Hey,

Im looking into the new SideLabs tools for Vertex animation textures. However for RBD im running into some issues. I can get it working fine for fluid and im eventually going to try it out for sprites and softbody. But for RBD I seem to run into the same problem each time I try and set it up in Unreal.

I also looked at the debug view and it shows my geo is correct and exported correctly so its hard to see if its to do with my Houdini set up or my Unreal set up.

Ive followed this forum https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/68930/ [www.sidefx.com] where some people seem to be having a similar issue and I followed this tutorial. https://vimeo.com/357970428/3eda722f97 [vimeo.com] which is all really clear on how to bring it in.

Theres most likely something im doing on my side in Houdini that is causing this issue but I was wondering if someone who has a good understanding of Houdini RBD to Unreal could take a look at my workflow and see if im making a mistake. Il attach all the files I have worked with.

Heres a Pic of my result in Unreal along with whats seen in my Houdini Scene



Thanks a bunch let me know what you guys find!

Phil

Hi. Your setup is using the fractureobject node in the dopnet which is a legacy method for dealing with rbd. The VAT ROP is expecting packed primitives. So pack the geo before importing into the dopnet using either pack or assemble. And use the rbdpackedobject node in the dopnet. Then make sure you're passing the packed primitives to the VAT ROP.

Hey Mike.

Thanks for the comment.

I had a go at creating a more basic Houdini set up similar to what you've done in your video. As well as following the standard RBD pipeline using packed primitives. However despite this im still running into the same issues as I was having before. Ive got the scene file following the more traditional pipeline attached here as well as a screenshot again.

Whats also weird with this is that now jumping into the debug view on the VAT ROP causes the scene to crash which is making me wonder if something on the Houdini side.

If its any help im using Houdini 18.0.416 and SideLabs tool 416

Not sure if you know what might be the cause? But if you get another chance could you take a look at my new hip file and see if im doing anything out of the ordinary there?

Thanks again

Phil

The debug view isn't crashing for me with your scene file, so I can't help you there.

And it's importing into UE4 without any issues for me. Are you setting/replacing vertex colour in UE4 when you import the mesh?

Im a bit lost what it might be then…

Are we using the same Houdini version? (As im using Houdini 18.0.416) Or same game tool version? (416) Not sure if its a bug on my end if its working with yours but not in my scene. Its very odd as I feel I've followed everything correctly.

And yeah setting it to replace but even then when I import it I have the same issue.

Any ideas what it could be?

Cheers again

Phil

Just following up.

I'm still having issue with this. If you get anytime could you post your unreal project or hip file for me to look at to see if I'm running missing a step. But following your tutorial I feel like I'm following the steps correctly.

Again it might just be something I'm doing wrong on my side. Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

Cheers

Phil

Did you see my video in the other post?
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GpSah48r3xp3pAJTlCKCSB7Hb1VzduF6 [drive.google.com]

Hey Mike,

Responded to you in the other thread.

For anyone else seeing this and having issues this thread has a lot of debug questions answered along with this one.

https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/68930/?page=4#post-310147 [www.sidefx.com]

Thanks again for your help Mike

Cheers

Phil

I'm also lost…

I have also been having issues with the VAT exporter into UE4. Been trying to get it to work for ages, doesn't matter what version of Houdini/labtools, Unreal Engine (4.2 up to 4.5). I cannot for the love of me get it working, no matter how simple I make it. I followed mikes tute vid he posted here to the T and still it does not work. Any other ideas on why its not working for me?

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