Chris Anderson - Vermilion

Fun with Tech Art

Fun with Tech Art – Pt. 2

We've been cruel to our characters. Now, let's give them the world's softest carpet.

Fun with Tech Art

Fun with Tech Art – Pt. 4

In this post, we create a world transition shader for Nanite using sphere masks in Unreal Engine 5

Fun with Tech Art

Fun with Tech Art – Pt. 1

Join me as I create some tech art in Unreal. In this post, we look at shader that lets us submerge, or dunk, our characters into water.

Artwork

Current Lumen Mirror Reflections

Originally, I was going to explain the effect in the header image. I even had a part about the requirements I had for this small scene, but instead, I'm interested in the Lumen reflections here. These comparisons are from Unreal 5.0.3 running on a pre-raytracing-hardware GPU, so take

AV1 Video Transcoding

AV1 is a relatively recent video codec build by the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) [https://aomedia.org/]. It provides a encoder that beats H264 in file size for a given quality, and is significantly less patent encumbered than H265 – H264's successor. For completeness, AV1 competes quite favourably against H265

Viewpoint

Viewpoint – Camera Perspectives

Choosing a perspective is truly an endeavour that must be analysed on a case-by-case basis. There is both an element of lining up the benefits of each techniques and intent of the team.

Development

PSO Caching in Unreal Engine

Pipeline State Object (PSO) caching in Unreal Engine 5 for Windows (DirectX 12 SM5/6) and Linux (Vulkan SM5). PSO caching enables developer control over shader precompilation and reduces stutter linked to just-in-time shader compilation.

Artwork

LiveLink Facecap to Maya

This post covers how to get LiveLink data from Unreal Engine into Maya

Development

CICD in Unreal with Jenkins

Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment is a cornerstone of modern software engineering methodology. In short, the goal is to always have recent builds of the software available to test against. These builds are automated and the build system runs a series of automated tests run against them after a successful build.

Artwork

Low-poly Incense Tech Art

A quick demonstration of blending panning textures applied to a small object. This scene is rendered in Unreal Engine 4 using a dynamic light to cast shadows. Unreal Engine 5 should improve this scene, albeit marginally. Lumen supports emissive GI, which should improve the subtle lighting between the incense sticks.

Publications

Unreal – Space Train

As part of ORKA's weekly seminars, I gave a talk about Unreal Engine, making games, and control systems. You can find a link to the talk here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/14dyHm3ZboirgMCvfJmFybFylrLz9HlcE/view?usp=sharing] and a link to the slides here [https://drive.google.com/file/d/

Artwork

Unreal Engine 5 – Nanite and Water

Nanite in Unreal Engine 5 enables far greater geometry density. When using this awesome technology for floor geometry, some of the older techniques for achieving visual effects no longer work. A prime example of this is the use of water puddle shaders. When using normals to fake geometry, layering puddles

Artwork

Rendering Characters in Unannounced Project

Viewpoint

Viewpoint – On Diplomacy in Games

Interactive dialogue is a powerful system with an excellent scope, but from a development perspective, building one is a costly endeavour.

Cybersecurity

Tips and Tricks – Hashing

Hashing is a common occurrence in digital applications, whether it be for keeping passwords safe or for digital signatures, but what type of algorithm should you use and why?