Ice Shader UDK
keyframe
Hey guys currently having some trouble with making an ice shader in UDK.
this is sort of the effect I want.
http://pixdaus.com/pics/1222389968Nsim3rt.jpg
As of right now I am using a fresnel and plugging that into a square root node. I then blend that node with a heighmap and plug into my diffuse. I tried opacity but it makes it so you can see the other side which isnt the effect I am going for. I am going to work right now and will provide screenshots of my material set up when I return. In the meantime does anyone have any ideas on how to approach this problem?
this is sort of the effect I want.
http://pixdaus.com/pics/1222389968Nsim3rt.jpg
As of right now I am using a fresnel and plugging that into a square root node. I then blend that node with a heighmap and plug into my diffuse. I tried opacity but it makes it so you can see the other side which isnt the effect I am going for. I am going to work right now and will provide screenshots of my material set up when I return. In the meantime does anyone have any ideas on how to approach this problem?
Replies
Then find a good reference pic (the pic you've got looks like it's been changed a fair bit), and work out the ramp. The fresnel effect can be eyeballed in-engine easily enough, as can any SSS values you can work with. If you can afford reflection/refraction, toss that in as well.
Another, more ghetto way to do it is with a water shader, but this can have problems with transparency.
I guess the biggest part of the shader though is the normal map and the mesh. If it looks like it's got the right structure and form, then people tend to be more forgiving if it doesn't have perfect fresnel or something. If it doesn't look like an icy shape, then people just ignore it as some average cgi ice.
Why would you squareroot your fresnel term? Just use a lower exponent in the fresnel node itself.
Ya that didn't make sense sorry. I am really new at the UDK material editor so I apologize for that.
Ace-Angel using the Sub Surface Scattering was exactly what I was looking for. I think that improved my original material tenfold. Below is some pics I took of the final shader. I added with some rocks that I did after watching Virtuosic snow blending up vector demonstration and I think the effect is great. Still got some tweaking to do but I am happy with the results.
Or are they separate ID's?
my mattree
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/5439/icematerial.jpg
thread
Bryce Vandermoortele has one for Maya. I would give it a try.
Hellfire, DAMN that is a nice effect! I will have to play with it!