Version 2.0.19 - Houdini 19.5.752

Version 2.0.19 - Houdini 19.5.752

Update 19 of the Houdini Engine for Unreal Plugin.

The plugin is now linked to Houdini 19.5.752 / HAPI 5.0.8.

Source and binaries are included for:
UE4.27, UE5.2, and UE5.3 on Windows.
UE4.27, UE5.1 and UE5.2 on Mac OS.
UE5.2 on Mac OS (Apple Silicon).

Please note that the source code available in the 5.0 branch is compatible with UE5.0 , 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3.

Changes:

• Added support for Unreal 5.3

UI:

• Added the "Houdini" section category (aka details panel "filters").
  Enabling it will only display the Houdini engine details category in the details panel.
  (Houdini Engine, Parameters, Inputs, Outputs, PDG Asset Link, Handles)
• Parameters and Inputs can now be searched by name or label.
  Most of the plugin's UI is now searchable via the details panel's search box.

Inputs/Outputs:

• Added support for exporting Skeletal Mesh's LODs to Houdini.
• Added support for exporting Skeletal Mesh's Sockets.
• Added support for exporting Skeletal Mesh's simple colliders.
• The "clear all" button on geometry inputs now still leaves a default, empty input.

Landscape/World Partition:

• Added supported for importing level instances into Houdini from Unreal.
• Added supported for instancing level instances exported from Houdini. docs
• Added support for HLOD Layers. (via the "unreal_hlod_layer" atribute)
• Added ability to lock and unlock landscape edit layers via attributes. docs
• Added support for user-specified bake folder when baking landscapes.

Other:

• Added support for enums when using "unreal_property_XXX" attributes.
• Added component level material and physical material overrides when using world inputs with the new input system.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug with the PDG Asset Link where if there is a bypassed node in the TOP network, or a TOP node that contains child nodes, then OnPostTOPNetworkCookDelegate was not called.
• Fixed an issue where Map Check would fail after reloading a map containing a Physics Volume instancer.
• Prevent a warning log message when an instancer that spawns actors (via HoudiniInstancedActorComponent) is destroyed. For each spawned actor we check that the actor's world is still valid/non-null before destroying the actor.
• Fixed an issue with instancer output where if both unreal_material and unreal_material_instance attributes are present, then empty string unreal_material values would override non-empty string unreal_material_instance values at the same index.
• Fixed a bug where the separate InstancedStaticMeshComponents of split instancers (unreal_split_attr) could get assigned the same material, or incorrect materials, even if each split had a distinct material assigned via unreal_material or unreal_material_instance.
• Fixed transforms not updating when a camera actor is assigned to an input.
• Fixed UE5.3 build warnings.
• Fixed a bug caused by UE5.3 that broke the drag and drop of an asset from the content browser to the level viewport.
  Houdini assets are now instantiated as HoudiniAssetActors in the level as expected.
• Added comments to the Public API InstantiateAsset, CreateWrapper and CreateEmptyWrapper functions, as well as the Blueprint and C++ examples, about the Public API not managing the lifecycle of UHoudiniPublicAPIAssetWrapper after creation, and the need to use a UProperty/Blueprint variable to prevent garbage collection.
• Fixed paint layers being incorrectly sent to Houdini with non-square landscapes.
• Fixed a bug where curve inputs were not being connected to the input Merge SOP when using the new input system.
• Added export of input mesh name when exporting simple collision shapes.
• Fixed build errors on Linux (UE5)
• Fixed build warnings related to deprecated function calls when compiling against UE 5.3
• Fixed ramp values not being editable when the Enter key is pressed to enter values.
• Fixed a bug with static mesh input when colliders are being exported (when not using the new input system) where after the physical material Attrib Wrangle is created, the remaining nodes of export data for the static mesh, such as sockets, would be connected to the Attrib Wrangle instead of to the Merge SOP.
• Fixed an issue in the new input system where node ID re-use could result in deleting the wrong nodes in the Houdini session when recooking an HDA actor.
• Fixed an issue in the new input system where recooking HDA actors that use the same assets in their inputs could result in the object merges using old / incorrect node paths in the Houdini session: these paths are now updated when uploading inputs to HoudiniGeometry input transforms are now applied when using Blueprint assets as geometry inputs with the new input system.
• Fixed Physics Volume instancers not baking correctly.
• Fixed multiparms not resetting in the details panel.
• Fixed parameter details not displaying correctly if tabs are hidden.
• Fixed multiple paint layers in the same edit layer not being cleared when modifying landscapes.
• Fixed missing material slot prefixes with material attributes in skeletal mesh input
  Material parameter attributes are now created when "Export Material Parameters" is selected with skeletal mesh input
• Fixed an issue where the collider creation of skeletal mesh input could fail if one or more body setups have simple physical materials
• Fixed an issue in the new input system with component level material and physical material overrides where group filters were preventing the overrides from being applied in some cases
• Fixed a bug where the Houdini Session crashed when using "Export Input asReferences" on world inputs with the new input system.
• Fixed a crash when baking landscapes twice that use temporary cooking layers.
• Fixed multi parameter blocks not expanding.
• Fixed a rare crash when changing maps with an HDA loaded.
• Fixed an issue with the PDG asset link where the references that the asset link, and related data structures, keep to work result output actors, objects and bake outputs were not always saved correctly, predominantly when using One File Per Actor in UE5.
• Fixed a crash when there is a duplicate layer when exporting height fields.
• Fixed a bug where cooked / temporary output HoudiniInstancedActorComponents, HoudiniMeshSplitInstancerComponents and SplineComponents on the HoudiniAssetActor were not cleaned up when duplicating the actor.
• Fixed folders not expanding on parameters detail panel when using widgets.
• Added ability to attach foliage instances to actors in Unreal.
• Fixed an issue where instanced mesh transforms could be stored in the wrong order, causing custom attribute data not to align correctly.
• Fixed a crash / ensure() condition failure when rebuilding / cooking HDA actors with instancer output in UE5.
• Work around for Houdini Asset Component properties not expanding correctly in Editor Utility Widgets.
• Fixed a bug where the PDG post bake delegate could be called before all relevant work items are baked in the PDG asset link when the TOP network contains dynamically generated work items.
• Auto-baking with the PDG asset link now has a new option (enabled by default) to also bake work items from TOP nodes with some failed work items. Previously if a TOP node had any failed work items none of its work items would be auto-baked.
• Fixed an issue where components created during output processing were not always saved correctly when using one file per actor / external actor packages in UE5.
• Updated how input object settings are stored internally in UHoudiniInput and UHoudiniInputObject.
• Fixed visibility not being applied correctly to landscapes imported into Unreal.
• Fixed a possible null pointer reference when deleting a StaticMeshComponent from an Actor used as a world input.
• Fixed an issue in the new input system where the input objects would not always be marked to be rebuilt / retransmitted to Houdini when required.
• The new input system now sets the display flag of the top level subnets that represent the content browser to off. This hides the shared input assets that the system creates that were visible and clustered together at the origin.
• Fixed an issue when editing the value of the "Unreal Spline Resolution" property, on the input details panel on the HoudiniAssetComponent, where the value would be reverted upon pressing Enter.
• Removed the need for having a 'S' after tagS when setting actor/component Tags via the unreal_uproperty_tag / unreal_uproperty_ActorTag or unreal_uproperty_ComponentTag attributes.
• Fixed a crash when setting up material for a specific slot on instancers, without having an attribute set for the previous material slots
  .ie, set unreal_material3 (for slot3) without having set unreal_material1/unreal_material2.
• Fixed an issue with the new input system when sending Unreal spline components.
• Fixed crash in World Partition levels when passing a Blueprint to a Houdini Asset and Playing.
• Fixed a regression that caused previous output data to not be reused when recooking an HDA.
  This, for example, prevented previous instanced actors to be reused deleted.
• Fixed an issue that caused reused/new instanced actors to not call PostEditChange after a recook.
  This caused issue, for example, when instantiating NavMesh modules, as the nav mesh was only properly updated for new actors, not for reused one that were simply moved to their new transform.
• Fixed baking issues in landscapes where Unreal would not show updates.
• Fixed a crash when specifying an invalid material instance to the landscape code.
• Fixed landscape parent actor getting dirtied when using temp layers.