[Plugin] QuadFaceTools

kaas · 7 Oct 2018, 12:28

Good tip! I just tried with the latest Unreal Engine version. OpenSubDiv is already available in the latest build (experimental-must be enabled by command line). I tested with a few models and had a lot of crashes but also some success.

It seems models imported as fbx work fine as well. Just select an imported object - go to MeshEditor - press 'Quadrangulate' and then you can add/remove subd levels.

See pic - visible in there a model by Box and Rich (from SubD examples topic) and a few tests of myself. Mapping / materials goes wrong quite often.

Curious to see at what point Epic will make it officially available with some documentation. There are already a few blueprint nodes visible in UE that suggest the subd level can be changed with scripting. OpenSubDiv in UE Could be something nice/big!

If someone has a nice/complex qft (subd) model available for testing, feel free to post or pm me.

nlipovac · 7 Oct 2018, 18:50

here you go...i am still just tinkering with UE.

Stool_101

kaas · 8 Oct 2018, 05:32

Here you go - a very blobby stool. UV mapping distorted. No creasing (must be done manually in UE). I guess we can do a better job once the documentation is available.

nlipovac · 8 Oct 2018, 07:43

It is something cool to be done inside the engine itself.
So if you fill your scene with SubD models and apply subdivision what strain it takes on an engine to make subdivision?

optimaforever · 8 Oct 2018, 08:00

Very nice!

kaas · 8 Oct 2018, 08:54

@nlipovac said:

It is something cool to be done inside the engine itself.
So if you fill your scene with SubD models and apply subdivision what strain it takes on an engine to make subdivision?

See video of the 'entire process'...

lgrahm · 10 Oct 2018, 20:21

I'm wondering about the qft line tool. When I divide a quad using the line tool I guess the purpose is to create two new quads? But many times it creates double faces in at least one of the new quads. Those double faces are almost impossible to spot, but they create problems when subdividing or if you want to use the line tool again to divide the double faced quad. Is this a known problem?
/Lars

optimaforever · 11 Oct 2018, 06:29

@lgrahm said:

I'm wondering about the qft line tool. When I divide a quad using the line tool I guess the purpose is to create two new quads? But many times it creates double faces in at least one of the new quads. Those double faces are almost impossible to spot, but they create problems when subdividing or if you want to use the line tool again to divide the double faced quad. Is this a known problem?
/Lars

To avoid this, 2 solutions:

delete the quad surface you want to split in 2 quads , and then with the qft line tool, draw the new line.
use the qft connect edges tool to create 2 lines approximately and delete the one you don’t need.
If none works the way you want, try solid inspector 2, and let it try to fix the double face.

thomthom · 14 Oct 2018, 14:56

Version 0.14.0

QuadFace Tools 0.14.0 Released

New feature: Flip by Slope

It will flip triangulated quads based on the topology flow to produce smoother shading of the surface.

thomthom · 14 Oct 2018, 14:59

@optimaforever said:

@rv1974 said:

judging by RizomUV promo video, it works with tris like a beast. Doesn't it?

Well, all the tools in RizomUV are based to work with quad-based geometry. with tris, the selection of edges, loops are basically a nightmare.

And... if I can avoid going to 3dsMax, I'd prefer. I'd like to find a Sketchup-based workflow, otherwise I'd simply go the Max route from the beginning.

What do you mean by things not being "attached"? Geometry or UV?
Is this when you use QFT to export?

thomthom · 14 Oct 2018, 15:00

Well, that GIF messed it up... in reality the flipped quads looks smooth.

optimaforever · 14 Oct 2018, 15:21

@thomthom said:

@optimaforever said:

@rv1974 said:

judging by RizomUV promo video, it works with tris like a beast. Doesn't it?

Well, all the tools in RizomUV are based to work with quad-based geometry. with tris, the selection of edges, loops are basically a nightmare.

And... if I can avoid going to 3dsMax, I'd prefer. I'd like to find a Sketchup-based workflow, otherwise I'd simply go the Max route from the beginning.

What do you mean by things not being "attached"? Geometry or UV?
Is this when you use QFT to export?

Hi thom,
basically it means qft exports all quads detached. So rizomUV can’t weld the geometry, which is pita.

thomthom · 14 Oct 2018, 18:15

@optimaforever said:

Hi thom,
basically it means qft exports all quads detached. So rizomUV can’t weld the geometry, which is pita.

Can you elaborate a bit more on what you mean by this?

QFT writes OBJ files were the faces share vertices just as they do in SketchUp.

optimaforever · 15 Oct 2018, 08:48

@thomthom said:

@optimaforever said:

Hi thom,
basically it means qft exports all quads detached. So rizomUV can’t weld the geometry, which is pita.

Can you elaborate a bit more on what you mean by this?
QFT writes OBJ files were the faces share vertices just as they do in SketchUp.

Well... My evaluation period for rizomUV expired so I can't try now but here's a screencapture of my qft exported mesh in RizomUV:
Basically the mesh is cut along the quads and the edges can't be welded. If I try to weld the geometry in 3dsmax, I lose the quads and get tris.

thomthom · 16 Oct 2018, 10:56

I'm not sure what I'm looking at there...
I sounds like this is an issue that relate particularly to rizomUV. Though I can't really tell exactly what is going on. But I can verify that QFT exports OBJs in such a manner that the faces share vertices.
If you could find out more what is happening on the rizomUV side then I could look into whether there are some tweaks that can be done on the side of QFT.

Perhaps, do you have a model where exported from another app into OBJ works fine for rizomUV - but doesn't work when exported from QFT?

optimaforever · 16 Oct 2018, 11:04

Exact. When I create a quad mesh in Max and import in RizomUV, there's no problem, I can cut and weld along desired edges, generating UV islands easily. When imported from QFT, each quad becomes a UV island and I can't weld back the geometry, which is very disappointing. I told the dev about this and he replied that he'll try to allow welding of pre-welded imported geometry but so far no good...
So my understanding is that there's something happening when exporting obj from QFT in su side.

kaas · 16 Oct 2018, 13:56

Have you tried mapping the uvs using Wrapr? Exporting Wrapr-mapped objects from SU (as fbx) works as intended for me.

optimaforever · 16 Oct 2018, 14:08

@kaas said:

Have you tried mapping the uvs using Wrapr? Exporting Wrapr-mapped objects from SU (as fbx) works as intended for me.

Well... I'm trying RizomUV because WrapR has too many limitations because of the SU 's own limitations.
Did you check the RizomUV's presentation? you'll understand what I mean.

thomthom · 16 Oct 2018, 15:32

So, is it the UVs that are the issue? I can understand if that might be the issue here - as SU doesn't try to make the UV-coordinates between vertices shared. (SU saves texture position per face instead of per vertex)

optimaforever · 16 Oct 2018, 15:34

@thomthom said:

So, is it the UVs that are the issue? I can understand if that might be the issue here - as SU doesn't try to make the UV-coordinates between vertices shared. (SU saves texture position per face instead of per vertex)

Indeed, this could be the issue... But I'm not techy enough to be able to confirm this unfortunately.

I should try forcing a UVmap in max on the qft mesh before importing in rizomUV.
Unfortunately my evaluation period expired