Flow Map Studio

Module: Art · Category: TextureArt · Tool ID: FlowMapStudio

An interactive flow map authoring tool with a paintable 2D canvas. Click-and-drag to paint directional flow strokes, scroll to resize the brush, see live color-coded flow preview (R = X, G = Y), generate procedural flow patterns (radial, directional, vortex, four noise types, curl, three Worley variants, domain-warped FBM), and export as PNG or UE texture.

Studio open with a painted flow map visible on the canvas, brush ring on the canvas, arrow overlay showing flow vectors.

When to use it

• Authoring water/wind/lava flow maps for animated material UVs
• Generating procedural flow patterns to feed Niagara or material functions
• Quick flow-map fixes without leaving UE for an external tool
• Building stylized distortion maps for VFX

What it isn’t for

• Don’t expect 3D-aware painting. This is 2D canvas only. For 3D-projected flow painting, you’d need a dedicated DCC.

Opening the tool

1. Open the EQLabs Hub and search for Flow Map (or browse to Art → TextureArt).
2. Click the tool card.
3. Paint on the canvas with click-and-drag, or use the procedural generation modes.

Interface tour

Section	What it does	Default
Canvas resolution combo	Output texture size	512×512
Canvas widget	Paintable 2D canvas; mouse wheel resizes brush
Brush Size	Brush radius in canvas pixels	30.0
Brush Strength	Stroke deposit strength (0–1)	0.8
Brush Falloff	Soft-edge curve (0=hard, 1=soft)	0.5
Erase Mode	Paints neutral (128, 128) when on	false
Generate Mode combo	Procedural pattern type (Radial / Directional / Vortex / Perlin / Simplex / FBM / Curl / Worley F1 / Worley F2 / Worley F1F2 / DomainWarpedFBM)	Radial
Generate Angle	Angle parameter for Directional mode	0.0
Noise Scale / Seed / Octaves / Lacunarity / Persistence	Noise generation parameters	sensible defaults
Generate	Runs the procedural mode
Blur Iterations	Smoothing passes	1
Blur Flow Map	Apply Gaussian blur
Show Arrows	Toggle arrow overlay visualization	true
Clear	Reset canvas to neutral
Import Reference	Loads a reference texture as background guide
Export PNG / Export UE Asset	Save the flow map

Painting behavior

• Click and drag. Drag direction defines the flow direction at each painted pixel.
• Mouse wheel. Resizes brush in real-time (no modifier needed).
• Erase Mode on. Paints neutral (128, 128) (no flow) instead of directional values.

Studio showing a Vortex pattern generated, color-coded flow visible, arrow overlay highlighting rotation.

Workflow

Painting from scratch

1. Set canvas resolution (512 is fine for most flow maps).
2. Set brush size (or use mouse wheel to resize on the fly).
3. Click and drag — drag direction defines flow direction.
4. Use Erase Mode to clear individual regions.
5. Apply Blur for smoother transitions.
6. Export PNG or UE Asset.

Generating procedurally

1. Pick a generation mode.
2. Tune mode-specific parameters.
3. Click Generate — the canvas fills with the procedural pattern.
4. Optionally paint over the result to customize.
5. Export.

Hybrid (procedural + paint)

Generate a base pattern (e.g., Radial outward flow), then paint over specific regions to customize. Best of both worlds.

Settings reference

Field	Range	Default
Canvas Width / Height	256 – 4096	512
Brush Size	1 – 200	30
Brush Strength	0 – 1	0.8
Brush Falloff	0 – 1	0.5
Generate Mode	enum	Radial
Noise Scale	0.1 – 32	4.0
Noise Octaves	1 – 8	4
Noise Lacunarity	1 – 4	2.0
Noise Persistence	0 – 1	0.5
Blur Iterations	0 – 10	1

Settings are persisted to [Project]/Saved/EQLabs/Settings/FlowMapStudio.json.

Output

• PNG file. Via Export PNG (saved to disk via OS dialog).
• UTexture2D UAsset. Via Export UE Asset (saved to Content Browser at the configured asset path).
• Color encoding. R = X direction, G = Y direction, neutral = (128, 128) (no flow). B = strength.

Tips and gotchas

• Flow direction is encoded in R/G channels. Most material setups expect this; if you need a different encoding, post-process the result.
• Mouse wheel resizes the brush. No modifier key needed.
• Erase Mode paints neutral, not transparent. For actual transparency, you’d need a separate alpha pass.
• Apply Blur to soften painted strokes. Typically 1–2 iterations for clean results.
• Domain-warped FBM is the most “natural” procedural mode. Looks like real water flow.
• Reference texture import is just a background guide. Doesn’t affect output.

Related tools

• Smart Mask & Texture Processor — for non-flow texture processing
• Texture Authoring Suite — seamless texture and variation generation
• Niagara Profiler — analyze Niagara systems that consume flow maps