Use WorldPositionOffset to make the rounded edges on the static mesh.

[thetnswe]

Hi all,
Does anyone has a link for the tutorial to learn how to use WorldPositionOffset in the Material Shader to deform the vertices of the static mesh.I found a tutorial on the website and it doesn't teach me the detail information of which results can I achieve.

http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/WorldPositionOffset.html

What I would like to make is that I would like to deform the vertex which are not sided on the edges and move them alittle bit forward through their normal points. so the mesha will look more smooth and I also would like to have variations on how much smooth do I have and they will be changing realtime in game...

Any helps and advice would be really appreciated...

[Nawrot]

this is only one tutorial describing WorldPositionOffset i know about.
http://www.chrisalbeluhn.com/UDK_Wor...on_Offset.html

[Wyldhunt]

[SHOT]http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Wyldhunt/UDK/World_Offset.jpg[/SHOT]

That setup will allow you to alter all of the verts of your model along the vert normals. If you want to be able to fine tune it by hand, put a vertexcolor node in the mix like this slightly more advanced version:

[SHOT]http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Wyldhunt/UDK/World_Offset_Advanced.jpg[/SHOT]

Then, you can adjust it uniformly via the Scalar Parameters and then fine tune it with the vertex painting tool. Red is X, Green is Y, Blue is Z. You can use positive or negative numbers in the Scalar Parameters.
You could add even more control by adding three more scalar parameters and using them to multiply the 3 vertex paint colors. Sometimes, you may want to make a larger change than the 1.0 value will allow.

EDIT:
The Scalar Parameters are for instancing the material so that you can adjust it easier. If you've never used instanced materials, make the material like you normally would. When you are finished, right click on it in the browser. Choose 'New Material Instance'. It'll create a copy of the material that you can assign to your mesh like a normal material. If you open the Material Instances properties, you can adjust the values of your scalar parameters without the hassle of changing your main material. You'll see instant changes in the editor. You can make as many instances as you want so that you can assign them all to different meshes and give them all different values.

RE-EDIT:
Here. The super advanced version with controls for how effective your vertex paint is:
[SHOT]http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/Wyldhunt/UDK/World_Offset_Super_Advanced-1.jpg[/SHOT]
Note that you can also set the paint color parameters to a negative number to invert the direction that your painted colors move the verts.

Oh, and if you use a material instance, you can also control the material parameters via kismet... or Uscript... Or Matinee... or Cascade.

[thetnswe]

Thanks. it seems to be that I found a way to do that... How could I make that happen automatically without using Vertex painting. Can I assign the locked vertices in Maya before exporting the model into UDK so I don't have to make the vertex paint everytime. If so, How can I do that..

Thanks you very much

[Wyldhunt]

I know that it can be done in 3DS Max, so I assume it can be done in Maya... I have no idea how to model though, so I can't help with how. Sorry.

[thetnswe]

thanks.. I will try to research it of how can it be done in Max...

[thetnswe]

How about making the mesh smooth effect by adding more vertices on the corner of the edges. How can it be done?

[Xendance]

I don't think UDK supports realtime tessellation of static meshes.

[Nawrot]

you need to calculate normal map in tangent or non tangent space (i forgot which one is that you want here). You can see it is right variant when it is not just mostly blue but changes colors. I know that such map can be done in zbrush.

[thetnswe]

What I actually want is to round the edges of the mesh in realtime which might looks like morphing and I don't want to use morph target because it take times to model twice and my scene has got more than 300 models. It doesn't have to be completely changed.. The only thing I want is just to change the edges of the mesh to looks like more smoothing and I can add enough vertices to make it looks like when using world position offset with normal map.. But I am really new to World Position Offset and don't know where to start. I've tested Wyldhunt's examples and it looks OK but just need to add more smoothing and also it doesn't work in complex models. So I might also have to think about which type of model can it be rounded and I will also have to follow the instruction while modelling in Maya..

How can I calculate the normal Map in Tangent space as you suggested.. Can you help me showing your Material of how things are being setup..

[thetnswe]

nobody can help me from this point

[Wyldhunt]

What you need is modeling help with Maya. I can help with almost any material setup, but you want to know how to model and generate different kinds of normal maps in 3d programs. I don't know how to use Maya. Sorry.

If you want these edges to change in real time and it needs to change the actual mesh, then you need to use morphing. That's what it's there for. UDK can't add tris to your model.

You may have better luck posting in the modeling forum and asking how to round your corners and make the right kinds of normal maps in Maya. More modelers are likely to see it there.

[thetnswe]

I know how to do modelling in Maya and i know that I can do morphing to change the look of the mesh in realtime... The only problem is that I don't want to model every morph target for my base model as it has been so many.. That's why I am looking to some shaders to make it looks round. So.. UDK can't handle rounding of the models in real time and then I will have to use Maya for that and need to use Morph targets.. .Thanks for helping me with all the way rounds..

[darthviper107]

You don't need a morph target, either chamfer the edges in Maya, or make a high detail version of your model with chamfered corners and render a normal map

[Wyldhunt]

If a normal map is strong enough to make your corners round enough, and you want to control how rounded your corners are in real time, then I could make a shader for you that would blend between two normal maps. If normal maps would work, it sounds like you'd still need to do all of that modelling to make the normal maps though.