning the optimisation step so that you can easily see any small defects before finally uploading to the Enviz app.
The optimise button will decimate the selected layer/s using the VM, however you do have the option to manually optimise a scene which is always recommended on the first iteration to grasp the fundamental principles of the workflow.
Toggle Selected Optimization: The toggle allows you to switch between optimised and original mesh
Enable Layer Optimization: This button allows the user to enable all of the Optimised proxies ("show all")
Manual Optimise
Manual Optimise
Manual Optimise
The Manual Optimisation tool is a dockeable window that helps provide guidance when optimising your scene down to below 2-3 million triangles. When you first open the window, it will automatically set your layer to the lowest numeric value which is typically "0100_LF_Downlights" or "0200_Ceiling".
Object window
The object window is a table of information that shows your selected layer(s) that you either have selected in the hierarchy or using the layer direction buttons
. Selecting an object in the Object window will isolate the object and zoom in to an appropriate camera angle.
Moving the scrollbar will automatically apply a Pro-Optimiser to your selected object - this also applies to any selected object and not just objects in the window.
"<<"/ ">>":
These buttons will change to layer being shown in the object window to either the previous or next layer.
all 3 buttons:
Apply 25%
Clear Optimisation
Collapse Optimisation
will apply to everything in the object window if you don't have anything selected
Apply 25%:
The Apply 25% function will apply a Pro-Optimiser on to every object that you have selected with a value of 25%.
Clear Optimisation:
Clear optimisation will delete the Pro-Optimiser modifier.
Collapse Optimisation:
Collapses the selected objects - this applies to all modifiers on the object and not just a Pro-Optimiser