Procedural Clutter - Log 1

Since starting BCIT I’ve been meaning to start writing a “dev log” to better display my work process, but it didn't feel right before there were only small projects. But we have now reached the last term and I’ve been working daily on my final project, so It felt like the best time to start. So here I present you the first part of it.

To graduate in Technical Arts, we must create many tools for artists, from rig creators to procedural environments. We have very few rules to follow and the most important one is to solve a problem you have encountered while creating art.

Since I worked mostly in Environment Art and Set Dressing, my first idea was to create a procedural tool that allows users to create a stylized village. But since it is my first time designing an entire tool on my own I downsized the idea and decided to create a procedural clutter tool. I remember spending hours decorating large environments with small individually placed elements, so designing a tool that can reduce the number of hours and, consequentially, allow artists to focus on something more important sounded like a great way to go.

As always, I started with a lot of research, and mapping out functionalities and concerns. Using Unreal Engine’s PCG tool, the initial tests were very basic. The focus was to have an initial feeling of the tool, adjusting scale, position, rotation and unit numbers, always focusing on making the tool accessible and easy to use.

The next step was to allow the user to add/change the static mesh and weight without going into the code. After testing accessing through the blueprint and through the PCG’s parameters, I opted to go with the later for it’s easier implementation.

Other functionalities I have planned are projection (following normal and not), object behaviour (if it’s a corner, edge or center element), stackable, blocked-out areas and grouped objects (elements that go together).