Fading waterfall effect
polycounter lvl 5
Hello!
I am working from a concept of a floating island. This is my first time really getting in depth at all with UE4 and could use some help if possible! I am trying to make it look like my waterfall fades out as it's falling. I have tried looking around online for some tutorials, but haven't been able to find the right terms to search for.
Here's my current view in engine, as well as the concept I am trying to match. The mesh itself isn't textured, just done through the material.
I guess the real question is how can I most simply achieve something that gives this fading effect - something through the material? making a texture with a mask? some other kind of magic? kind of stumped on this one.
Thanks for any and all help!
I can provide more info with what I'm working on if it helps.
I am working from a concept of a floating island. This is my first time really getting in depth at all with UE4 and could use some help if possible! I am trying to make it look like my waterfall fades out as it's falling. I have tried looking around online for some tutorials, but haven't been able to find the right terms to search for.
Here's my current view in engine, as well as the concept I am trying to match. The mesh itself isn't textured, just done through the material.
I guess the real question is how can I most simply achieve something that gives this fading effect - something through the material? making a texture with a mask? some other kind of magic? kind of stumped on this one.
Thanks for any and all help!
I can provide more info with what I'm working on if it helps.
Replies
After being utterly confused about what you were talking about I think I have something figured out haha! I looked up more about masking the material in UE4, and after reading the documentation a bit I realized it was similar to what I did for painting terrain (just for opacity instead of color/texture in this case if I understand correctly).
I added a vertex color node to the material and then plugged that into the opacity input on the depth fade that feeds into the main opacity, and was able to paint on the mesh through the Paint mode. My mesh might still be a little too low poly though, since you can see the distinction pretty well still:
Still unsure how to go about blending movement in there, so if you have any tips on good nodes to use I'm all ears!
It's very nice.
Here's a link to the concept - https://www.artstation.com/artwork/castle-5f64e630-8037-46ff-bd99-0719bd71dd8b
It is definitely a nice one, I've really enjoyed working on it!
If it's any use, there was a thread on a Zelda Wind Waker-style waterfall UDK material:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98578
but your correct about vertex painting and polycount; polycounts don't matter as much anymore so tessellate it for a better result
The alpha transition is always distributed between the opaque and transparent vertices, so if you want a very smooth transition you need to distance them more so the transition takes more physical space.
And thanks Dave Jr, I'll definitely be upping the polycount and seeing how much of a difference that makes