unreal – Page 5 – Oded Maoz Erell's CG Log

UE4 – Material Transform Vector Node

Posted on February 8, 2018February 8, 2018 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

The Transform Vector material node transform the supplied vector between different geometrical spaces according to your choice:

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Note:
This is useful in order to convert surface normals from Tangent Space to World Space to connect them as input to a Fresnel Node.

UE4 – Changing the timing of animation tracks in the Sequencer

Posted on February 4, 2018 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

To move multiple clips in multiple track to a different time:

Shift + Click multiple clips to select them.
Click on one of the selected clips and drag to change time.

Note:
Infinite clips like Key-frame sequences in Transform tracks must be made finite to be movable.
Right-Click the track and in Properties uncheck Infinite.
* Make the the track Infinite again after the operation if needed.

Basic architectural glazing material in UE4

Posted on February 1, 2018June 30, 2020 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

Create a new material, and double click it to edit it.
In the Details panel, under Material, set Blend Mode to Translucent.
In the Details panel, under Translucency, set Lighting Mode to Surface Translucency Volume.
Set Base Color to White.
Set Metallic to 1.
Set Roughness to 0.
Create a Fresnel node and connect it to the Opacity input.
In the Fresnel node, set Base Reflect Fraction to control reflection amount in perpendicular surface viewing angle (front).
* Note that its connected to Opacity, but since the material is basically a flat mirror, when it’s not purely transparent it will be reflective.
In the Fresnel node, set Exponent to control the reflection amount falloff curve from perpendicular surface viewing angle (front) to parallel surface viewing angle (sides).
* Higher values will create a steep falloff curve, resulting in less reflection in most viewing angles.

Related:

Material Parameters and Instances in UE4

Posted on February 1, 2018December 26, 2019 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

Material Parameters and Material instances allow you to create a customizable material template that can be easily reused with variations across the project.
In the Parent Material, you define the parameters that will be exposed for tweaking in the Material Instances.
Changing the Parent Material will affect all its instances.

Defining customizable parameters in the Parent Material:

Create 3Vector Constant. (press 3 and left click the blueprint background)
* Parameters can also be created with other types of data like a Constant or a Texture Sample and more.
Right click the 3Vector node you created and choose Convert to Parameter.
In the Details Panel, name the parameter.

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Creating the Material Instance:

Right click the Parent Material and choose Create Material Instance.
Name the Material Instance.
Double click the Material Instance to edit it.
In the Details panel, under Parameter Groups you will be able to edit the exposed parameters and create a variation of the material.

Vector Parameters in the UE4 Material Blueprint

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

UE4 Material Blueprint Numerical Vector Parameters / Constants and Colors are one and the same, which makes perfects sense, since in computer graphics colors are in fact 3D vectors, RGB quantities being equivalent to XYZ spatial dimensions (4D with an Alpha channel)

But take note that when setting the Vector values in the color picker you can’t set negative values, and when doing so through the Details window in Default Value you can.

* You can create 3D Vector Constants by clicking the background while pressing 3

Unreal Engine 3D viewport navigation

Posted on January 28, 2018January 28, 2018 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

LMB Drag – move horizontally on the X Y plane.

MMB Drag – move on the viewing vertical plane (to the sides and up / down ).

RMB Drag – Rotate (Pan) the view without moving.

Alt + LMB Drag – Arc Rotate view

Alt + RMB Drag – Dolly In / Out view (move forward and back ward along viewing axis)

F – Frame Selection (Zoom Extents)

UE4 Sequencer – Scaling keys (stretching animation time)

Posted on January 21, 2018July 15, 2020 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.25

Right click the animation track (the space between the keys), and in Properties, unlock the Section range Start and Section Range End properties to make the section time finite so it can be scaled.
* You can also set custom start and end time for the section.
The Track (the green range) will now be finite, containing the keys.
Ctrl + Drag the end of the track to scale it including the keys.

Scale_Keys

Related posts:

UE4 – Create a Billboard (Sprite)

Posted on January 3, 2018January 3, 2018 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

Create a new Blueprint Actor.
Enter the Actor Editor and add a‘Billboard’ component to it.
In the Billboard’s Details panel, under ‘Sprite’, select the Billboard texture.
In the Billboard’s Details panel, under ‘Rendering’, Uncheck ‘Hidden In Game’.

UE4 Actor Blueprint – Referencing another Actor instance

Posted on January 2, 2018January 2, 2018 by Oded Maoz Erell

Software:
Unreal Engine 4.18

A direct reference to another actor instance can’t be created from within the blueprint because it can only be provided at run-time after the instances have been created, both the current actor and the other actor we want to refer to.

In the Actor Blueprint:

Add a new variable of type Actor > Object Reference
Make the variable public and editable in the editor (the eye button..)
Hit Compile and Save.

In the Map Editor:

Place both actors in the map and save it.
Select the actor in which you created the reference variable.
In the Details panel, set the Actor property you created to the wanted other Actor instance.