Part1:Generate your own procedural City with Houdini and Unreal Engine 5
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- Опубліковано 30 тра 2024
- This is part 1 of how i made a complete procedural city using Houdini , Unreal Engine and the City Sample project !
link for the Houdini version I'm using:
drive.google.com/file/d/1832c...
#UnrealEngine5 #UE5 #TheMatrixAwakens #OpenWorld
My Specs :
16 GB DDR3 PATRIOT RAM
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz
MSI Z87 GAMING MOB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2 GB RAM
ADATA 512 GB SSD Sata HD For Windows 21h2 64 Bit
MIRFAK AUDIO TU1 MIC. - Ігри
Very good series and value. I am looking forward you other videos! Good luck
Thanks for your kind comment ! To see my work succeed is Always a pleasure ✨✨✨!!!
subscribed after watching the 1st min
This is unimaginably great, tutorial of the year
thanks for your kind comments ! welcome to the channel !
Very much excited to next part. Thanks , very helpful
Pleasure is mine 😃, i ll do my best to have it uploaded ASAP !
man this video is so underrated, great work!
Thanks 🙏🙏🙏 ! Share it as much as possible I'm not planning to drop my channel any sooner as this is my favorite pastime!
Thank you very much for the information, very helpful!
Looking for part 2
Dont mention it ! Preparing this part one Was a bit difficult with my Busy schedule and my slow Pc; i m already preparing part 2 and surely it will be also other parts it this tutorial so spread the word by sharing my tutorial !
@@gamawoodev Oh yeah, Its really time consuming to make videos especially with slow PC.
Don't mention it 😃😃😃
Thank you, great tutorial, saved me a lot of time!
my pleasure sharing ! still more content on this lecture: i'll upload ASAP !
heyyy, thanks for this..i was looking for this exact thing, more procedural content
my pleasure !
Awesome!
Thanks 🙏🙏🙏 👍 !
very awesome!!
Thanks 🙏🙏🙏 !
@@gamawoodev I assume this was not the apprentice license? lol
Cant wait for part 2!
Well part one 😃 took me three days just for editing the video !
tambien muero por ver la parte dos
Part 2 will be soon uploaded !
For anybody who can't see the city layout at @7:43 consider increasing the size of the curve to 1000 x 1000
Can you use custom building meshes to populate the Houdini layout? Great tutorial thank you for sharing!
I suppose yes ! To be honest I didn't dive this deep in the network graph, the node responsible for this is the buildings generator node you should look in it's properties: this is absolutely to add to my to do list of this project! My pleasure sharing ! I'm just an enthousiaste of level design it's my favorite pastime along with gaming so I'll help as far as my understanding!
Thanks for the explanation!
As I understand this method creates a city into hard drive, but there is any way for a city to be procedurally generated during a load screen and then unload from RAM when we leave?
Ex: A space ship travelling to different from different cities and planets, when we arrive arrive at the city it will be generated to RAM by a seed, and when we go back we use the same seed to make that city.
Thanks for your interest! There's too many assets to have real time loading even so :this is handled automatically by Ue via Assets LODs so you don't need to worry about it.
I'm trying to follow along but I can't get the city layout to show. I noticed that the city is above my geo shape like it is horizontal with the layout but above. If I hold alt and drag up wards I can see it but takes the entire area, like its in the sky not sure how explain this.
Try one or two steps before may be you missed something, anyway hope you ll find a way ☺️
Hello and thanks for that great serie tutorial. I was wondering, were did you find the CitySample_Houdinifiles from Unreal ? I downloaded it and I can't see where could this file be. Thanks a lot in advance !
Look for the zip file in the root of the city sample project !
Look for the zip file in the root of the city sample project folder !
Excellent video thanks!, it's posible to have elevations and curved roads?
You most welcome, not to my knowledge, the city sample project is intended to be on a flat geometry.
Hello Sir, This is really helpful for learners like me. I will be eagerly waiting for the second part. It would be kind of you provide any update about it.
Happy it helps, I'm preparing the part 2 where I explain how to connect the freeway to the roads , there's so much to put so I decided to finish this part in a smaller video, hopefully with my busy schedule other parts Will follow 😃 !
@@gamawoodev Will be waiting eagerly for them :)
Thanks 🙏 ! I ll try to do my best to have them uploaded in the same quality!
I hope that some UE plug-ins can be released one day so that ordinary UE users who do not use Houdini can use Houdini's HDA plug-in to create their own cities in UE.
True ! Houdini can be very difficult especially for beginners but once you start you ll make your own very powerful tools ☺️ !
Also You have many free and paid blueprints to help you with your goal to make your own City in UE in my channel there's a complete playlist about PBG to quickly make buildings!
Houdini is too damn hard,and it's official tutorials suck!!
I found the official documentation a little hard me too it's not meant for beginners you have to spend some time on it!
@@gamawoodev you are right
When I add the city layout node I get no streets. Is something broken or do I need to turn on a setting?
Verify that you connected the arteries curve to the right slot in the city layout node.
You can use your i gpu as recording device
Is there more documentation on the topic besides the "City Sample Quick Start"?
Just check Epic`s documentation website there's plenty of articles about the City Sample project!
Did/Can you use the "Non-Commercial" License for this or do you have to use the Paid or Indie version?
Apprentice won't work you'll need at least Indie version!
@@gamawoodev Thank you. I figured as much. I completed the entire process only to not have my PBC files transferred. In the output panel it mentioned “license Failed”. Greatly appreciate your help. I will upgrade this afternoon!
Don't mention it 🙂 the pleasure is mine ! It's worth upgrading your licence as you'll be speeding up your workflow in a professional environment!
@@gamawoodev Do you know if you're able to at least open the Houdini file in Apprentice version? I know exporting as .fbx isn't available in apprentice version, but I'm only interested in generating some city layouts directly in Houdini with no desire in exporting. Thanks!
EDIT: I'd try directly myself, but as the city sample project is 100 GB, I'm going to have to wait a bit until I can clear up some disk space!
You'll probably have error if you try the nodes in the Apprentice version this happened to me 😔
Hey uhm, i tried making a city and it took a full hour of 8gb+ of ram usage later for me to just restart the project.
My city was around 1km+ big so that explains, so im not really sure what size is best. FIY my specs:
CPU = Ryzen 7 4800H
GPU = GEForce rx2060
RAM = 16GB
Storage = 1tb (62gb remaining)
So uhm, do you have anything suggestions?
your CPU is Ok but consider upgrading , RAM: you definitly need more RAM with my current 32GB RAM i'm still having crashs from time to time and most important of all you need a M2/NVME SSD Drive a 1TB One : if your motherboard support go with it will really be a game changer : hope this helps !
I have a few queries,
1. How did you get all the different files in the folder named "myCity", in the video the steps after creating that folder are missing ( you only show copying houdini folder from sample city to my city how to get all the other folders in that is still unclear.)
2. When opening a new houdini project all the different nodes like curve and city layout are not available in that.
Great work with this series man would be a great help if you can reply the fix to these.
You most welcome 🤗, all your questions are answered, you just need to start to watch from the beginning of the playlist, I'm sure you will find out everything!
@@gamawoodev Thanks for replying, if you look at here 5:10 you created a folder "mycity" but did not copy anything to it and after a cut when you copy houdini folder in it there are already several files and folders in that. also when opening houdini curve node and city layout nodes are not visible do i need to apply some settings ? ( i did the changes in env file and also everything shows up in asset manager, i am using houdini 19.5 is it necessary to use 18.5 for this ?)
Did I solve the problem?
Im getting a error at the end when you set it back to auto. The error is "Invalid Source /obj/geo1/processor1/LOTS/foreach_end43
Failuire to cook template geometry.
I followed the steps and even redid it three times but somethings off any idea?
Try a different city shape : a bigger one for example this error happens when the city is too small to be created.
@@gamawoodev I gave it a try. Basic shape but at double the size of what you did in this video and crashed a few times, tried 1600-1800 units and still get that error.I just need the base result of the processor as a fbx (for ref for UE4 city layout). Im sure you're busy but would it be possible if you could generate a small city and shoot me the fbx of that? greatly appreciated if you could
It doesn't work like this! Did you finish my playlist? Because the city is created in Unreal engine: Houdini helps you to get to shape of the city 🏙️
@@gamawoodev It doesnt work for UE 4right? My project for work has gotta be 4 so i was just looking to generate essentially the end result of your Part 1 video and use it as a guide for kitbashed building etc
Unfortunately no! It heavily depends on Unreal engine version 5.0.3 and the city sample project!
Unreal Engine 5.2 introduced a Procedural Content Generation framework (PCG). Is it possible to create a city with the PCG only and not use Houdini?
Why not ? I mean as long as it offers the tools for procedural creation it is a promising framework!
@@gamawoodev will you make a video about that?
@@renat_CIA i'll probably do one in the near future: the tools like a i mentioned is promising and one of the main feature introduced with UE 5.2 so yes i'll definitly do one about it !
well, Tried with houdini 19.5 AND 18.532 and I gget the "Invalid source /obj/geo1/processor1/LOTS/foreach_end43" error
This happen when you make a too small city shape , try to make a bigger one!
@@gamawoodev thanks for your fast reply but I figured out what was the culprit... Heck why I even write in English... En fait je n'avais pas sauegarde dans le dossier créé plus tôt du coup il n'avait pas tout les fichiers. Maintenant ça marche même avec Houdini 19.5+
eh bien je suis content pour toi et ca fait toujours plaisir de répondre dans la langue de molière :-) !
@@joantonio6331 what is the reason of problem? i had the same too
@@alastoirdefaruh6094 you have to save the project in the folder he said in the beginning. But you will still encounter another problem during export... I gave up on it and writing my own modular digital asset
Hello again, don't you know why this error appears often after the city shape is changed? I have only curve and layout.
Invalid source /obj/geo1/layout1/foreach_end47. (Error: Failure to cook template geometry.).
This error happens all the time, mostly because the shape of city is too small , just make the shape bigger you'll get rid of the error!
@@gamawoodevthanks. The error happens even with slightly moving a curve point or change density even in a big city. Ok, just will try to find a proper form without extra fine tuning.
@@PsijicV it happen's also with city density , so it shows the message that it can't draw the city with the existing tuning so this is normal !
@@gamawoodevHm, I get this error in the city processor, even after deleting freeway, regions and extra roads. But looks like the error is in the freeway module (even if it isn't used).
@PsijicV the freeway script is in a separate folder give it a look!
Adding the City processor node, I get a bunch of errors like "problem while synchronizing child node" , "Bad node found" etc
Follow the exclamation mark on the node it will tell you where to find the errors, also the city shape must not be too small, try modify the curve of the city layout by making it bigger.
Thank you! It says "Invalid source /obj/geo1/processor1/LOTS/foreach_end43
Error: Failure to cook template geometry" and the city is disappeared while it is connected to the layout
This is exactly what I 👉 this error happens if the shape of the city or the roads are too small, make a bigger shape in the curve and put a new city layout with default values don't forget to give it a name, remove the old city processor then put a new one, reconnect all and you should be good to go!
@@gamawoodev I get the exact same error when I connect the processor. I have made the city both bigger and smaller than the one in the video.
Hi. I get this error, what`s wrong?
File "city::Sop/processor::1.0, PythonModule", line 40
print "no pdg folder found"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SyntaxError: Missing parentheses in call to 'print'. Did you mean print(...)?
I made a video on how to fix this error it's in the channel here : ua-cam.com/video/Xgw6ya6sYLE/v-deo.html
@@gamawoodev Thank you so much~~~!
Hey ☺️☺️☺️ no worries, my pleasure sharing!
How to replace model to building block and render in houdini instead of UE?
This needs more diving from you in the graph provided by the city sample project from what I remember there's a building generator node from Labs set: with it you can use your own custom 3d modules to generate the buildings in Houdini. '
@@gamawoodev So in theory I can't replace the kitbash building into this system?
There's a video in the channel where I explain why you need the Houdini plugin it may help you to do so 😀 , if not let me give it a try in my next one !
Please tell me you're not williamc, I got a hardcoded path after adding a city processor :)
Error: Unable to write to file "/home/williamc/Downloads/geo/file_uses.filecache1.1.bgeo.sc".).
i can assure i'm GamaWooDev , if you have file issue please follow the video from the beginning ,you need to be careful with each step otherwise you'll have errors :-)
Can I create another city using other city assets from the Unreal Engine store? Like the Cyberpunk city Pack
The city sample was designed to use assets from megascans library the pack is named city sample buildings in Epic store you can download it separately if you want , no custom assets for the time being, at least not without a deep understanding of Houdini functioning and it's interaction with unreal engine to be honest with you I'm not at this level yet.
@@gamawoodev I'd would be awesome I'm not good creating cities yet :(
@TheclanhuntersHD it's no easy matter as many sell it , so you need to work hard on it for a while till you achieve your goals, if you follow my video you ll notice that I don't rush things I work on daily basis taking days were I work hard others off until I'm grasping the needed to continue so consistency is the key!
@@gamawoodev thanks so much I really appreciate the feedbacks, and I'll work so hard to get it!
@TheclanhuntersHD my pleasure sharing 🤗 , I wish you success in your journey.
Houdini crashes whenever I attach the curve line to the city shape.
Try give the city layout node a name like described in the video.
Please help, why when i create City_Layout node, no grid appear, even when i connect City_Layout to Curve node, there is no grid in the area inside? I use v18.5.563
this is weird, when you drag and drop a city_layout in houdini's network view you should have the default city grid even if you don't connect a curve to it !
did you followed the guide from the beginning ? because you need to set up your Houdini Env before starting the creation process
@@gamawoodev Yes, i have added this line HOUDINI_PATH = D:/CitySampleSource/Small_City/houdini;& , the address is the same as Small_City folder
fyi, i've tried on another computer and this time i use the latest version (20x) and it still not display the layout, maybe the code from unreal 5 has changed ?
did you put the content of the compressed file that comes from the city sample project in this path ?
@@gamawoodev yes, i do. The program setting is default except the changes listed on videos.
I use houdini 19.5 and ue5.1,after a series of complex debugging, most of the city can be generated,but some roof not generate.
this is great news ! i started first on Houdini 19.5 but too much errors ! so i decided to switch the version to 18.5.532 ; if some roofs don't generate check the roof section on the city processor node.
@@gamawoodev It looks like the roof is generated in Houdini, probably because I'm new to Houdini and can't figure it out yet.
The whole city is generated in Houdini 😀 WE are just scratching the visible side of the iceberg !
@@gamawoodev What I mean is that it is correctly generated in Houdini, and the attributes that may be carried are incorrect, so they cannot be placed in ue.
@@qinjason1199 may be, i'm not sure as the graph in Houdini is complexe i'm still exploring !
Is it better to generate a city for mobiles with according performance, using PCG or Houdiny?
you can't use the city sample project for mobile , the assets used are high resolution and Nanite is incompatible with mobiles , i can't speak about PCG as it's a new technology only compatible with UE 5.1 version and above , if you want to cover all kind of platformes Houdini is the ultimate solution as you can target both Unreal Engine and Unity or modelers like Maya and 3Ds Max , the learning curve is important in Houdini but it's worth your time , hope this helps.
@@gamawoodev Thanks. What if you decrease LOD of the City Sample buildings/ remove unnecessary parts, or can you use other low-poly models instead?
@PsijicV my pleasure sharing 🤗, I wish things were this simple! In fact to have the simulation of a the city sample project many tools and plugins are used and customization of the city was not in mind when the design of the demo took place 😞, sorry if I'm not giving a straight forward answer, the reason is that there's not one in my humble opinion.
@@gamawoodev ok, what if you pre-generate a city and then can you "build" it, so next time it will be opened as basic assets without any PCG and mods used? Is it possible?
you're describing the Houdini way , pregenerated in Houdini then Imported to Unreal :-)
I needed to specifically see how ou connected freeway to street, and how you exported pbg to unreal... and both those parts were cut out...
Well this is the toughest part ! It will need a separate video to cover it 😃😁
I already explained that it will be a full playlist in the end of the video,,😀
you sounds like the actual guy in the City Demo presentation
I'm using the same set of technical complicated words but I'm not him I can assure you.😅
@@gamawoodev Haha. can you continue this series and teach how to use costom buildings, window, textures? Something of japanese city vibe would be great.
@@gamawoodev My man, not just technical words, but your accent, your tone, and pitch are identical.
Well if that's the case this cool I'll be honored to be member of Epic games stuff!
I'm working on it , it's really no easy task and the graph of the city processor is full of challenges so yes I'll do my best to be able to reach this ultimate goal!
Anyway to export Houdini city to 3ds max?
There's a 3dmax plugin available when you install Houdini,so I suppose there's a way to do so 😀
thanks
My pleasure!
how did you get the 3d view i got to the steps done but i can’t get it to show the buildings
Use space bar + b from keyboard, then select the perspective view from the four views you get
@@gamawoodev it didn’t work i see the perspective view but it just showing the red boarders and the green and blue lines
@@gamawoodev i can’t see the 3d building populating
Here now houdini 18.5.532 seems disappear..anymore cant download.. I did this tutorials by 18.5.7 but cant export PBC..is this tutorials available now..?😢
drive.google.com/file/d/1832cQv8_G60oKOfQNnBqcGznnbcBerD2/view?usp=drivesdk
This is the link for the version I'm using in the tutorial!
@@gamawoodev wow.. really appreciate! I will leave comment after retrying following your tutorial!! you're my god..
@user-ew3qz2ig2k no worries 😁! I'm just a tech guy chill out! I wish you good luck !
Processor1 is giving error how to solve it?
Follow the playlist on trouble shoot the errors, I reproduce most of the errors and explain how to solve them !
hello my city_layout is not visible in scene view nevertheless i check my path and all is all right, can u help me plz
There an eye button in each node click on it to make your node Visible.
@@gamawoodev i've lock that's it?
Just hover your mouse over the node Houdini will show you all the possible actions on it , give a try!
@@gamawoodev thankssss
@@outshurenmusique5709 you most welcome !
wow
👍👍👍
Is this word for word from the Documentation? I appreciate it if it is!
It takes most of the words from the documentation of unreal engine, I always read the manual 😃 !
Any idea how to use google maps data to make a real city?
May be I'm not sure, I'm sure There's a way to get Data from openstreetmap, I'll probably do a lecture on this topic as it's one of my favorites !
@@gamawoodev thanks man, I found a deep learning model that identifies the land, buildings and etc ( land cover classification Landsat 8)
You most welcome!
so im doing this and when i add the layout 1 i dont get the lines appearing, i went to check and files are correct, whats the issue
can't see your issue can u explain more ?
@@gamawoodevso when you add the layout and you get a city layout (muti colour) to show over the grey box mine doesn't show.
@@gamawoodevfrom 7:08 when you add layout, it doesn't work for me
Ok if colours don't show it's not an issue: make sure to connect the curves to the correct slot and continue the next steps.
@@gamawoodev i did an they still don't show up so i have no idea if the city is within the bounds
Can I do more than 5km like 30km
Sure 😃! But you'll have to wait for hours generating your City 🏙️ !
hi, how can i modify the shape i made with curves?
Just select one of the primitives of the curve with select tool then change it's position!
@@gamawoodev I've an error with city processor " Invalid source /obj/curve_object1/processor1/LOTS/foreach_end43 " can you help me?
This happen often: try to resize the shape of the city for a bigger one at least 1 square km or mile then reconnect your nodes and check .
@@gamawoodev hi, so i try and it still doesn't work
This needs more diving in the city sample project Houdini network graph to understand this behavior it's still a common issue among the comments on the playlist so I'm planning to make a wrap up video where I'll address it 😁
I cannot find nodes of city in houdini
Make sure to correctly set up your environment, start from the beginning of the playlist 😁.
Can I create some game using city simple project and sell it?
As long As you use Unreal engine you should not be in trouble if you use the assets of the city sample most of them come from Megascans but make sure to have at least Houdini Indie to make your own City!
Your PC seems very low spec, what was your FPS?
Yep it was , I'm having a better pc specs now you can check my specs in video description 😃, for the fps it was pretty low with my Nvidia 750ti 2gb , now I'm using an Rtx 2060
@@gamawoodev Yup, after checking the spec, I asked how much was your FPS. I was curious if someone run that on a low spec PC, what is the FPS expected.
Also interesting to know how much is your FPS with 2060 😊
I already sold my Nvidia GeForce 750ti , so I don't think I can provide you the Fps for sure but I remember something like 10 to 15 Fps !
part 2 pleasee
Sure 😃 ! I m preparing the video it will be soon uploaded on the channel !
@@gamawoodev i sent you an email :)
Just checked can't find it where did you send it?
You need 100gb for city sample
Yes you do need this amount of space disk 💿💿💿 !
Im develoving my own GTA5 lol
On your own ? That would be a great challenge 😀 ! Anyway good luck !
I can't even get the assets to show up properly lol
Can you please tell us Wich version of Houdini you use?
I figured it out, I literally just set up the folder in a different drive lol
19.5.
It's important to use the correct path 😃 , else it won't work!
It's probably a python 3 version so if you run on to issues there's a video about this topic on the playlist 😁
Was anyone able to solve this issue - Invalid source /obj/geo1/processor1/LOTS/foreach_end43
This is highly frustating, I built a dot-to-dot city as in the video with freeways and zones and I am still getting this error on Indie
Make sure to have a curve large enough in the city layout node and don't forget to give it a name.
Does anyone else get:
Invalid source /obj/geo1/processor1/LOTS/foreach_end43.
(Error: Failure to cook template geometry.).
after adding in the city processor?
this happens all the time if you give a small city shape ! try to modify the curve in the city layout to a bigger shape it will solve your issue !
@@gamawoodev thanks for the quick response. I've tried multiple shapes between about 650 and 1300. I'm on the latest version of Houdini 20.x. I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it.
@gregorymoody7730 you most welcome I didn't try Houdini 20 yet ! Careful to have an Indie version, Apprentice won't generate anything.
Oh ok....yeah I have the free apprentice version, maybe that's what it is
@@gamawoodev Hey, I'm trying to exhaust all options as Indie is fairly expensive for me. I traced the error back in the processor node to a node in a subnetwork. Unfortunately, I can't post a screenshot here but its in City Processor >> City_Lot_Processor (titled "LOTS") >> BGEO_DATA_WRANGLING >> file3.
Error: Unable to read file "C:/CitySampleSource/MyCity/houdini/otls/BGEO_Data/BDF_Data.bgeo."
Error: GeometryIO[hjson]: Unable to open file 'C:/CitySampleSource/MyCity/houdini/otls/BGEO_Data/BDF_Data.bgeo'
GeometryIO[hclassic]: Unable to open file 'C:/CitySampleSource/MyCity/houdini/otls/BGEO_Data/BDF_Data.bgeo'
That file path does exist and I opened houdini in administrator (this time I'm using 18.5.627 instead of 20.x). Do you happen to have any idea why Houdini would have trouble opening that file? My first thought was permissions issue, but I assume if I opened with administrator that would negate any permissions issues.
Invalid source /obj/geo1/processor1/BUILDING_VOLUME_filecache/read_back.
(Error: Unable to read file "C:/CitySampleSource/MyCity/CACHES/BUILDING_VOLUME.bgeo.sc".
GeometryIO[hjson]: Unable to open file 'C:/CitySampleSource/MyCity/CACHES/BUILDING_VOLUME.bgeo.sc'
GeometryIO[hclassic]: Unable to open file 'C:/CitySampleSource/MyCity/CACHES/BUILDING_VOLUME.bgeo.sc
Any clue what the above issue is, somehow my this issue - Invalid source /obj/geo1/processor1/LOTS/foreach_end43 was resolved after adding houdini folder to python310libs.
Sorry , your message has been hold by UA-cam algorithm for review , i hope you found a solution to your issue !