Unreal Engine 4 Shaders and Effects Cookbook

Build optimized, efficient, and real-time applications that are production-ready using Unreal Engine s Material Editor

Key Features

• Create stunning visual effects for 3D games and high-quality graphics
• Design efficient Shaders for mobile platforms without sacrificing their realism
• Discover what goes into the structure of Shaders and why lighting works the way it does

Book Description

Unreal Engine 4 is a powerful game engine, one which has seen a recent boost in widespread adoption thanks to its ease of use and the powerful rendering pipeline that it packs. Seeing as how it's relatively easy to create stunning presentations and visuals, Unreal has quickly become a strong contender in industries where this kind of software had been previously denied entry.

With that in mind, this book aims to help you get the most out of Unreal Engine 4 - from creating awe-inspiring graphics to delivering optimized experiences to your users. This is possible thanks to a mixture of hands-on experience with real materials and the theory behind them. You will immediately know how to create that material that you want to display, and you'll also end up with the knowledge that will let you know how to control it.

All of this will be done without losing sight of two key components of any real-time application - optimization, and efficiency. The materials that you create will be light and efficient, and they will vary depending on your target platform. You'll know which techniques can be used in any kind of device and which ones should be kept to high-end machines, giving you the confidence to tackle any material-related task that you can imagine. Hop onboard and discover how!

What you will learn

• Master Unreal Engine s rendering pipeline for developing real-time graphics
• Use physically based rendering (PBR) for building materials and lighting solutions
• Build optimized materials for games targeting multiple platforms
• Understand Unreal Engine s node and functions for creating desirable effects
• Design and build production-ready shaders
• Explore Unreal Engine s Material Editor for building complex materials and textures

Who this book is for

This book is for developers who want to create their first Shaders in Unreal Engine 4 or wish to take their game to a whole new level by adding professional post-processing effects. A solid understanding of Unreal is required to get the most from this book.

Table of Contents

1. Physically Based Rendering
2. Post-Processing Effects
3. Opaque Materials and Texture Mapping
4. Translucent Materials and More
5. Beyond Traditional Material Uses
6. Advanced Material Techniques
7. Using Material Instances
8. Mobile Shaders and Material Optimization
9. Some Extra Useful Nodes

Brais Brenlla Ramos is a passionate Architect, 3D artist, Unreal Engine 4 developer and first-time author based between A Corua and his place of work in London, UK. His passion for all things 3D-related dates back to when he was playing games as a child, experiences that fuelled his later studies in architecture and computer animation. His entrance into the professional 3D world happened at the same time as his studies were finishing, with initial projects undertaken in the field of architectural visualization for different studios. Since then, he's worked on many different 3D modeling and app development projects, first as a team member, and later as the Unreal Engine 4 lead developer at a company called AccuCities, based in London.

John P. Doran is a passionate and seasoned Technical Game Designer, Software Engineer, and Author who is based in Songdo, South Korea. His passion for game development began at an early age. He later graduated from DigiPen Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Game Design and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Bradley University. For over a decade, John has gained extensive hands-on expertise in game development working in various roles ranging from game designer to lead UI programmer working in teams consisting of just himself to over 70 people in student, mod, and professional game projects including working at LucasArts on Star Wars: 1313. Additionally, John has worked in game development education teaching in Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. To date, he has authored over 10 books pertaining to game development. John is currently an Instructor at George Mason University Korea. Prior to his present ventures, he was an award-winning videographer.