The Crowd feature lets you generate a diverse group of NPCs based on one or more Templates. You can vary each character’s shape, height, weight, and clothing combinations; creating realistic, dynamic crowds in just a few minutes.

🎬 Check our Tutorial Video:

1. Create a New Crowd

1. Go to the Project tab and locate the Crowds section
2. Right-click on Crowds and choose: → Create → Crowd

3. A new Crowd object will appear in the project tree. We suggest you give it a meaningful name.

2. Add Characters to the Crowd

1. Left-click the newly created Crowd object
2. In the panel below the Outliner, find the Characters Per Template section

• Drag in a Template (e.g., Male)
• Enter the number of characters you want (e.g., 10)

3. Click Apply Character Count to generate the crowd

4. New characters will appear in the tree under the Crowd object
5. Drag the new created Crowd into the Outliner to see a live preview

Tip: At this stage, all characters will look the same; you’ll introduce variation in the next steps.

3. Create Your First Crowd Rule

1. In the Crowds section of the tree, right-click your Crowd → Create → Crowd Rule

2. A new rule will appear under Crowds → Crowd Rules

3. Below the Outliner, drag a Deformable (e.g., SportShort) or Shape into the Properties panel

4. Rename the rule to something clear, like Crowd Rule Shorts
5. Click Apply Changes
6. Repeat this step to add more rules e.g., another for a shirt

4) Assign Rules Using the Crowd Rule Editor

1. Left-click the previously created Crowd object
2. Below the crowd preview, you’ll find the Crowd Rule Editor (Graph)
3. Drag your Crowd Rules into this editor window
4. Connect them in sequence using lines, starting from the Crowd → Rule 1 → Rule 2, etc.

5. Add Shape Variation (Shape Blending)

1. Create a new Crowd Rule (right-click on Crowds → Create → Crowd Rule)
2. Rename it (e.g., Crowd Rule Shapes)
3. Drag previously prepared Shapes (e.g., Tall, TestShape) into the Properties panel

4. Add this rule to the Crowd Rule Editor and connect it with the others

6. Randomize the Crowd

1. In the editor, click Randomize Asset

2. The crowd will regenerate using all the rules you've applied

7) Edit Individual Characters (Optional)

1. In Crowds → [Your Crowd], find a specific character
2. Left-click to select it and edit its properties
3. You can also change its Shape:

• Drag a new Shape (e.g., Tall) into the Weighted Properties field
• Just make sure to remove the previous value first (e.g., TestShape)

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When an individual character is edited, it becomes automatically locked and is excluded from global randomization. To re-include the character, simply disable the Locked toggle.

8. Final Result

You now have a fully generated, visually diverse crowd, ready for use in your project.

9. Advanced: Understanding Crowd Rule Editor and Facial Variation Rules

Branching Rules: More Than Just a Chain

In the Crowd Rule Editor Graph, you're not limited to a single linear chain of rules. You can:

• Branch rules out from the Crowd object,
• Assign parallel rule paths to test different configurations,
• Combine rules that affect different parts of the character (e.g., height vs. clothing),
• Use weighting logic to influence how often certain rule branches are applied (coming soon in updates).

This gives you full flexibility to design dynamic, layered character variation logic.

Crowd Rules: Not Just for Clothing

Many users start by using Crowd Rules to assign different garments (Deformables) like shirts or pants. But remember:

• You can also create Crowd Rules using Shapes, such as Tall, Heavy, Short, or custom-made shapes.

• This allows you to control body proportions, head shape, and posture across the Crowd.

Tip: For basic body shape variations, use the DEFAULT blend type with 1 or 2 shapes. In this mode, each shape is treated as an independent delta blendshape. For more complex blending, like generating facial variations, use the EXTREME blend type: it dynamically combines the selected shapes to generate new deltas on the fly, reducing distortion and avoiding artifacts caused by adding multiple correlated shapes. This mode also enables negative weights, with a default weight range of (–1, 1), allowing for more varied and expressive combinations. In this case, using more shapes and setting the blend number to 3 is usually recommended.

Tip: Combine Rules for Maximum Effect

Want a truly varied crowd?

1. Add rules for:

• Facial Shape
• Height
• Weight
• Garments
• Others

2. Randomize!
3. Tweak individual characters afterward if needed.

Result: A believable, heterogeneous group of characters ready to populate your world.