Mesh generator

The Mesh Generator is used to make mesh assets part of the model. It is often used to import photogrammetry models as either a trunk to build off of or a branch structure to use in procedural generation.

Refer to Generation properties.

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

Selects a material/mesh combination for the mesh. Meshes must be assigned to the material on the Material Bar to be used on the Mesh Generator. Materials are chosen based on their weights and season settings.

This property specifies a named material from the Material Bar. If “None” is selected or the chosen material has no assigned mesh, there will be no geometry generated.

Selects which assigned mesh is used.

Sets probability that a node will receive this material (this weight รท sum of all weights).

Selects a material/mesh combination for the mesh to use during rendering and exporting. If no render material is selected, the mesh will use the regular material assignment. Meshes must be assigned to the material on the Material Bar to be used on the Mesh Generator. Materials are chosen based on their weights and season settings.

The normal course of action for using a render material is as follows:

1. Assign a material mesh combo as the basis for the mesh
2. Add as many bake stitches as necessary to extend/replace parts of the mesh
3. Use “Tools:Export baked maps” or “Tools:Create baked material” to create a new material that has the stitch data baked in
4. Assign the new material as the render material for use in the Tree Window and in exports

This property specifies a named material from the Material Bar. If “None” is selected or the chosen material has no assigned mesh, there will be no geometry generated.

Selects which assigned mesh is used.

Sets probability that a node will receive this material (this weight รท sum of all weights).

When enabled, the mesh will be the same size as it was in its original file. Otherwise, the size of the mesh will be unitized (i.e., fit in a unit box).

Scales the size of the mesh.

This value is multiplied by the size of the parent node and added to the size of the mesh. Use this value when combining meshes procedurally to ensure that meshes further down the hierarchy gradually decrease in size.

When enabled, all meshes assigned to a given material are given proportional sizes. Use this option to ensure multiple meshes assigned to the same material are sized appropriately relative to each other.

Edit this curve to adjust the scale value used when “Adjust size for group” is enabled. A “Linear growth” curve is the default and represents accurate size corrections. Adjust this curve upward to scale some objects more. Adjust it downwards to scale them less.

Use these properties to rotate the mesh after it has been oriented relative to its parent.

Rotations happen in the order they are listed here. If a mesh is added directly to the “Tree” generator, you can switch into node editing mode and use the transform gizmo to move/orient the mesh.

Note: In generator mode, click on the mesh and press “W” or “E” to enter translate or rotate mode, respectively.

Rotate around the X axis (1.0 equals a complete rotation).

Rotate around the Y axis (1.0 equals a complete rotation).

Rotate around the Z axis (1.0 equals a complete rotation).

If a Mesh Generator is added as a child of a Branch Generator, the Branch Generator will deform the mesh. Use the properties in this group to control how far along the branch the mesh is placed.

Note: Meshes must point along the Y-axis in order to be deformed.

When enabled, meshes will make themselves exactly as long as the branch they are placed on. When disabled, the size properties in the mesh group control the size of the mesh.

Use these properties to specify the anchor point along the parent spine.

The mesh will be anchored this fixed distance along its parent's spine.

This percentage of its parent's size is added to the distance along the spine where the mesh begins.

This property scales the X and Z coordinates of the mesh to narrow its apparent radius. This operation will deform the mesh but can help make a mesh match the intended look.

The properties in this group only apply to meshes that are deformed by a spine that is attached to a Mesh or Branch. Welded meshes are modified to blend smoothly into their parent mesh. Enable hints to see a visual indicator of some of the weld data while you work.

When checked, the mesh will attempt to weld to the first ancestor where welding is possible (usually another Mesh or a Branch).

When checked, failed welds will not result in the mesh being removed (or modified at all).

Use this property to control how far along the mesh the start point of the weld is located.

This property sets the distance of the weld region. Lower values result in more deformation in the weld region. It is not necessary for this distance to reach all the way to the parent.

Use this property to set a radial distance sufficient to cover the radius of the weld region. Only sections of the model that fall between the start location and the distance of the region that are also within the clearance radius will be eligible for welding.

The properties in this group control the geometrical detail and makeup of the weld region.

Sets the number of slices in the weld region. Each slice adds shape detail at the expense of more polygons.

Controls how much the geometry spreads out as it attaches to the parent.

The properties in this group control how the Mesh reacts to Level-Of-Detail computations.

Select the type of geometry that the Mesh will be grouped with for LOD computations from the following options:

Use this value to increase or decrease the likelihood that meshes in this generator will survive the LOD process (vs. whatever it's grouped with in other generators). Use the parent curve to target specific areas of the model.

Note: Weight has no effect when “Treat as” is set to “Mesh” as all meshes will survive the LOD process.

This curve controls which mesh LOD (if present) is used for each LOD state. The left side of the curve corresponds to the highest LOD. The right side corresponds to the lowest LOD.

The property in this group affects the influence meshes in this generator have on the lightmap.

Note: Not all versions of the Modeler support lightmap UV computation.

Use this property to increase or decrease the importance of this generator's meshes in the lightmap – in relation to the lightmap weight of all other objects – before lightmap packing is determined. Note that your Weight value may not be honored exactly or may get so large as to exhibit unexpected results. Use “Tools→Reset lightmap scalars” to go back to default values for the whole model.