Week 10: Post Processing& Rendering in UE

Lesson Today

In today’s lesson, we explored several post-processing techniques that can be used to enhance the final render:

1. Post-Processing Adjustments

• Temperature: Adjusting the warmth or coolness of the scene.
• Color Grading: Modifying the overall color tone to achieve the desired look.
• Shadowing: Refining shadows for a more realistic appearance.
• Bloom: Adding a glow effect, particularly useful when light sources such as the sun are present in the scene.
• Lens Flare: Visible when strong light sources (like the sun) are included in the scene.
• Grain: Applied to fix noise issues in the render.
  • Plugins can be used for de-noising to enhance render quality.

2. Rendering Settings

• Console Commands (CMD): These commands allow you to frequently change render settings.
  • Example: To render a high-resolution shot, use the command cm: highresshot 1920 x 1080.
• Photoshop for Color Fixing: Once the screenshot is captured, you can use Photoshop to fine-tune the color settings:
  • Steps:
    1. Import the screenshot into Photoshop.
    2. Adjust the colors using a layer mask (e.g., saturation, contrast).
    3. After completing the adjustments, apply the layer mask to the LUT (Look-Up Table).
    4. Export the LUT as a PNG for further use in the project.

3. Render Quality Settings

• Spatial Sample Count & Temporal Sample Count (default value: 8):
  • Spatial Sample Count: Increased for environments or when the camera is static but the character moves quickly. Higher values improve the rendering quality but also increase render time.
  • Temporal Sample Count: Increased for scenes with character movement to reduce motion blur and improve smoothness. This can be adjusted via the command r.TemporalAASamples 464.
• Render Warm-up Count: This setting allows the system time to prepare before the actual rendering starts, improving overall render quality.
• Game Overrides: Console variables are used to control various settings, such as motion blur quality or other visual aspects. These variables allow you to define percentage values for specific features.

4. Additional Render Settings

• Cinematic Settings: Setting everything to Cinematic results in higher rendering quality.
  • This can be done under the Scalability Settings in the rendering menu.
• Frame Rate: Adjust the frame rate within the settings menu for smoother animation.
• Render Output Location: You can change the location where the render output is saved, ensuring your files are organized.

5. Rendering Locally

• For efficiency and speed, it is recommended to render locally rather than over the network.

Project Progress

Animation

As previously mentioned, I attempted to animate using Unreal Engine due to issues encountered when attempting to convert the file from Maya to Unreal Engine.

Challenges in Unreal Engine Animation and Transitioning Back to Maya

The video above illustrates the challenges I faced while working with Unreal Engine, as I was only able to produce a result like this.

I encountered several constraints and difficulties when animating in Unreal Engine. Given my limited familiarity with the software, I struggled to locate certain settings and functions, such as animating the fish’s tail within a hierarchy or controlling the graph editor. Additionally, there is a lack of comprehensive animation tutorials for Unreal Engine in comparison to Maya. As a result, I decided to revert to animating in Maya and then converting the files for use in Unreal Engine.

I attempted to select the skeleton root of the fish rig in Maya, bake the animation, and then export the animations to Unreal Engine.

Shark Model

Shark: Choice of Colour

I modeled a new shark and performed initial texture tests to evaluate its appearance and fit with the design. Further refinements are planned based on testing outcomes.

Initially, I textured the shark in purple to match the background environment. However, this made it difficult to differentiate the shark from the background, reducing its visibility.

I experimented with various brush strokes in Procreate and found one particularly interesting. However, the result did not align with the overall animation style or the appearance of the other fish.

I opted for a plain texture in a lighter blue, ensuring better contrast with the environment in Unreal Engine.