Hi,
All speedtree models I import to UE 4.7.6 are without smoothing groups. The surface is therefore jagged and sharp where the geometry edges are. Does anyone have a solution for this?
Thanks!
Are you importing an actual SpeedTree (that is, an SRT file), or are you importing a static mesh that was exported from the SpeedTree Modeler (like FBX or OBJ)?
If you are doing the latter, you should be doing the former.
Hi Greg!
I am importing an SRT. In Speedtree I am using “Save with assets”.
You can just use regular save. Save as with assets copies all the assets (textures, meshes, etc) used with the tree as well. It’s useful for packaging a tree up to send it somewhere.
But back to the issue, could you post a screenshot? The SpeedTree importer makes the mesh with the same normals as you see in the Modeler, so they should be as smooth as you have them in there. Unless, of course, you have explicitly made a material in UE4 that creates hard edges.
Oh, I did not know that!
Here is a screenshot of the tree trunk in ST & UE.
Hrmm. I’m not really sure what would cause that. Did you let UE4 recompute the normals or tangents or anything? Does the problem persist if you reimport the tree? Or if you import the tree into a clean directory?
No. I have tried re-importing it with and without materials etc - same problem. I opened it in 3ds max (exported as fbx from UE) and it has the same “bug”. I exported one of their sample trees and that worked fine though. I made a new tree and the same thing happened. It might have to do with my method? I’m hand-drawing it with spacebar for new branches etc.
I’ve come across the same problem, though I’m using 4.7.5. I thought it might have just been an issue with mesh fronds but it’s also trunk geometry. I’ve been using speedtree for UE4 off and on since it was released and have just noticed the issue recently. The normals are definitely correct inside the speedtree modeller.
I found a simple workaround. Open a sample tree, for example Broadleaf_Desktop, delete the nodes you don’t need and work from there using node tool and parameters.
Different ways of making a tree should have no impact. I have done some testing with 4.7.6, and I cannot get this problem to happen.
If you have a particular tree that shows the problem, please send it to support@speedtree.com so we can take a look. To do this, use “save as with assets” into an empty folder and zip up the folder to send. This ensures we get all the assets used in the tree.
Hi guys, here is possible solution. It happened to me also and took me some time to figure out. I used custom leaves FBX mesh and it had broken normals that result bad export to UE4. Than i exported same leaves model as .obj and than normals were corect and exported tree in UE4 as well. Hope it helps you