Unreal Engine is a popular game engine from Epic Games with an impressive set of tools that allows for the creation of virtual reality products, animations, and other interactive applications. The software holds a special weight among developers. Some of them churn out updates based on the anime “Attack on Titan,” while others record streams for hours, exploring the capabilities of a character who can heat food in the microwave and simultaneously regret eating it while sitting on the toilet. The limitless capabilities of the engine are breathtaking.
However, its use is not limited to just first-person shooters — design and architecture studios also prefer not to limit themselves in the ways of project implementation. They integrate the engine into their daily work, creating interactive 20-story residential complexes, changing seasons with two clicks, growing green trees with a click, and arranging cars on roads with three mouse clicks, setting them in motion.
Today Unreal Engine is in demand not only in the gaming or film industry. It is loved by many for its high performance, unparalleled photorealism and enhanced interface updates. We tell about the miracle engine and its capabilities in the material.
The simplest language is visual
There are talks about the complexity of the software’s nature. Unfortunately, they are groundless because the engine is written in the C++ programming language. If you studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (or a similar institution in specialization), there is hope for a comprehensive understanding of Unreal Engine. Otherwise, for example, when you decided to connect your life with artistic animation, there will be difficulties.
Or rather they could cause discomfort to 3D artists if the management did not care about the internal visual language — Blueprints. This is not a panacea, not a universal solution, but in many ways a means that makes life easier. Ready-made patterns, blocks and connections between them do not involve burying oneself in lines of code. Anyone, from a 3D designer to a UI specialist who will be scripting “user-friendly” interface scenarios, can create interactive models of skyscrapers or animations even without knowledge of C++.
“Lumen” Solar System
Unreal Engine is the pinnacle of three-dimensional graphic quality, as it is the only platform where you can recreate the Louvre indistinguishable from reality. Much of this realistic “photo effect” is due to the magical global illumination system called Lumen. Its unbeatable quality lies in simple real-time calculations, reducing the load on the processor. The technology arsenal has everything from diffuse reflections to a vast tonal palette. Shadows of objects in 3D scenes with Lumen appear sometimes even where there is no directional light. This creates a soft and blurred effect, enhancing the realism of any image.
Nanite technology
Sometimes everything you see from a distance seems deceptively beautiful. However, when you get closer to the object of “adoration,” you notice imperfections in the quality.
3D models created in the Unreal Engine once gave a similar impression. However, it was justified by the desire to optimize figures with a high number of polygons, which made up the 3D scenes. Tiny details of the 3D models were “baked” and sent to the “shelves” in the normal map. Sometimes they also found a place in the diffuse maps, in simple terms, in the textures. Then levels of detail for objects were applied, in which the very first layer in high quality “apologized” for the low resolution of the rest. The latter were then loaded. All this routine setup of simulating detailed images was done manually taking hours.
The Nanite technology came to the rescue of developers. It is an internal geometric system the main advantage of which is automation. With this feature in the Unreal Engine model meshes are broken down into polygon formations or clusters, which become either larger or smaller depending on the camera distance. Pixel scale display! However, there are exceptions: Nanite is not suitable for meshes of grass or trees, with which you may have decided to beautify the area near a country house. That is for 3D models with thin open parts.
And a little mathematics. Figures to which the Nanite function is applied can weigh several times less than high-polygon models with several levels of detail. Progress in compression!
Rich toolset
Pulling on a vertex and in front of us is almost the Leaning Tower of Pisa made from a simple primitive parallelepiped. In editing mode, any mesh can be stretched, compressed, has no objection to the insertion of new polygons, their deformation or simplification. Unreal Engine has many ways to make the life of a 3D artist easier. Baking maps, modifying unwraps, detailed mesh sculpting — all thanks to modeling tools. Without external resources, SMS and registrations. Unreal Engine even has its own video editor — Sequencer, which provides access to full editing capabilities.
Waterfall of effects
The chaotic movement of snow particles is the merit of Niagara. With this tool you can not only focus on winter themes but also create realistic pouring London “rain” or shifting sands of the Namib Desert. This visual effects system succeeded Cascade, which 3D artists could use in older versions of the engine. Niagara with its nodes is an untapped field for experiments. Parameters can be set here for all particles as well as for individual ones. Changing color, shape, movement speed and even influencing elements from the atmosphere. It’s all possible. The fire in Unreal Engine will eventually go out, but the spark will ignite!
One big ecosystem
The engine has plugins for more convenient and optimized work. They can contain a set of ready-made 3D models with textures. Some animation assets include a collection of sounds of chirping birds or the rustling of a sneaking character. Conditionally, even entire biomes exist depicting the landscape of the spiny forests of Madagascar.
In addition to such ready-made solutions various programs are based on Unreal Engine. For example, Twinmotion is a “standard” in the field of real-time architectural visualization acquired by Epic Games.
If you need to quickly “insert” a human figure on the balcony of a high-rise hotel for 100% realism, Twinmotion will easily help solve the task. The program has a library with several thousand resources: from furniture and props to light sources. In case there is a shortage of assets the Twinmotion project can be “transferred” to Unreal Engine. The 3D artists will certainly take care of adding wow-effects and interactivity with opening doors in the apartment.
Engine system requirements
Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit;
Processor: quad-core Intel or AMD, 3.5 GHz or higher;
Graphics processor: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 480 or higher;
Video card: DirectX 11 or 12;
RAM: 16 GB;
Hard drive: SSD with 250 GB of free space.
Advantages of Unreal Engine:
- cross-platform support: supports development for PC, consoles, mobile devices, virtual reality;
- huge functionality: the engine is used to create not only free-to-play games but also interactive models of buildings for architecture;
- node system: allows development without programming knowledge;
- price: developers can use the license subscription for free. However, until the income from their games reaches $1 million. In this case, you will have to pay 5% of the amount.
- high-quality graphics;
- user-friendly interface.
Disadvantages of Unreal Engine:
- high computer requirements;
- limitations of projects on some mobile devices;
- complexity of learning: a large number of tools and capabilities can burden a beginner in mastering the engine.
