Unreal Engine 4 - first examples

Sinking

I'm sure there are people, who have been using U4 for some time now, but I only got access a few days ago. I wanted to do something modular, so this space station/maintenance area was kind of a perfect oportunity to try out U4.

So far I'm superhappy and impressed by how good this engine is! Never been easier importing anything, and I've barely just scratched the surface of the new materials. How are your experiences so far? Something to show yet?

Also, does anyone know if I still have to invert the green channel of the normal map? I can't help but feel some of these normals are inverted, but I'm too tired and happy to bother now. If you can, try out U4, I know ...advertising, but I really like this engine!

electricsauce

Unreal still uses DirectX so you'll still have to invert the channel.

David1983

what does this mean? inverting the green chanel in normal maps ?

ZacD

There's 2 different standards for how normal map channels should work, the only difference between the two is the greeen channel being inverted (images are made up of 3 RGB channels (red green and blue)).

3ds Max and Unreal Engine often need the green channel inverted if the normal map is coming from another application.

If the green channel is the wrong way some detail will appear to be inset instead of embossed, and there will be seams on UV edges.

Sinking

Wow yeah, you definitely still have to reverse the green channel. I got the right results now. Also, I played around with the materials some more, which are awesome to no end!

Lighting is overkill (and there are no lightsources yet), but this is just to demonstrate the materials, really. From here on I can understand how these layered materials come into play. As nice as it is too have everything glossy, masking parts with different materials will be needed. But for now everything shines. Lovin' this engine more every hour ^^

ambershee

The future is shiny.

Clark Coots

one way to invert the green channel is in the shader by multiplying the normal map by 1, -1, 1

Fogbrain

How is UE4? I was considering buying the version available, but maybe I should wait it out until any kinks that need to be fixed are worked out.

Gilgamesh

coots7 wrote: »

one way to invert the green channel is in the shader by multiplying the normal map by 1, -1, 1

Actually is a toggle to do it in the texture viewer so no need to even do that...

Sinking

Gilgamesh wrote: »

Actually is a toggle to do it in the texture viewer so no need to even do that...

Hi,

where is a toggle in the texture viewer in U4? I have looked all over and can't seem to find it. Would be very handy indeed, especially in those early testing stages.

I made some moar props and started stuffing the scene. Textures aren't final yet, but I love the simplicity of making decent looking materials with U4 in no time. Fun engine!



civil version crate:


military texture (hahah):


barrels (white strip was changed a bit, but I got no screenshot):



So nobody else is making anything, or are you just too shy to show ^^?

Post something, bro!

Sinking

Crap, I just realized, I posted in "Technical Talk", because my bookmarks brought me straight here. I realize there is a better place to show some assets and get feedback. Sorry about that!

WarrenM

where is a toggle in the texture viewer in U4? I have looked all over and can't seem to find it.

If you double click your normal map texture there is a checkbox in the properties for flipping the green channel. It's not in the material editor...

JoakimMellergard

A small project I made for UE 4 during the last couple of days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOLdQ_byJxw

Joopson

WarrenM wrote: »

If you double click your normal map texture there is a checkbox in the properties for flipping the green channel. It's not in the material editor...

One thing, I always miss the little "view more" down arrow button in some menus. There is one here. The option is hidden until you click it.

Sinking

Joopson wrote: »

One thing, I always miss the little "view more" down arrow button in some menus. There is one here. The option is hidden until you click it.

Thanks! You' da man! That's why I never found it either. Well done hiding important stuff, EPIC. Heheh, at least it's not Cryengine, god bless.

@Joakim - nice to see someone working on blueprints (I suppose a blueprint was used). Did you use a heightmap to make the water run into the crevices? Or does it need geometry? Really cool! I haven't made anything fancy yet, not even placed a reflection actor or how they are called. I'll update again when I feel I have something new (+ complete) to show.

Sinking

I updated - made textures for the door and ruined the lighting some more ^^

I really need to practice a bit with the lights and reflection actors. One weird thing about U4 is that it streams the textures in a not too great way. Maybe my texture is just too large (I tend to work large and scale down later). However, on this image




you see that the door is unsharp while the rest of the scene has already loaded; I found an option to force the texture to load, too,but left it for now.

Amazing to me is how well the normal maps read. I don't really see why I should use detail normals any more, if I can get this close and have that crisp detail in my regular normal map. Makes the shader cheaper, too. Still a damn great engine, if only I could light better and do it justice!

More Pics:




The plan is to flood this area next and make water spill through the doors and leak from the ceilings. Funny thing that Joakim posted something I could actually use, right now ^^

I am really bothered by the low subdivision on that wheel. I think I'm gonna add some for the next update. It's still a very light scene polygonwise. I should spend more on that silhouette.

JoakimMellergard

Yes exactly. I used blueprints to set up the particle system and shader. And the shader uses two height maps to create the puddle. The video got some attention on youtube and some people requested a tutorial so I plan to post one soon. Hopefully this weekend.

Sinking wrote: »

@Joakim - nice to see someone working on blueprints (I suppose a blueprint was used). Did you use a heightmap to make the water run into the crevices? Or does it need geometry? Really cool! I haven't made anything fancy yet, not even placed a reflection actor or how they are called. I'll update again when I feel I have something new (+ complete) to show.

Sinking

Hey Joakim! Nice to hear you are already in the tutorial posting phase. I think U4 stuff is very hot on Youtube and gets a lot of views now. I must have watched 20 tutorials or so myself.

So, I put something else in Unreal today, just to see how it looks (it was made for Cryengine, originally). I made a basic vertex paint materials (just blending between dirt and clean texture) and painted it this afternoon. It's not perfect, and I've been thinking about using tesselation on these walls to make them bulge like these old houses do. Anyway, no problems with U4 so far, just endless joy!

Oh - and this model never had a highpoly, so it looks really a bit bland, but I do like the overall shape.

JoakimMellergard

Here is a tutorial for the video I posted a week ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSqlEjHVwYg