Posts

My posts tend to be 'off the cuff' - meaning I'm just writing out in 'one go' about stuff I'm currently thinking about. Not really a lot of pre-planning (in most cases, save for tutorials). Though I do go back and add bits, correct grammar errors, and put in links, pictures, etc. So apologies if you were expecting highly formalized PR or Marketing spiel. ;) (Yes, I know. You weren't!)

Giving Manny Feathery Hair - TressFX 'StrandUV' Down-The-Strand Feature

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NOTE: This tutorial was written for TressFX 4.22, which has since been updated by AMD. The newer version is not the same as the version I am using, code-wise nor feature-wise. OK. Let's continue from where we left off last time. From the previous posts, we've gotten TressFX 4.1 compiled into Unreal Engine 4.22.3 and running. And we've created hair that tracks reasonably well to the Unreal Mannequin. The tracking is not perfectly tracking, as you can see some of the hair isn't tight to the skull....in front... But, that would likely be fixed if we had more bones in the head for the tracking to use. Right now, we are limiting tracking to use a single bone in the head. And, of course, this is based on exporting the Mannequin skeletal mesh out of Unreal as an FBX, then importing it into Maya and doing the hair export using that FBX, then using the exported hair files with the original Mannequin. This may lead to other inaccuracies during the export/import process. But w
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Giving Manny some Unreal Tress(es) (TressFX Real-Time Hair)

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NOTE: This tutorial was written for TressFX 4.22, which has since been updated by AMD. The newer version is not the same as the version I am using, code-wise nor feature-wise. In this quick tutorial, I'm going to walk through creating a fork of Unreal Engine 4, and using the 4.22 branch, clone 4.22 to my local machine, and add the TressFX 4.1 for Unreal Engine 4.22.3 patch. After making sure the engine compiles, I'll create some hair for the main mannequin (I'm calling it Manny) and import that hair, then attaching it via the TressFX components. To do this yourself, you will need to compile the Unreal engine. That also means you need to sign the Epic Unreal Engine EULA so you can get access to their private GitHub site. My fork of their engine, plus the TressFX 4.1 Unreal Engine 4.22 engine 'patch' are both also resident on Unreal's GitHub repository, so joining Epic's developer community is a requirement. You will also need Visual Studio 2017 (Commun
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CUDA, Unity, Unreal, Hair simulation - and learning new lessons alongside lessons learned

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I'm starting a new series of posts. It's been awhile, I know, but like most of us, life happens - especially work projects. LOL  As for me, a quick re-introduction may be in order. I started as a research scientist (Physics and Mathematics), changed over to multimedia/C++ programming at Microsoft, first supporting Microsoft's partners and customers in the developer community, then in both the Consumer Division and a advanced research products group as a s/w design engineer. I went into independent consulting for awhile, and supplemented that with writing (usually about coding, or as a combination programmer/writer), got truly excited about the possibilities of embedded videos and augmented reality in books, and Unity shaders (Cg/HLSL) during my masters work, and recently ended up working on TressFX where I had my mind blown by the wonders of the power of the GPU and the tangled terror that is something as huge as Unreal engine. So you might as well know now, that I'm
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Getting started with Unity's new Shader Graph Node-based Shader Creator/Editor (tutorial 6 - Getting Glow/Bloom Effect wihout Post-Processing by Inverting Fresnel...Sort Of...)

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Introduction (to the Tutorial Series): I will be writing about my own experiences using Unity's new beta Shader Graph, part of its upcoming 2018 release (also in beta).  The Shader Graph lets you create a variety of Unity shaders using nodes - not requiring you to write code. I will be writing about this journey over multiple posts, usually spaced about a week apart. Each post will be a short tutorial on how to use various node types to create different shader effects. And will include brief discussions on types of shaders and their uses, and later, how the Shader Graph compares with code-based shaders. I will try not to get overly technical, but will try to give you an idea of the complexity involved in shaders, from lighting to vertex and fragment manipulation. Given the nature of beta software, expect the Shader Graph (and later tutorials) to vary from earlier ones that you can now find online. Even within my tutorials there will be changes if/when the beta evolves - in
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Getting started with Unity's new Shader Graph Node-based Shader Creator/Editor (tutorial 5 - Exploring Fresnel/Color Rim and Update on Vertex Displacement Attempts)

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Introduction (to the Tutorial Series): I will be writing about my own experiences using Unity's new beta Shader Graph, part of its upcoming 2018 release (also in beta).  The Shader Graph lets you create a variety of Unity shaders using nodes - not requiring you to write code. I will be writing about this journey over multiple posts, usually spaced about a week apart. Each post will be a short tutorial on how to use various node types to create different shader effects. And will include brief discussions on types of shaders and their uses, and later, how the Shader Graph compares with code-based shaders. I will try not to get overly technical, but will try to give you an idea of the complexity involved in shaders, from lighting to vertex and fragment manipulation. Given the nature of beta software, expect the Shader Graph (and later tutorials) to vary from earlier ones that you can now find online. Even within my tutorials there will be changes if/when the beta evolves - incl
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