DERIVE ROADMAP
Since Derive is still in the beta stage, there are a lot of features in the pipeline for the final release and beyond. Here you can get an overview of how Derive is going to go from a procedural texture creation tool to a full blown texturing system for complex objects. The list below describes features that are already planned and does not include feature request from the community. Likewise such requests are not included in the list below and can be found in the Issue and Feature Request Tracker >>
OPERATIONS STACK
While Derive is very convenient to work with thanks to it’s node-based approach, the challenges that come with it are obvious. More complex projects become more demanding in terms of hardware requirements and more difficult to overview. The operations stack is a remedy to that challenge, allowing individual operations that would otherwise require adding additional nodes to the canvass, to be attached to an already existing node. This way one node can perform a variety of operations that would otherwise require a whole sequence of nodes and is ideal for stacking operations without having to be able to access the result of each operation individually. While the workload on the machine running the editor is not significantly reduced by it, both the memory usage, as well as the clarity improve drastically.
SUPPORT FOR MULTIPLE RENDER PIPELINES
In the beta stage Derive only supports Unity’s Standard render pipeline. While the output can be used in any render pipeline and even in any tool outside of Unity that sticks to standardized texture parameters for surface renderings, the editor itself does not work with any other render pipeline. This is an obvious weakness and support for URP and HDRP will be essential for the final release.
MESH-BASED DATA
At this point Derive works without any mesh data and serves purely as a tool for procedural texture design. While the result can be previewed on a multitude of mesh objects, including custom ones, there is currently no way to manipulate the mapping of the created textures on them. To make the editor more powerful, it will incorporate the ability to retrieve mesh data that helps mapping textures on individual meshes, allowing to render different surfaces on different parts of an object. This will not only save time, but also offer the possibility of quickly texturing complex objects without having to fiddle with the object’s UV-layout.
TRIPLANAR MAPPING
Another feature that will make use of mesh data, will be the ability to use mesh data to map textures on a given object, without having to manipulate the object’s UV-layout. This will not only drastically speed up the texturing process, but also make it a lot easier to texture an object without visible seams. To achieve this, an extention called ‘Bakery’ will be added to the editor, allowing the storage of mesh data, such as object normals and vertex positions in textures.
VERTEX PAINTING
Sometimes procedural design is not enough. A texture may require a more individual design, like a decal or artifacts put specifically in places desired by the designer. At this point, such ‘masks’ have to be painted, using traditional painting tools and then imported into the Derive editor for usage. The obvious weakness is not only the requirement of additional tools, but also the difficulty of mapping the result correctly. Therefore Derive will get a mesh painting feature that allows painting decals and/or masks directly on a 3D-object and use the result without ever having to leave the editor.
ADDITIONAL NODES
While Derive already offers a wide variety of features through it’s nodes, it is unlikely that the nodes, it already has will be all. In fact requirements for additional mapping techniques, such as circular mapping have already popped up. Derive will thus get additional nodes that follow the community requirements as closely as possible.
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