For Unreal Engine User

General Usage #

1. Our models are used as Content Packs in Unreal Engine, you need to use them in Unreal Engine 5.3 and above.
2. Unzip file below to your hard drive(Replace <nubmer> to your collection number) :
   • MT_PM_V<number>_UnrealEngine.7z
3. Copy folders “FeaturePacks” and “Samples” to the Unreal Engine install folder,  usually located in “C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_<version_number>”. There are also two folders with the same name “FeaturePacks” and “Samples“
   
4. Open any of your Unreal Engine project, and add Content Pack according to the steps in the image below.
   
5. In the pop-up window, switch to “Content“, select Maxtree collection, and click the “Add to Project” button to add our model to Unreal Engine.
   
6. Later you will see a directory called Maxtree appear in the Content Browser, where all the Maxtree models you imported will be placed.
   

Note:  Restart the Unreal Engine editor if you cannot see all the models after importing.

Known issues:

• Some models exhibit strange artifacts after enabling Nanite with Lumen, and the only way to disable it is by turning off Nanite. This issue does not occur with Path Tracing.

Shader Parameters #

Our plant model shader supports the following adjustments.

Albedo Color Adjustment #

Glossiness/Roughness Adjustment #

Wind Parameters #

Wind animation parameters need to be adjusted in two places:

1. The BP_MT_PM_Wind_Controller contains parameters to control the global wind effect.
   
2. Each tree’s Shader contains individual parameters that control the effect of the foliage.
   

Wind parameters of BP_MT_PM_Wind_Controller #

The BP_MT_PM_Wind_Controller is located in Content/Maxtree/MaxtreePresets/Blueprints, drag and drop into the scene to use it, It appears in the scene as a blue arrow.

• Global Wind Direction: The wind direction can be adjusted by rotating BP_MT_PM_Wind_Controller in scene.
• Global Wind Speed: The default value is 1. Used to control the frequency of the foliage swing, it is multiplicative with the Wind_Level1_Speed and Wind_Level2_Speed in the shader, and the formula is Final Wind Speed = Global Wind Speed x Wind Speed in the shader. A value of 0 is equivalent to turning off all swinging wind effects. If the plant also has Wind Wave enabled, then the Global Wave Speed needs to be set to 0 as well to completely turn off the wind effect.
• Global Wind Intensity: The default value is 1. It is used to control the bending (tilting) and swing strength of the plant in the direction of the wind, and this value does not affect the wind speed. It is multiplicative with the Wind_Level1_Bend_Angle, Wind_Level1_Sway_Angle and Wave_Max_Bend_Angle in the shader, and the formula is Final Wind Strength = Global Wind Strength x Angular Value. When the angle value is 35 and the global wind strength is 2, the plant will bend to 35×2=70.
• Global Wave Scale:The default value is 500. The greater the value, the greater the size of the wind wave.
• Global Wave Speed: The default value is 0.3. The higher the value, the faster the wind wave moves, and this value does not affect the frequency of the foliage swing controlled by the Wind Speed in the shader.
• Global Wave Max Bend Angle: The default value is 70°. Wind wave is an undulating effect, and its undulations range between the Wind_Level1_Bend_Angle (minimum) and the Global Wave Max Bend Angle (maximum) in the shader.
• Global Wave Disturbance: The default value is 0.2. Adding random lateral oscillations to wind waves.

Wind parameters of Shader #

• Enable_Wind_Level1: Enable the first level of wind. This level of wind mainly controls the effect of bending (tilting) and swinging.
• Generate_Gradient: Generates a gradient from the bottom to the top of the object, which allows the bottom to remain stationary when wind is enabled, and if Generate_Gradient is not enabled, the gradient effect painted in the Red (R) channel of vertex color is used.
• Gradient_Contrast: Controls the contrast of the gradient generated by the Generate_Gradient.

• Wind_Level1_Speed: Control the swaying frequency of the plants.

• Wind_Level1_Bend_Angle: The bending (tilting) angle of the plant, this parameter almost produces a fixed angle that will not sway, and the swaying effect needs to be achieved by combining Wind_Level1_Bend_Angle and Wind_Level1_Sway_Angle parameters.

• Wind_Level1_Sway_Angle: Set an Angle value, the plant will swing within the range between (Wind Level1 Bend Angle – Angle value, Wind Level1 Bend Angle + Angle value). For example, if you want the plant to swing between 10-30 degrees, you can set Wind_Level1_Bend_Angle=20 and Wind_Level1_Sway_Angle=10, then you can get a swing range between(20-10, 20+10).

• Enable_Wind_Wave: To enable the Wind Wave effect, when the effect is enabled, it is recommended to turn off or reduce the value of Wind_Level2.

• Overwrite_Global_Max_Bend_Angle: When enabled, the following Wave_Max_Bend_Angle values are used to override the Global Wave Max Bend Angle value in the BP_MT_PM_Wind_Controller to create a different tilt effect for the foliage
• Wave_Max_Bend_Angle: Set a new angle value.

• Enable_Random_Sway: If the brightness variations of the branches are plotted in Green(G) channel of vertex color, the effect of random swinging of the branches can be achieved instead of the current overall synchronous swinging. Unless you have plotted the brightness variation in the Green(G) channel of vertex color , please disable this parameter. The following is an example and effect demonstration of vertex color for the Green(G) channel. The plant on the right in the video has vertex color set for the Green(G) channel and enable Enable_Random_Sway.
  

• Enable_Wind_Level2: Enable the second level of wind. The wind of this level mainly exhibits a random disturbance effect similar to waves, which is recommended for use on leaves.
• Wind_Level2_Speed: The frequency of random disturbance.
• Wind_Level2_Intensity: The intensity of random disturbances.
• Wind_Level2_Weight: The size of the range of the perturbation pattern formed by random perturbations.