Ana Carolina Pereira, an art creator, discusses Apple Vision Pro progress, GTC event, and Ringling VR integration. Topics include Apple vs. Meta VR marketing, Unreal Engine 5.4 updates, improved archi render, hardware vs. software decisions, world-building features, and seamless game mode transitions.
Unreal Engine 5.4 introduces motion matching, layered control rigs, and animation extensibility, empowering studios in animation creation.
Nanite tessellation and runtime features in Unreal Engine 5.4 enable material-driven displacement for dynamic surface effects.
Vulcan Ray Tracing in Unreal Engine 5.4 expands rendering capabilities to broader hardware compatibility, enhancing visual effects.
Deep dives
Animation Enhancements in Unreal Engine 5.4
Unreal Engine 5.4 introduces significant animation enhancements, including motion matching, layered control rigs, and animation extensibility through Blueprints or Python. Motion matching, tested in Fortnite, considers character speed and direction for smooth transitions. These tools empower studios to potentially move away from traditional animation software like Maya, showcasing Unreal Engine's industry-leading animation capabilities.
Nanite Tessellation and Landscape Displacement
Nanite tessellation and runtime features enable material-driven displacement for dynamic surface effects like damage simulation. The runtime capability allows real-time adjustments, offering unprecedented details for landscapes and other surfaces. This feature's inclusion represents a significant performance boost and showcases Unreal Engine's cutting-edge rendering capabilities.
Vulcan Ray Tracing in Unreal Engine 5.4
The addition of Vulcan Ray Tracing in Unreal Engine 5.4 marks a pivotal moment for rendering capabilities. Leveraging Vulcan's widespread RHI support, this experimental feature enables ray tracing on platforms compatible with SM6. While still in the experimental phase, Vulcan Ray Tracing expands Unreal Engine's reach to broader hardware and infrastructure, opening new possibilities for advanced visual effects.
Improved Render Thread Performance
The podcast highlights significant improvements in render thread performance in Unreal Engine 5.4. By enhancing the render thread's efficiency, the update allows for a substantial increase in the number of draw calls issued to the GPU, resulting in a notable performance boost. This development is particularly beneficial for large scenes with complex geometry and textures, as it optimizes operations like geometry compression and interaction with the GPU, ultimately providing more headroom for advanced scene rendering. The podcast mentions specific performance comparisons, such as the city sample running twice as fast in 5.4, indicating the tangible impact of these enhancements.
Expanding World Coordinates and Large World Materials
Unreal Engine 5 introduces expanded world coordinates, increasing the maximum size from previously limited values to 21 kilometers. This enhancement allows for more extensive procedural generation of landscapes and large world materials, facilitating the creation of expansive virtual environments. The update caters to scenarios requiring precise material calculations over larger areas, aiding in tasks like procedurally generating vast terrains. The podcast emphasizes the significance of this feature, especially for applications like virtual texturing and virtual geometry, potentially opening up possibilities for innovative and visually immersive procedural world games.
