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Cinematic Photoreal Environments in Unreal Engine 5

Name: Cinematic Photoreal Environments in Unreal Engine 5
Author: Giovanni Visai
ISBN: 9781803244112

by Giovanni Visai

May 2024

Intermediate to advanced

548 pages

12h 50m

English

Packt Publishing

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Cinematic Photoreal Environments in Unreal Engine 5
ContributorsAbout the authorAbout the reviewer
Preface
Who this book is forWhat this book coversTo get the most out of this bookConventions usedGet in touchShare Your ThoughtsDownload a free PDF copy of this book
Part 1: Getting Started with Unreal Engine 5
Chapter 1: Creating Your First Project in Unreal Engine 5
Technical requirementsDownloading and installing the EngineEpic Games Launcher – not just a launcherLibraryMarketplaceSamplesNewsCreating a new projectChoosing the perfect templateSummary
Chapter 2: Navigating through the Unreal Engine 5 Interface
Technical requirementsInterface overview and project settingsThe Menu BarMain ToolbarLevel ViewportBottom ToolbarExploring OutlinerExploring the Details panelDiscovering Content DrawerSummary
Chapter 3: Exploring Unreal Engine 5 Project Structure
Technical requirementsDiscovering project folders and filesWorking with levelsCreating a new levelWorking with multiple levelsUnderstanding the Saving processSaving a level assetWhat does a level save?Using a clear naming conventionSummary
Chapter 4: Importing and Working with Assets
Technical requirementsImporting a new 3D modelImporting using the Content Browser optionsImporting using drag and dropImporting the assetsImporting a new textureImporting an animated objectExercise: Creating a new projectSummary
Chapter 5: Mastering Materials and Shading
Technical requirementsUnderstanding PBR fundamentalsWhat does PBR mean?Primary PBR inputsCreating your first materialExploring the Material EditorAdding basic nodesAdding basic texturesAdding Normal Map and Ambient OcclusionUnderstanding Material InstancesConverting constants to parametersCreating a Master MaterialStep 1 – adding texture parametersStep 2 – adding Base Color parametersStep 3 – modifying texture valuesStep 4 – modifying the Normal Map intensityStep 5 – adding UV manipulationStep 6 – organizing parameters into groupsStep 7 – adding Switch parametersStep 8 – organizing the graph nodeUsing Material FunctionsExploring the most common functionsCreating a new Material FunctionAdding custom inputsSummary
Chapter 6: Illuminating Your World with Lighting
Technical requirementsUnderstanding lighting in Unreal Engine 5What is Lumen?Setting projects up to use LumenLighting system in Unreal Engine 5Lighting movabilityExploring light assetsTips and tricks to improve lighting qualityUsing lighting channelsImproving shadow qualityIlluminating with emissive materialsCreating a flickering light with a Light Function MaterialExercise: Importing a new asset and lighting itIlluminating your first environmentStep 1: Creating base lightingStep 2: Managing exposure in your LevelStep 3: Adding God raysStep 4: Adding rect lightsStep 5: Changing the lighting scene’s temperatureStep 6: Adding the HDRi backdropSummary
Chapter 7: Exploring Nanite, RVTs, and the World Partition Tool
Technical requirementsDiscovering NaniteActivating NaniteNanite pros and consDiscovering RVTsBlending assets with RVTsDiscovering the World Partition toolSummary

Part 2: Environment Creation Techniques
Chapter 8: Utilizing the Megascans Library
Technical RequirementsDiscovering the Megascans LibraryUsing the Quixel Bridge pluginAdding asset to the projectDiscovering different types of assetsBlocking out your ideaExercise: Create a simple environment spot using Megascans LibrarySummary
Chapter 9: Mastering Landscape and Terrain
Technical requirementsCreating your first LandscapeModifying your Landscape with Sculpt toolsThe Sculpt toolThe Erase toolThe Smooth toolThe Flatten toolThe Ramp toolThe Erosion, Hydro, and Noise toolsThe Select toolLandscape layersUnlocking heightmaps’ powerUnderstanding and working with the Foliage modeThe Paint toolThe Select, All, Delete, Invalid, and Lasso toolsThe Remove and Move toolsThe Reapply, Single, Fill, and Erase toolsCreating a Landscape MaterialSetting the LevelCreating painting layersAdding texturesAdding Landscape grassCreating an automatic Landscape MaterialSummary
Chapter 10: Creating Diverse Environments with Plugins
Technical requirementsSetting the level to work procedurallyModifying the landscape with the Landmass pluginExploring the Water pluginUsing the Water Body Lake actorUsing the Water Body River actorUsing the Water Body Ocean actorChanging the water’s colorIntroducing the Procedural Content Generation FrameworkStep 1 – Creating our first PCG graphStep 2 – Placing treesStep 3 – Excluding the path from the PCG actionExercise – Create an island environmentSummary
Part 3: Cinematic Fundamentals and Rendering
Chapter 11: Crafting Cinematic Shots with Cameras and a Sequencer
Technical requirementsCreating a Cine Camera Actor and exploring its settingsExploring the Cine Camera Actor settingsDiscovering the SequencerAnimating the Cine Camera ActorPlacing the Cine Camera ActorFraming the start and end points of the shotComposing the first frameComposing the last frameCreating a Camera Shake BlueprintCombining multiple shotsSummary
Chapter 12: Enhancing Scenes with Post-Processing and Niagara
Technical requirementsDiscovering the Post Process VolumeCreating and understanding a PPVExploring Post Process Volume SettingsExploring the Color Grading parametersCreating a Color LUTIntroducing NiagaraAdding dust to our scene with NiagaraSummary
Chapter 13: Rendering and Exporting Cinematic Shots
Technical requirementsFundamentals of real-time renderingSetting the Level SequenceDiscovering the Movie Render Queue pluginSetting up a renderChoosing a rendering methodChoosing an export file typeAdding render settingsSetting the Output preferencesExporting the final shotSummary
Index
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Content preview from Cinematic Photoreal Environments in Unreal Engine 5

4 Importing and Working with Assets

In this chapter, we will learn how to import a 3D model and all the characteristics that a 3D asset must have to be correctly imported. We will also learn how to import a texture and an animated object. At the end of this chapter, you will be able to import and save any kind of asset. This is a very important chapter for understanding how the Engine works with assets and how we can use any kind of 3D model or texture to build our environment. Knowing the fundamentals of asset importing is very useful to better understand the next chapters.

In this chapter, we will cover the following main topics:

Importing a new 3D model
Importing a new texture
Importing an animated object
Exercise: Creating a new project ...

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Cinematic Photoreal Environments in Unreal Engine 5

by Giovanni Visai

4

Importing and Working with Assets

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