Unreal Engine 4 for Design Visualization · Developing Stunning Interactive Visualizations, Animations, and Renderings by Shannon, Tom -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents at a Glance Contents Preface

Who Should Read This Book How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Unreal Engine 4 Overview Part II: Your First UE4 Project Part III: Architectural Visualization Project

Source Files Conventions Used in This Book

Acknowledgments About the Author Part I: Unreal Engine 4 Overview

Chapter 1. Getting Started with Unreal Engine 4

What Is Unreal Engine 4? A Brief History of Unreal Engine Introducing Unreal Engine 4 UE4 Highlights for Visualization Developing Interactive Visualizations with Unreal Engine 4

What UE4 Brings to Visualization UE4 Development Caveats Identifying Great UE4 Projects

Unreal Engine 4 Development Requirements Teamwork in Unreal Engine 4

Source Control Overview Unreal Engine 4 Versioning Support Integration

Costs of Developing for UE4

Hardware Development Time Testing and QA

Cost Savings of UE4 Resources and Training

Community Support Marketplace Community Events and Conferences

Summary

Chapter 2. Working with UE4

Unreal Engine 4 Components

Epic Games Launcher UE4 Engine UE4 Editor UE4 Projects Source Art

Project Folder Structure

Config Saved Plugins (Optional) Content Intermediate

Understanding .uasset Files Unreal Engine 4 Content Pipeline

Set Up a New Project Build Content Export Content Import Content to UE4 Populate the Level with Content Add Interactivity (Programming!) Test and Refine Package Distribute Provide Support

Summary

Chapter 3. Content Pipeline

Content Pipeline Overview

Content Preparation

3D Scene Setup

Units Statistics Backface Cull and Normals

Preparing Geometry for UE4

Architecture and Prop Meshes Naming UV Mapping Level of Detail (LOD) Collision Pivot Point

FBX Mesh Pipeline

Export Settings Exporting Multiple Meshes Reimporting Where to Put Your FBX Files

Texture and Material Workflow

Textures Multiple Materials

Importing to the Content Library

Initiating Imports Mesh Import Options Texture Options

Camera Workflow Summary

Chapter 4. Lighting and Rendering

Understanding Unreal Engine’s Physically Based Rendering (PBR)

Base Color Roughness Metallic Getting the Most from PBR

Lights in UE4 Understanding Light Mobility

Moveable Lights Stationary Lights Static Lights

Real-Time Reflections

Reflection Probes Post Process Reflections

Post-Processing

Anti-Aliasing Bloom, Glare, and Lens Flares Eye Adaptation (Auto Exposure) Depth of Field Film Effects Motion Blur Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) Screen Space Reflections Screen Percentage Post Process Materials

Summary

Chapter 5. Materials

Materials Overview

Creating Materials Applying Materials Modifying Materials

UE4 Material Editor

Opening the Material Editor Editor UI Placing Nodes Using the Preview Viewport Compiling Shaders Saving

How Unreal Materials Work

Pixel and Vertex Shaders Materials Are Math Material Functions

Surface Types

Opaque Masked Translucent

Material Instances

Material Parameters Inheritance Overriding Parameters Organization Master Materials

A Simple Material

Placing Parameter Nodes Making Material Instances Adding a Roughness Map Adding a Normal Map Understanding the Base Color Map

Summary

Chapter 6. Blueprints

Introducing Blueprints Objects, Classes, and Actors

Objects Classes Actors

The Player The Player Controller

Input Handling Player Data Rotation Mouse Interface Other Controllers

Pawns The World Levels Components Variables and their Types The Tick

Delta Seconds

Class Inheritance Spawning and Destroying

Construction Script Begin Play Event

Blueprint Communication

Direct Blueprint Communication Event Dispatchers Blueprint Interfaces Blueprint Casting

Compiling the Script Summary

Part II: Your First UE4 Project

Chapter 7. Setting Up the Project

Project Scope Creating a New Project from the Launcher Summary

Chapter 8. Populating the World

Making and Saving a New, Blank Level Placing and Modifying Assets

Moving, Scaling, and Rotating Using the Details Panel Snapping Duplicating Adding Actors from the Class Browser

Let there Be Light

Sun Atmospheric Fog Assign the Sun to the Atmosphere Sky Light

Moving Around the Scene

Game Style Object Focused

Building the Architecture Adding Details to Your Structure

Placing Props Placing Lights Adding IES Profiles

Summary

Chapter 9. Making it Interactive with Blueprints

Setting Up the Project Press Play

Play Modes Default GameMode

Creating the Pawn

Setting the Player’s View Height Setting Up the Movement Speed

Input Mapping

Action and Axis Mapping Setting Up Mappings Input Device Flexibility

Creating the Player Controller Class Adding Input with Blueprints

Adding Axis Events

Rotating the View (Looking) Player Movement

Referencing the Pawn Is Valid Add Movement Input

GameMode

Creating the GameMode Assigning the GameMode to the Project

Placing the Player Start Actor Summary

Chapter 10. Packaging and Distribution

Packaged Versus Editor Builds Project Packaging

Content Cooking Deployment

Packaging Options

Platforms Build Configuration

How to Package Launching Your Application Packaging Errors Distributing the Project Using Installers Summary

Part III: Architectural Visualization Project

Chapter 11. Project Setup

Project Scope and Requirements Setting Up the Project

Creating the Project Migrating from Another Project Don’t Forget the Input Copying, Renaming, and Moving Assets

Applying Project Settings Summary

Chapter 12. Data Pipeline

Organizing the Scene Materials Architecture and Fixtures

Ensuring Clean Geometry Using Good UV Coordinates

Exporting the Scene

Using Multiple FBX Files Using a Single FBX File

Importing the Scene

Importing into the Content Browser Importing into the Level

Prop Meshes

Setting Pivot Points Using Mindful Geometry Exporting Importing

Summary

Chapter 13. Populating the Scene

Scene Building for Visualization Setting Up the Level

Creating a New Level Adding Basic Lighting

Placing Architecture Static Meshes

Dragging and Dropping Meshes Setting the Location to Zero

Placing Prop Meshes

Surface Snapping Cloning and Copying Shift+Dragging

Scene Organization

World Outliner Layers Grouping Actor Blueprints

Summary

Chapter 14. Architectural Lighting

Getting the Most from UE4’s Lighting

Materials and Lighting

Static Lighting with Lightmass Adjusting the Sun and Sky Lights

Sun Light Sky Light

Building Lighting Lightmass Settings for Architecture Visualizations

Static Lighting Level Scale Num Indirect Lighting Bounces Indirect Lighting Quality Indirect Lighting Smoothness Compress Lightmaps

Lightmap UV Density Adjustments

Rebuild and Save

Placing Interior Lighting

Spot Lights Mobility Intensity Temperature Attenuation IES Files Auto Exposure

Placing Light Portals Using Reflection Probes

Size Performance

Post-Process Volume

Volume Actors Placing the Post-Process Volume Post-Process Volume Setup

Summary

Chapter 15. Architectural Materials

What Is a Master Material?

Material Network Overview Parameter Nodes

Creating the Master Material

Base Color Metallic Roughness Normal Ambient Occlusion Texture Scaling and Transform

Creating Material Instances

Painted Walls Floors

Advanced Materials

Parallax Occlusion Mapping Glass

Summary

Chapter 16. Creating Cinematics with Sequencer

Getting Started with Sequencer

Master Sequence Dynamic Cameras

Animating the Camera

Setting Keyframes Piloting the Camera Track and Camera Naming Transitions

Editing the Shots Saving Collaborating Rendering to Video

Render Movie Settings Rendering Process

Summary

Chapter 17. Preparing the Level for Interactivity

Setting Up Your Level Adding the Player Start Actor Adding Collision

Complex Versus Simple Collision Walls and Floors Setting Prop Collision

Enabling the Mouse Cursor Creating Post-Process Outlines Summary

Chapter 18. Intermediate Blueprints: UMG Interaction

Toggling Datasets Making the Variation Level

Making a Copy with Save As Importing the New Architecture Replacing the Architecture Meshes Setting Up Lightmap Density Applying Materials Enabling Collision Decorating (Optional) Building Lighting

Level Streaming

Making a New Level Accessing the Levels Interface Adding Streaming Levels Using Blueprints Versus Always Loaded Levels

Defining a Player Start Actor Setting Up the Level Blueprint

Opening the Level Blueprint Using Events Testing Time

Programming the Switching

Creating Custom Events

Testing Time

Creating the Keyboard Shortcut Compiling and Saving Clicking Play

Unreal Motion Graphics (UMG)

Using Widgets Horizontal Box Buttons Labels

Back to the Level Blueprint

Creating the Widget Adding the Widget to the Viewport Event Binding Compiling and Saving Playing the Game

Summary

Chapter 19. Advanced Blueprints: Material Switcher

Setting the Goal Building the Actor Blueprint Creating Variables

Meshes To Modify Array Materials Array Start Material Index Variable Current Material Index Variable IsClicked Variable

Adding Components

Billboard Component TextRender Component

Creating the Change Material Function

New Index Input Is Valid Index For Each Loop

Understanding the Construction Script

Set Text Label Draw Connecty Lines Change Material to Start Index

Understanding the Event Graph

Begin Play Event Binding Mouse Over and Mouse Out Click Action Detecting False Clicks

Populating the Level

Adding Meshes Adding Materials Setting Defaults Copying and Pasting

Playing the Application Summary

Chapter 20. Final Thoughts

UE4 Continually Changing Future of Visualization Next Steps Virtual Reality Film Making Content Creation Thank You

Glossary Index

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