Materials Glow Query, UE 4.26

Is there a approach so as to add a cloth glow to meshes with out altering each single materials that’s on a mesh?

I’m eager to do some glows on characters and probably another meshes, and I’m attempting to do it simply with supplies. I do know I might change each single materials that might probably be modified, however that additionally would entail lots of work for a easy impact.

So, is there a option to do one thing like this with out altering each single materials individually?

There’s a methodology you’ll be able to arrange by way of Blueprint, the place it mainly duplicates a skeletal mesh and mirrors the entire animations on it, which you should use as a type of “shell mesh” and apply a easy emissive materials with some world place offset to the verts (to push them out a bit to keep away from overlap and z combating).

Manufacturing-wise, it’s cheaper from a efficiency standpoint so as to add the glow in your grasp character/prop materials and regulate it by way of blueprint or anim curve, however if you wish to keep away from that it’s doable to make use of the above methodology.

I do know duplicating meshes is one thing that’s been averted purposefully, so I’ll look into doing that as an alternative. I got here right here to verify to see if anyone knew one other approach moreover these two, but when that’s my choices, then I’ll cope with them.

Thanks in your response

It actually simply is dependent upon the challenge. You probably have one thing like Diablo or Darktide the place you might have dozens and even a whole bunch of characters dwell all utilizing that characteristic, the price will stack up fast. However when you have a sport the place solely a small variety of cases can ever use it, like simply the principle participant, you ought to be protected

You are able to do it as a post-process impact materials utilizing stencils

Calculate dot product from digicam to world regular and also you get the fresnel gow, set it with an influence node for finer tuning then mix it with the ultimate body.
I used overlay mix, you should use add or different mixing strategies, additionally you’ll be able to challenge noises from digicam house for extra variations.

Thanks for that as properly and the instance. I don’t know an excessive amount of about publish processing stuff with UE, nevertheless it’s one thing I do know I’ve to study. Is publish course of materials efficiency heavy?

I’m guessing you simply specify what receives the publish course of based mostly on its stencil worth, in order that it doesn’t get utilized to every part that’s utilizing that materials as a mother or father? Or would this want an unique materials mother or father per object you need to have an effect on?

I don’t have a lot expertise with publish course of both, so I’m attempting to wrap my head round the way you go about limiting or specifying particular person issues that the publish course of impact is utilized to

From the unreal documetation.

Hey are heavier than commonplace materials, however you’ll be able to simply stack as much as 5 lighter supplies like this and get no efficiency points. After all it is dependent upon the platforme.

Apply the stencil worth per object. The restrict is 255 distinctive stencils.
In idea, you cod have 255 distinctive post-process materials results in-game for numerous actors.

I figured it was one thing like that. Thanks for the information and sharing the screenshot examples

You may as well append a cloth operate that handles the glow performance, you’ll be able to arrange a map/DT preset of parameters that you could dynamically occasion via the blueprint.

Would that be cheaper than making use of a brand new materials in runtime or utilizing CopyMaterialInstanceParameters in BP?

Fairly inexperienced with supplies, so I’m attempting to determine this all out even the fundamentals.

Right here is an efficient comparability of fabric vs shell use. Begin watching from 2:30.

Afaik assigning, swapping supplies is dearer then overriding instanced materials parameters. Particularly if you happen to’re swapping a Character Materials, that may be fairly complicated.

I can’t discover the video for it, however there’s a bit of this GDC speak that covers how character materials results are (had been?) finished in Fortnite utilizing materials layers.

It begins on slide 37/63