Tutorial: Blood Screen

ElKaWeh

Contents:

1. Overview
2. Initial Setup
3. Settings & Features
    3.1. Debug Options
    3.2. General Settings
    3.3. Active Effects
    3.4. Effect Settings
        3.4.1. Animated Drops
        3.4.2. Blood Smear
        3.4.3. Blood Spatter
        3.4.4. Veins

1. Overview

"Blood Screen" is an easy to integrate Post Process Material for Unreal Engine, to use as a damage indicator for your game.

2. Initial Setup

• - in your level, create a Post Process Volume
• - in the Post Process Volume, enable "Infinite Extend (Unbound)"
• - then (also in the PPV), go to "Rendering Features" > "Post Process Materials", or type in "Materials" in the search bar
• - click on the "+" icon next to "Array"
• - in the appearing dropdown menu, select "Asset reference"
• - then drag and drop "MI_BloodScreen" from Content > BloodScreen > Materials into the slot or select it via the dropdown menu

• - in your character blueprint, create a new "Set Scalar Parameter Value" node
• - under "Collection", select "MPC_ScreenDamage"
• - under "Parameter Name", select "Damage Parameter"
• - plug the damage variable into the "Parameter Value" input
• - the variable needs to output a float value between 0 and 100

You can now control the Blood Screen Post Process Material via your blueprint.

3. Settings & Features

3.1. Debug Options

There are two settings to help you with debugging your Blood Screen.

"Check Aspect Ratio" activates a texture overlay in the viewport, displaying the three supported aspect ratios: 3:4, 16:9 & 21:9. The Blood Screen will also work for different aspect ratios, but is not optimized for them.

"Print Damage Value on Screen" will display the current damage value the material reads, in the top left corner of the viewport.

3.2. General Settings

"get Damage Parameter from MPC": If the box is checked, the material will get the damage value from the Material Parameter Collection called "MPC_ScreenDamage", which needs to be integrated into your character blueprint in order for it to work (see 2. Initial Setup).
If the box is unchecked, another parameter will appear, called "Damage Parameter". Here, you can set the damage value manually.

"Blood Color": Changes the overall color of the blood screen

"Distortion Intensity": Adjusts the amount of screen distortion the blood effects cause.

"Screen Tint Intensity": There is a radial gradient that tints the screen based on the damage amount. This setting controls how strong this gradient is.

3.3. Active Effects

The Blood Screen Effect is composed of four separate effects, which are blended together. They can all be toggled separately. The four effects are: "Blood Smear", "Blood Splatter", "Veins" & "Animated Drops".

3.4. Effect Settings

3.4.1. Animated Drops
The Animated Drops run from the top to the bottom of the screen.
"Drops Opacity": Controls their opacity.
"Flow Speed": Controls their speed.
"Drops Edge Hardness": Controls how hard or soft their edges are.

3.4.2. Blood Smear
"Smear Opacity": Controls the overall opacity of the blood smear.

3.4.3. Blood Spatter
"Splatter Opacity": Controls the opacity of the blood splatters.
"Splatter Edge Hardness": Controls how hard or soft the edges of the blood splatters are.

3.4.4. Veins
"Veins Opacity": Controls the opacity of the veins.
"Veins Edge Hardness": Controls how hard or soft the edges of the veins are.


Showcase Video: https://youtu.be/67NjGIbx9Aw