Quick Tutorial
On this page we will cover how to use the Landscape Material Tool Update 2.0+
Last updated
On this page we will cover how to use the Landscape Material Tool Update 2.0+
Last updated
Runtime Virtual Texturing is used for this tutorial, see here on how to enable it within your project settings.
For this tutorial we will use the provided level Islands_Demo_RVT.
Begin by opening the scene, selecting the landscape, and removing the existing Material. It's advisable to save the level as a new file to retain a reference for future comparisons.
Begin by creating a new blank Material from the Material Tab.
To duplicate a Landscape Material, select an existing Material and click Create a New Landscape Material
Choose a name for the Landscape Material and save it.
Once the Material Tab displays your new material without layers, proceed to assign this Material to the current landscape.
For this Material, we will use Runtime Virtual Texturing, which is already added to the scene and landscape. However, we will need to enable it within the Material itself, as it is off by default.
Navigate to the Runtime Virtual Texture options under the Material Tab and enable the Use Runtime Virtual Texture toggle. By default, it uses the plugin's Runtime Virtual Texture Sample, but you can swap this out for your own project's sample.
Before we start adding layers to the Material, we will want to switch over to the Layers Tab .
In the Layers Tab, go to the sub-toolbar in Layer Reference and create a new blank layer.
For this layer, save it as LL_Grass_Base.
In this tutorial, we'll use the textures included with the plugin, but you're welcome to use your own.
Navigate to ExampleContent/Textures/Grass, select T_GrassBase_basecolor, and assign it to the Diffuse input on the new layer.
Repeat this step for the _normal texture by assigning it to the Normal slot in the layer.
The _RHA texture is a channel-packed texture containing Roughness (R), Height (G), and Ambient Occlusion (B) in the respective RGB color channels.
To enable channel packing on the layer:
Navigate to the Detail Parameters.
Find the option related to your channel-packed texture, such as Roughness.
Click the Use Channel Packing toggle.
You will notice that the Roughness input has been replaced with a Channel Packed Texture input.
Assign the _RHA texture to this new Channel Packed Texture input. By default, it has set Roughness to the Red color mask channel, which is the correct channel we want.
Repeat this step for the Height and Ambient Occlusion parameters. You should have something like this:
Ensure that the selected color channel mask accurately corresponds to the channel-packed texture.
Explanation and Examples of Channel Packing: http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/ChannelPacking
To remove the Specular Input, go to the Inputs section at the top of the Layer Settings and toggle off the Use Specular input. Doing this will hide the Specular texture input and disable the specular texture input within the layer itself, reducing shader instructions.
Save the layer from the Layer Reference sub-toolbar.
Return to the Material tab and click the Add Layer button. Assign the new layer as LL_Grass_Base. From the drop-down menu that initially displays Standard Weight Blend, select Standard Alpha Blend, as this is the optimal blending method for the base layer of an LMT Material.
Click the Save and Compile button from the Master Material sub-toolbar.
Upon compilation, you may observe that the landscape appears black. This is typical, as no layer weights have been assigned to the landscape.
To resolve this issue, go to the Paint tab in the standard Landscape editor mode, remove any existing Paint Layers, and click the Create Layers From Assigned Materials button
After removing any existing layers and selecting the Create Layers From Assigned Materials button, you should see a Grass_Base layer and a Wetness_Paint layer. Next, select the Create Layer Info button and choose the Non Weight-Blended Layer option.
Save this in your preferred location.
Right click on the Grass_Base paint layer and select the Fill Layer option.
If your landscape still appears black, please verify that Runtime Virtual Texturing is enabled in your project settings.
The landscape should now be covered with the Grass_Base layer that was recently created and assigned.
Return to the Layers tab, and click on the Additional Layer Actions dropdown button. Under Edit Layer In Material, select the LL_Grass_Base layer that we previously created.
This is an easy way to switch between layers that are assigned to the Master Landscape Material.
Lets start by getting the layer to look the way we want with the UV tiling.
Navigate to the Detail Parameters -> UV options and set the UV Tiling parameter to a value that suits your needs. I chose a value of 0.25. Remember to save to see the updates on the landscape.
The Manny Skeletal Mesh serves as an ideal reference for determining scale.
To address the noticeable repetitions in the texture with standard tiling, proceed to the Advanced Tiling option located within the UV parameters.
Two advanced tiling options are available: Blotch Tiling and Swizzle Tiling
Blotch Tiling: This technique employs a three-layered, world-aligned mask texture to darken specific areas, effectively disrupting texture tiling
Swizzle Tiling: This approach utilizes a dual-sample system, rotating one sample by 90 degrees and optionally scaling it, then applying it according to a specified mask.
In this example, I will select Swizzle Tiling, retaining the default parameters.
This looks much better and less repetitive. However, there's one more step we can take to further reduce repetition
The Global Distance Swap feature is enabled by default and can be found in the Layer Settings section at the top of the Details Panel. While you have the option to disable it, this tutorial will demonstrate its utilization.
Navigate to the Global Parameters options. You will notice that there are similar parameters here as in the Detail Parameters but with some additions.
Set the UV Tiling parameter to approximately 0.025. Then, navigate to the Advanced Tiling section and enable the Advanced Tiling: Use Blotch option.
Please review and adjust the provided settings as needed before moving forward.
With the current LL_Grass_Base layer referenced click the Save As button in the sub-toolbar which will create a copy of this layer as a new layer. Save this layer as LL_Sand_Dry .
Return to the Material Tab, add this layer to the layers list, set the blending mode to Overlay Blend, and then save/compile the Material. It should resemble the following:
Overlay layers, akin to Photoshop layers, are computed in a sequential manner. This approach facilitates advanced techniques such as world height blending and automatic cliff generation.
You will need to repeat the steps here to set the new textures to the dry sand located: ExampleContent/Textures/Sand/T_DrySand .
You will then have to repeat the steps here. but without removing the existing paint layers and do not fill the paint layer.
In the future, if you have pre-existing layers, you can complete this step at the end while creating a new Material.
Return to the Landscape Material Tool and continue editing the LL_Sand_Dry layer.
Navigate to the Overlay->World Height parameter category and enable Use World Height Blend.
World Height Blend is a technique that can be used to automatically paint down snow or sand based on the World Height Z location.
Enable World Height: Flip Direction and set the World Height: Offset to something like -3600.
An easy way to figure out what height you need is using an actor in world and taking the Z location from that.
By modifying the parameters in this category I came to these results:
Begin by repeating the steps here. Name the layer LL_Cliff and use the Cliff textures located in ExampleContent/Textures/Cliff. Do not enable World Height for this layer.
Within the Material Tab make sure the layer blending is set to Cliff Blend.
Once the layer is assigned and the Material is compiled, you should already have cliffs displaying.
You will find a new parameter category called Overlay Cliff. From here you can alter things such as the cliff slope angle and the amount of falloff the cliff has.
These are the parameters I used to get the desired results:
When dealing with cliffs, we want to ensure that there is no smudging on sharp, vertical faces.
For example:
To address this, we can use Triplanar Mapping or World Aligned Textures.
Under your Detail Parameters->UV and Global Parameters->UV there will be an additional category called Triplanar .
Enable Use Triplanar Mapping and set the texture size accordingly. I set my Detail to 1024 and my Global to 4096.
This may not fully resolve the issue, but it should suffice for most situations.
This plugin works well with adjusting parameters to achieve desired results. For example, try enabling Use Advanced Triplanar Mapping and modifying the parameters beneath that to see if it works better for you.
You should now have a basic understanding of how to create a Landscape Material using the Landscape Material Tool.
We recommend viewing the example Materials provided and studying how they are set up, as they go more in-depth with the features provided with this plugin.
You can also explore the rest of the documentation for more details on different features in the Landscape Material Tool 2.0 Update.
