UDK - Dynamic Sky Cycle

riddlaz

Disclaimer: All Static meshes, particles, and materials are native to the UDK engine. For the exception of the sky dome, its textures, and animations.

This environment features a full sun/moon cycle that is completely adjustable. The scene uses the same sky and sun materials that where developed in previous tutorials at 3DBrushwork. Therefore, sky textures and colors can be easily replaced to achieve totally different looks for a variety of environments.

UPK and UDK files are currently available at:

<<FACEBOOK PAGE>>

If you decide to use the sky materials, animation, and setup please give proper credit.

How to use:
Copy the .upk file to the environments directory, and .udk files to the maps directory inside the UDK installation folders. Then, open the "Tutorial_Sky_Cycle" to preview the sky cycle with environment props already placed, or open "Tutorial_Sky_Empty" to start fresh. Then simply hit play here anywhere on the map to start the animation sequence.

How to make animation faster/slower:
Experiment with the 'play rate' property of the matinee in kismet.

If you want to be able to walk:
Disconnect the camera variable in the matinee.

If you want to use the setup with another sky dome:
In the content browser, open the .upk file. It contains a material instance called 'Tutorial_Sky_Mat_Inst'. Expand the 'texture_parameter_values' and plug in a another texture in 'Color_Map'. Another in 'cloud_Mask_Map'.

What is a cloud mask?

The cloud mask hides the sun behind the clouds. It's a black and white map with the clouds being black and the sky being white.

If you don't want to use a cloud mask:
Expand the 'static switch parameter values' in the material instance and uncheck 'use cloud mask'.

Shadows are disappearing:
Experiment with the 'cascading shadow maps' section of the main dominant directional light.

All the values can be changed in matinee, feel free to e-mail me or reply in this forum with questions or concerns.

Julio Juarez
Julio@3dbrushwork.com
3dbrushwork.com

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Thank You!

Bart

Awesome ! Thanks for this

riddlaz

Pleasure being able to help . If you downloaded the package that does not contain the 'Tutorial_Sky_Empty.udk' file, please download again. This is an empty scene that has the sky dome and its animations within it, it facilitates the process of using your own props/environments with the sky dome.

Please tell me if you run into any problems, I'll be glad to help. Even update the package if necessary.

Thanks!

Oniram

i guess its something new that the UPK and UDK files have to be in the proper directory. i kept getting a lot of "external file" errors that wouldnt let me view the matinee until i fixed this.

definitely an awesome addition to the tutorials. i know this will help out a lot of people!

riddlaz

Oniram wrote: »

i guess its something new that the UPK and UDK files have to be in the proper directory. i kept getting a lot of "external file" errors that wouldnt let me view the matinee until i fixed this.

definitely an awesome addition to the tutorials. i know this will help out a lot of people!

I received several emails asking for help doing the sky animation. I decided to send a friend a UDK example to illustrate how to do the animation. Then I though, I might as well make a scene that I could share with everyone .

Any thoughts or ideas on how to improve the functionality please feel free to email me or reply to this forum. In particular, I'm looking for a way that could make the setup easier to customize

Thank you.
Julio Juarez

riddlaz

I just updated the package to make it more user friendly. Renamed most of the tracks inside the matinee to eliminate any guesswork. Also added another animated track for the brightness of the stars.

Finally, expanded the manual to cover how to modify individual tracks in order to effectively change parameters such as sky color, cloud color, and star brightness. Other issues that where brought up by people that wrote to me where added to the manual.

Download updated version here

Thanks for the feedback!