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  • Book Overview & Buying Build Stunning Real-time VFX with Unreal Engine 5
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Build Stunning Real-time VFX with Unreal Engine 5

Build Stunning Real-time VFX with Unreal Engine 5

By : Hrishikesh Andurlekar
4.8 (19)
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Build Stunning Real-time VFX with Unreal Engine 5

Build Stunning Real-time VFX with Unreal Engine 5

4.8 (19)
By: Hrishikesh Andurlekar
Buy this Book

Overview of this book

While no game would be complete without visual effects, the ever-evolving VFX industry churns out stellar digital environments that can make your games stand out from the crowd. Build Stunning Real-time VFX with Unreal Engine 5 is here to help you boost your creativity using Niagara to make jaw-dropping particle systems backed by the power of Unreal Engine 5—without a line of code. This handy guide for VFX artists takes you through the principles and concepts of designing particle systems and design workflows, along with the architecture of Niagara, Unreal Engine 5’s VFX system. Throughout the book, you’ll build a series of mini projects that will put your particle system knowledge to the test. As you advance, you’ll cover topics such as creating your own custom modules, debugging workflows, and controlling particles with blueprints, and conclude by working on two projects that will bring everything together into a neat package. By the end of this VFX book, you’ll have a deeper understanding of particle systems, improving your skills, portfolio, and the chances of being employed by studios using Unreal Engine 5.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
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Preface
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Preface
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Who this book is for
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What this book covers
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To get the most out of this book
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Download the example code files
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Download the color images
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Conventions used
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Get in touch
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Share Your Thoughts
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Download a free PDF copy of this book
1
Part 1: Introduction to Niagara and Particle Systems in Unreal Engine 5
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Part 1: Introduction to Niagara and Particle Systems in Unreal Engine 5
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2
Chapter 1: Getting Started with Unreal Engine Particle System Frameworks
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Chapter 1: Getting Started with Unreal Engine Particle System Frameworks
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Technical requirements
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Particle systems in Unreal
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Cascade particle system
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The reasons behind Niagara’s development
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Use cases for Niagara
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Summary
3
Chapter 2: Understanding Particle System Concepts
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Chapter 2: Understanding Particle System Concepts
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Technical requirements
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Exploring key particle concepts
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Vector mathematics and matrices and their representation in Niagara
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Understanding particle system tools
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Summary
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Chapter 3: Exploring Niagara Concepts and Architecture
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Chapter 3: Exploring Niagara Concepts and Architecture
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Technical requirements
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The Niagara architecture
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Summary
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Chapter 4: Building Our First Niagara System
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Chapter 4: Building Our First Niagara System
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Technical requirements
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Exploring the Niagara Editor UI
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The Niagara Editor
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Creating an Emitter
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Creating a Niagara System
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Adding a Niagara System to a level
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Adding a Niagara System to a Blueprint Actor
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Summary
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Chapter 5: Diving into Emitter-System Overrides
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Chapter 5: Diving into Emitter-System Overrides
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Technical requirements
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Module Override
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Parameter Override
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Summary
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Part 2: Dive Deeper into Niagara for VFX
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Part 2: Dive Deeper into Niagara for VFX
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Chapter 6: Exploring Dynamic Inputs
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Chapter 6: Exploring Dynamic Inputs
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Technical requirements
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What are Dynamic Inputs?
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Creating random colored particles using Dynamic Inputs
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Summary
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Chapter 7: Creating Custom Niagara Modules
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Chapter 7: Creating Custom Niagara Modules
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Technical requirements
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Creating a new module
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The Niagara Module Script Editor
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Editing a Niagara Module to create custom effects
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Summary
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Chapter 8: Local Modules and Versioning
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Chapter 8: Local Modules and Versioning
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Technical requirements
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Exploring Local Modules
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Publishing modules and versioning
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Summary
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Chapter 9: Events and Event Handlers
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Chapter 9: Events and Event Handlers
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Technical requirements
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What are Events and Event Handlers?
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Tutorial – how to create fireworks
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Summary
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Chapter 10: Debugging Workflow in Niagara
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Chapter 10: Debugging Workflow in Niagara
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Technical requirements
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Exploring the Niagara Debugger panel
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Debug Drawing
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Performance profiling
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Debug console commands
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Summary
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Chapter 11: Controlling Niagara Particles Using Blueprints
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Chapter 11: Controlling Niagara Particles Using Blueprints
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Technical requirements
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Exploring the User Parameters module
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Calling Niagara User Exposed settings from Blueprint Actors
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Tutorial – modifying a Niagara System using Blueprint Actors
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Summary
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Index
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Index
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Why subscribe?
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Other Books You May Enjoy
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Other Books You May Enjoy
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Packt is searching for authors like you
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Share Your Thoughts
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Download a free PDF copy of this book

Technical requirements

For this chapter, you need to have access to a machine capable of running Unreal Engine 5. We are going to use the default assets, which should be available with your installation of Unreal Engine.

Here are the steps to install Unreal Engine using the Epic Games Launcher:

  1. Download the Epic Games Launcher: Visit the Unreal Engine website (https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download) and click on the Download button. After downloading the installation file, double-click on it to install the Epic Games Launcher.
  2. Sign in or create an account: If you already have an Unreal Engine account, sign in. If you don’t, create a new account.
  3. Launch the Epic Games Launcher: Once you’ve signed in, launch the Epic Games Launcher.
  4. Install Unreal Engine: In the Epic Games Launcher, click on the Library tab, find Unreal Engine in the list, and click Install next to it. The installation process will begin, and you can monitor its progress in the Downloads tab. Make sure that you have at least 80 GB of disk space as the full Unreal Engine installation may take up to 60 GB.
  5. Launch Unreal Engine: Once the installation is complete, you can launch Unreal Engine by clicking on the Launch button in the Epic Games Launcher.

And that’s it! You’ve now successfully installed Unreal Engine using the Epic Games Launcher.

These are the recommended system configuration requirements:

  • Windows 10 (64-bit, version 20H2)
  • 32 GB RAM
  • 256 GB SSD (OS drive)
  • 2 TB SSD (data drive)
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER

AMD Ryzen 7 5800H and above (Intel Core i9, 10th generation and above)

You can find the project we worked on in this book here:

https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Build-Stunning-Real-time-VFX-with-Unreal-Engine-5

Let us now understand how particle systems are implemented in Unreal Engine.

End of Section 2
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