Tools


Date

January 2022

Description

Various different technical art tools created for different pipelines.

  • Unreal Engine 4 Scatter Tool Blueprint
  • Images to Mask Tool
  • Maya Custom Array Tool

    • There are definitely places where I believe they could be improved. The scatter tool could be more robust and give more custom options, the image to mask tool could support more file types, and the Maya tool could update in real time.

    My Role

    I was the sole designer and programmer of all these tools.

    Links
  • Unreal Engine 4 Scatter Tool Blueprint
  • Images to Mask Tool
  • Maya Custom Array Tool
    • Technologies

  • Python (Python Imaging Library, Tkinter)
  • Unreal Engine Blueprints
  • PyMel

    • UE4 Scatter Tool

    This is a tool used to randomly scatter static meshes in a defined area in Unreal Engine 4. The tool was made to be as generic as possible so that artists can use it in many different scenarios. Documentation Here.

    Key Points:

  • Snapping objects to surfaces in any direction
  • Orient objects to the normal of the surface they are on
  • Choose between either (1) unseeded or (2) seeded random placement, scale, and meshes
  • Clustering meshes towards the center of the group
  • Can make meshes lower in scale the further from the center of the placement/spawn area
  • Set minimum and maximum scale
  • Set how many meshes to spawn
  • 3D Spawn area editable on all dimensions
  • Ability to avoid spawning in other scene meshes
  • Tooltips for all exposed variables
  • Clean readable documented blueprints broken down into separate functions

    • Images to Mask Tool

    This is a tool used to merge masks together into a single texture. It was made using Python and the Tkinter and PIL modules. Documentation Here.

    Key Points:

  • PNG and JPEG exports
  • Single or Multi-Channel exports
  • Standalone executable
  • Image previews
  • OS File Dialogs
  • Documentation
  • Thoroughly commented source code

    • Custom Maya Array Tool

    This tool was created to populate a specified line with meshes at equally placed intervals (i.e. paper lanterns hanging across poles). Documentation Here.

    Key Points:

  • Can specify how many meshes to place along the line
  • Can specify the start and end point of a line
  • Can specify an offset to the start/end position
  • Can make the meshes sag along the line (towards the middle).
  • A Vector3 class was created within the source code (no import needed).
  • Ability to select a mesh to be placed along the line.
  • Commented and documented code.