How to use D5 Scatter?
Key words: Tool | D5 Scatter
Added D5 Scatter, a procedural content generation (PCG) scatter tool, to quickly generate and scatter a large amount of plants in the scene, bringing greater efficiency and creativity to scene enrichment with ease.
1.'Add Scatter' in the Top Menu Bar (Shortcut Key: X)：
Supports selecting materials or models to create scatter areas. Press the shortcut key 'X' to switch between 'Select Model' and 'Select Material', with 'Select Material' being the starting default. Press the shortcut key 'Ctrl' to reduce/add and multi-select scatter areas. Click 'Create' to confirm scatter areas.
The amount of reference points is automatically calculated based on the size of the selected object and has a limit, thus affecting the interval between sparse points. The larger the model, the greater the interval between sparse points.
Supports separate management of scattered assets, including Focus, Lock, Hide, Rename, and Delete, in the scene list.
2.'Scatter Area' Management
A scatter area is created as a whole by default. You can further divide it into multiple sub areas to scatter different models within different areas. Each area supports individual custom parameters for better vegetation effect.
You can click 'Divide' > 'Image Divide' to create sub areas based on the Preset or Custom color maps. Supports control over the number of areas. Reference points within each area will display different colors for convenient checking.
You can right-click on a Sub Area to rename it. The selected sub area will be highlighted in the viewport.
3.Scatter Custom Models or Use Templates
Supports scattering assets from D5 Asset Library or using scatter templates.
Click "Assets" to scatter models from the Nature category, supporting up to 15 varieties in each scatter area.
Added a Scatter library into D5 Asset Library with two types of scatter templates: 'Global Preset' that includes both the asset and area info and 'content preset' with only the asset info. Click the 'Content Preset' to apply these templates.
4.Customizable Post Editing Parameters: Density, Size, Type, and More
Every asset added into the scatter area will be listed in the Content column with its thumbnail, name, and proportion. Each asset can be replaced, hidden, or deleted, and also supports the following four parameters:
Scale: The size of the model.
Rate: The number of objects per unit in the designated area. This parameter determines the appearance frequency of a model. The higher the value, the more densely the model will appear.
Up Direction : The growth orientation of individual plants.
Collision Volume: The ratio between the collision radius and the radius of the model itself.
Note: The Collision Volume changes with the Scale parameter. When the plant is scaled up or down, the Collision Volume will change accordingly while its ratio remains the same. At this time, adjusting the Collision Volume parameter will change the collision radius. The Collision Volume and the Density are interrelated. If increasing Density doesn't densify the cluster, please check the Collision Volume setting.
5. Global Scatter Adjustments
Distribution
Preset/Custom Distribution Mapping: Supports controlling the distribution density of plants with black-and-white maps. The darker the area, the lower the density. Supports importing custom maps or using built-in maps to quickly achieve natural distribution effects.
Density: Number of plant models scattered per hundred square meters.
Cluster Size: The size of the groups or clusters formed when scattering models. The larger the Cluster Size, the bigger the cluster will be. This parameter can be used to simulate, for example, the clustering of trees in a forest or the distribution of grass in a lawn.
Cluster Noise: The randomness when forming clusters. Increasing the value will make the edges of the clusters look more natural and random.
Cluster Blur: The merging of the edges of the clusters. Increasing the value will promote the convergence of cluster boundaries, which reduces the delineation between the clusters and creates a more organic transition.
Up Direction: It fine-tunes the global growth direction, which can be used in combination with the growth direction of a single variety of materials. The final growth direction depends on multiplying both growth directions.
Transformations：
Random Scale: Randomly scales the plant to different sizes within the set range.
Random Rotation: Randomly rotates the plant to different directions within the set range.
Random Offset: Randomly moves the plant within the set range in the X, Y, and Z axis directions to make the distribution of plants more natural.
Seed: Randomly arrange the overall global growth effect. You can manually enter the value or click the icon to randomize a value. The same effect is maintained when the value is fixed on the same bearing surface.
Single Model-Post Adjustment:
Double-click on a single model in the scatter area and click on the ‘Detach Object’ button that appears above it, to separate it from the batch-generated models, thus supporting individual adjustment.
After the model is independent, it will appear in the content list simultaneously.
Undo not supported.
6.Scattered models responsive with updated areas：
After the model is updated and replaced, you can click the "Edit Scatter Surface" button on the right sidebar to select the scatter object and reactivate the scatter area.
Scatter assets will adapt to model updates while retaining the original effect.
Note:
Scattering on the back side of the model will result in incorrect effects.
Scattering on a model surface with a steep slope leads to low density.
Scattering on the XY projection plane is now supported, and we will support scattering on vertical planes in the future.
Only plant models are supported for scattering currently, and more categories will be included in the future.
FAQs
Q: Why doesn't Up Direction work when it's adjusted?
A: The current default setting has the vertical direction as 1 and the normal direction as 0. The up direction for both global and individual assets is determined by multiplying them together. Therefore, if one side is adjusted to the normal direction, the adjustment on the other side becomes ineffective.
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