Mesh Converter Generator

The Mesh Converter generator is used to extract tileable maps from meshes between the markers “T” (Top) and “B” (Bottom) and to automatically replace part or all of a mesh with standard SpeedTree geometry. One of these generators is usually the first step in building out a full model from a scanned trunk asset.

The process is detailed in this secion [needs link] but the general workflow is as follows:

- Add a Mesh generator to the scene - Assign a material with a mesh asset assigned to it to the Mesh generator - Add a Mesh Converter to the Mesh - Move the “T” marker to the top of the region you want to capture - Move the “B” marker to the bottom of the region you want to capture - Adjust the properties according to your needs - Use the “Actions” section buttons to extract maps or convert the geometry

Note: Select a marker, hold down “T”, and click on the target mesh to automatically place and center the marker.

Unlike most generators, Mesh Converters have no generation properties. You need a new mesh converter for every set of maps or extensions you want to make.

The properties in this group control which material/mesh asset combinations are used by the generator and at what size they appear.

Sets the effective radius for the map extractions and conversions. Only polygons that fall within the radius will be considered. This value is visualized by the pink surrounding cylinder in the Tree Window. The radius should be large enough to encapsulate all of the polygons of interest but not so large as to include parts of the mesh that are undesirable.

This generator uses serveral geometry features to compute the extracted map set's aspect ratio. Use this value to stretch the result vertically. You should see the preview image adjust as you edit this value. “1.0” means use what the generator computed exactly.

Use this property to set the style of capture to one of the following methods:

When the “Mode” property is set to “Aspect ratio restricted”, the captured area will be force to create maps of the aspect ratio selected here.

The properties in this group control how often and how accurately the mesh is sampled.

The mesh will be sampled at a discrete number of points as indicated by the black dots with white outlines. The number of points is computed based on the discovered radii and “Mode” setting while analyzing the top and bottom points. Use this property to add extra points to improve the accuracy of the converter. Extra points are added one at a time with each new point splitting the longest segment.

Note: Extra points always cover the region between the top and bottom markers. When the “Mode” is set to “Aspect ratio restricted” you may have to add many points to see them in the area of interest.

Increase this value to smooth out the spacing between the sample points. Watch the preview image to see how the final output will be affected.

Blend regions and aspect ratio corrected main sections discover a course through the mesh automatically. This setting controls how many times the algorithm will try new paths before declaring failure. Increase this value for particularly curvy, troublesome meshes.