Spawn Props on ANY Shaped Table Using PCG | Unreal Engine 5

[@hristozafirov7110]

This tutorial is a hidden gem! Really nice, explanatory and well put together. Thank you so much for this 🙏 That's a deserved sub there ❤

[@Procedural_Minds]

Thank you very much, and welcome to the community! :)

[@saharyousefi7128]

If you are using UE 5.3 and above, you might have an issue generating points when you spline sampler is set to "on interior". Check on the "Unbounded" and that must fix the issue.

[@Procedural_Minds]

Yup, it's an unfortunate bug that was introduced since 5.3.

[@domusludus8731]

in 5.4.2 it didn't work, but I fixed it by using a non-square spline

[@asharacrauwels]

Hi, thanks for the video!! What version of UE are you using? 5.3.1 here, did 3 clean attempts but can't get anything on the tables. Looks like the World Ray Hit Query is not generation any info for the Surface Sampler. Any ideas?

[@Procedural_Minds]

I did 5.2. I think I know what you're talking about since I ran into a similar thing. When plugging in the bounds for the surface sampler, double check that they are above the tables. Basically think of them as anything outside those boxes is removed. So if the boxes are under the table, then you get nothing since the rays stop at the table.

[@FolkvangStudios]

This was driving me nuts as well. My 5.4 solution was to check "Set Ray Parameters" and set the Z axis for Ray origin to 1000 or higher. I tried with 50, 100... but 500 and above worked.

[@yeohjo]

i am having trouble with the spawns on the table, my mesh seems to spawn in the middle of the table instead of on top of the table , is there something i am missing?

[@Procedural_Minds]

Could be several things I can think of right now: - Check your collision if you're not using complex. - Check your bounds for the spawning, it's possible you're culling the top of the table instead of the ones below with the intersection - Check the bounds on the spawning to make sure your bounds reach the top of the table when spawning All of the above are nodes already in the graph, they probably just need some numbers tweaked for your specific tables.

[@yeohjo]

@@Procedural_Minds thanks! but i found the actual problem which was actually the pivot of the mesh, it seeems that the spawning is according the where the pivot is place once i edited the pivot to the bottom of my mesh they seems to be working fine. Thanks again !

[@Procedural_Minds]

@@yeohjoAwesome, glad you got it working!

[@PeterKLee255]

amazing tutorial!! thank you for sharing!

[@Procedural_Minds]

You're welcome, thanks for watching! :)

[@MacTheRipper13]

I don't think this method works anymore for 5.3 onwards. The world ray hit query doesn't output any points if set up like this in 5.5 unfortunately. Is there a new way to set the order of execution?

[@Procedural_Minds]

World Ray Hit Query should work the same in newer versions. I've used it without issues. You might need to adjust the ray starting point and distance though to accommodate your setup.

[@Sworn973]

Last thing would be to get rid of stuff that are way to the edge, like some tols or vases that were in a weird position that would otherwise just fall, besisdes that, it is super helpful!

[@Procedural_Minds]

Yup. You can use difference nodes or intersection nodes to control where you want and don't want them. :)

[@gaguto]

I tried to follow step by step but it didnt work for me, on Spline Sampler i keep getting errors about (intersection test failed) and spline points overlaping, if i tweak the interior spacing the error goes away but the cubes keep spawning just on the spline not on the interior (set to "on interior" tho), great video anyway!! I love how simple and quick they are, but yet full of useful tips and knowledge!! keep it up!!

[@Procedural_Minds]

Did you set your spline in the blueprint to "closed loop"? I have a feeling that may be the problem. If it's not a closed loop then interior doesn't work.

[@gaguto]

@@Procedural_Minds I did, but don't worry, I'll give another try later, thank you for the attention :)

[@Procedural_Minds]

@@gaguto It's probably just some small setting somewhere that was missed. It usually is the smallest of things that make the biggest problems. Best of luck!

[@asharacrauwels]

Hi, if using 5.3(.1) try ticking the Unbounded option of the Spline Sampler. Works here. Not needed in 5.2.

[@Procedural_Minds]

@@asharacrauwels That's great to know! I did it in 5.2 I believe so I probably didn't need it for my setup. Thanks for helping!

[@MrPangahas]

nice video pls do more of these pcg graphs.Can you put pcg graphs inside another pcg graph or use bps instead of meshes.I wanted to make like a graph that scatters houses but I wanted the walls doors windows etc.of each house randomized for each house.Would be great if you can make a video similar to that.

[@Procedural_Minds]

I believe yes you can put PCG graphs inside other graphs, though I haven't personally found a use case for myself on that. And you can definitely spawn blueprints with Spawn Actor node instead of the Static Mesh Spawner. As for the house idea, you'd basically setup the graph for a house, and then just copy points to another set that spreads them. I can look into showing a setup like that in the future though. :)

[@GH-zr4mb]

Thank you soo much for making such great tutorials! I have one question : do you recommend to merge actors to meshcombine for performance? or keeping the pcg bp on without actor the way to go keeping the pcg on is more convienient for making changes later on

[@Procedural_Minds]

Having it fully combined into one static mesh is the most optimized I think. Just cause you're saving on the instances and each new instance mesh type.

[@GH-zr4mb]

Thank you for your response!@@Procedural_Minds if the instances are Nanite does it mean its still optimized right? i set the spawned to static in the static mesh spawner

[@Procedural_Minds]

@@GH-zr4mb Yup, if you're going nanite then try to have basically everything nanite. Having a mix can hurt performance a bit, otherwise you're good. :)

[@GH-zr4mb]

Do you recommend Combining Meshes + Nanite sometimes? i think i had some nanite overdraw in one scene i was working on but the impact was Noticeable in vr@@Procedural_Minds

[@Procedural_Minds]

@@GH-zr4mb If you have a mix then nanite overdraw and some others go up. Try setting everything to nanite and the use Nanite 0 or 1 to toggle it and see if it's better for you.

[@ATomCzech]

Thanks! Great tutotrial. I just don't like fact that you must care about box sizes, when you just replace table mesh with different table shape/size it will not work right? Is there any way how to do it more universal?

[@Procedural_Minds]

The reason the bounding box matters when spawning them, is because that's how it detects whether or not they will intersect when spreading them out. You can make a massive bounding box around all of them, just means there's be that big of a gap between everything.

[@ashitora2358]

I was looking for how to make trees to not overlapping, thnx

[@Procedural_Minds]

You're welcome :)

[@caliedu]

Thanks a lot for the Tutorial! Two Questions. First, is it possible to make the Static Meshes spawn just on the interior of the spline square? Not on or outside? Second, is it possible to randomize the rotation on 90 degrees? For example, some tables would be straight on X and others on Y. Thanks is Advance!

[@Procedural_Minds]

1 - Yes just specify on interior and use a closed loop, and you can use something like "intersection" to make sure it stays inside the spline if you end up moving points around later. 2 - I'm actually going to be making a setup for this for this Sunday's video. The ability to randomly rotate with increments, like 90 degrees. :)

[@OoooomgOmgOmg]

what about the objects on the edge?? I was waiting for that XD

[@Procedural_Minds]

You'd need to cut out areas not on top. I haven't tested it but I believe using an intersection node you should be able to do it.

[@Jesters-Jinx]

Can you do a PCG City with interiors and props on the inside? That is where I am struggling. I would greatly appreciate it.

[@Procedural_Minds]

I believe there is already a tutorial on how to do both on youtube, but it's something that might come in the future. Trying to see if I can put my own spin on it, or add more info.