Polygonflow’s Dash automates world building in UE5
Polygonflow has released Dash, its new tool for creating complex scenes in Unreal Engine 5.
The add-on – a rebranded version of Polygonflow’s GraphN Library – is intended to streamline the process of populating environments, particularly natural environments.
Users can assemble detailed scenes almost entirely through text prompts and drag-and-drop workflows.
A new name for Polygonflow’s GraphN Library, minus GraphN itself
Launched last year, Polygonflow’s GraphN was a node-based visual programming environment for developing custom tools for Unreal Engine or Maya.
As well as the node editor itself, subscribers got access to the GraphN Library: a set of workflow tools developed using GraphN.
Dash is a rebranded version of the library for Unreal Engine 5: although it includes some legacy tools for Maya, Polygonflow is marketing it solely for Unreal Engine.
Development of the node editor has been “paused”, and the editor removed completely from Dash.
Build Unreal environments quickly using readymade behaviours
Pitched as “your copilot for world building in Unreal Engine”, Dash is designed to streamline the process of populating complex scenes in Unreal Engine.
It is intended to enable artists to build scenes without having to navigate the Unreal Editor’s interface, working primarily in fullscreen mode in the viewport.
It provides readymade behaviours – accessible by typing natural-language search terms into a floating prompt bar – for common scene-building tasks like ‘create terrain’ and ‘apply water’.
A second floating panel provides access to key parameters to adjust the results.
Dash also provides quick access to readymade assets – currently those that a user downloaded from the Megascans library, free for use with Unreal Engine – for populating scenes.
It comes with tools for instancing and scattering objects, like grass and rocks, with the option to mask out the ground surface along curves, with meshes, or even with other instanced objects.
In the video above, you can see the workflow in action to assemble a scene: workflow is currently geared to natural environments, but Polygonflow is “expanding to man-made environments”.
Pricing and system requirements
Dash is compatible with Unreal Engine 5+. It is rental-only.
Freelance subscriptions, for artists and studios with revenues under $250,000/year, cost $20/month or $190/year. Enterprise subscriptions cost $180/month or $1,700/year.