Nature Environment in UE4

[zeOrb]

UPDATE
New shading model for foliage has been added in 4.7 version of Unreal Engine, so complaints in original post are no more valid.
Foliage shading model is awesome, check out Koola work for example

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My thread in feedback is ignored, but I think this issure should be addressed.
It's not some minor issue
Due to the absence of proper lighting model for 2-sided foliage it's impossible to create good foliage, grass or whatever, no matter how you will setup your material.
The current workaround - using diffuse texture wired with sunlight parameter connected to emissive light output plus ss lighting model, but this is so NOT next-gen =_=
I can't understand how so basic thing keep being ignored
Few examples from UE3 and UE4 for you to feel the difference:
Unreal Engine 3

Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Demos


Maybe I'm not aware of some super duper way to shade your grass, maybe I overlooked something - that's why I'm posting this in Content Creation and not in feedback

[iniside]

It's well known issue. There are some "workarounds" but don't expect they will provide you with plausible results.

First you can use emissive to uniformly lit you grass.

https://answers.unrealengine.com/que...-lighting.html

Here are also some work arounds.

In other words, you are absolutely right. We just need proper forward rendering path, to properly lit foliage. On stream about rendering, they said they will be evaluating various forward rendering techniques over next few months, to add to engine. So we can just wait for now.

[Errvald]

My thread in feedback is ignored, but I think this issure should be addressed.
It's not some minor issue
Due to the absence of proper lighting model for 2-sided foliage it's impossible to create good foliage, grass or whatever, no matter how you will setup your material.
The current workaround - using diffuse texture wired with sunlight parameter connected to emissive light output plus ss lighting model, but this is so NOT next-gen =_=
I can't understand how so basic thing keep being ignored
Few examples from UE3 and UE4 for you to feel the difference:
Unreal Engine 3
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1030[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]1031[/ATTACH]
Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Demos
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1032[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]1033[/ATTACH]

Maybe I'm not aware of some super duper way to shade your grass, maybe I overlooked something - that's why I'm posting this in Content Creation and not in feedback

Pic 3 is a real photo I think...

[zeOrb]

Pic 3 is a real photo I think...

Hah, well, maybe I'm overcritizing then But still, I think idea is pretty clear

[Ulrich.Thümmler]

I use edit normals + sss(distance blending) + fresnel shading for my foliage

final grass shader:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fvu7e1mb7r...s_lighting.jpg

360° lighting
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l3vebdyg6o...s_shading1.jpg

[polyneutron]

I use edit normals + sss(distance blending) + fresnel shading for my foliage

final grass shader:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fvu7e1mb7r...s_lighting.jpg

360° lighting
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l3vebdyg6o...s_shading1.jpg

Man, this is AMAZING!!! Such a beautiful grass!

[Daydreamer]

I use edit normals + sss(distance blending) + fresnel shading for my foliage

final grass shader:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fvu7e1mb7r...s_lighting.jpg

360° lighting
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l3vebdyg6o...s_shading1.jpg

Wow. That's beautiful work. Have you considered adding tutorials to your blog for UE4?

[Graute]

Looks fantastic!, great work.

[Joviex]

Pic 3 is a real photo I think...

Indeed it is. http://www.forwallpaper.com/wallpape...ey-544948.html

Not sure why it was claimed to be from Unreal 4?

[zeOrb]

I use edit normals + sss(distance blending) + fresnel shading for my foliage

final grass shader:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fvu7e1mb7r...s_lighting.jpg

360° lighting
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l3vebdyg6o...s_shading1.jpg

Bravo, sir! Looks excellent!
How do you utilize fresnel?

Indeed it is. http://www.forwallpaper.com/wallpape...ey-544948.html

Not sure why it was claimed to be from Unreal 4?

Someone posted this photo, claiming UE4 and my perverted brain said something like: HM, THIS GRASS LOOKS BAD. IN OTHER DEMO GRASS LOOKS BAD TOO. NOTHING ELSE DOESN'T MATTER!

[Michael Boeni]

I use edit normals + sss(distance blending) + fresnel shading for my foliage

final grass shader:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fvu7e1mb7r...s_lighting.jpg

360° lighting
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l3vebdyg6o...s_shading1.jpg

@Ulrich: Would be lovely if you could share the shader setup for the grass - it does look very good!

Cheers,
Michael

[Kuro1n]

I use edit normals + sss(distance blending) + fresnel shading for my foliage

final grass shader:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fvu7e1mb7r...s_lighting.jpg

360° lighting
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l3vebdyg6o...s_shading1.jpg

That looks amazing! As others have asked, is it possible to have you share your magic?

[Toku]

@_@Ulrich would love to see the shader setup or maybe a tutorial on how you made this grass.. looks really nice and I am trying to make a foliage map as well

[Ulrich.Thümmler]

thx guys

here a short break down(is from ue4 beta):

1. Use Edit normals to create custom normals for your mesh.
http://wiki.polycount.com/VertexNormal

2. When u import the texture with alpha mask, check the "DitherMipMapAlpha" is true.

3. Here the basic MatTree():
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mndlu7w6ds...setup_base.jpg
Blend Mode: Masked
Lighting Model: Subsurface
Two Sided: true

For the gradient textures use a simple TexCoordinate with ComponentMask.

I use in my shader alpha mask distance filling. The mask is no pixelated and flickering in the distance.
Here my MatTree:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nfnjtskpbz...tree_multi.jpg

The SSS is very hardware hungry i use the distance blending for better performance.
http://oliverm-h.blogspot.de/2012/06...ng-ue3udk.html

Use the Opacity Slot for SSS transparently.

4. Create a custom Wind Shader with high z vector offset.
Here my custom wind shader(i use it for all(weather, trees, ocean, flaggs etc.)):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zkonxpg08f...ind_Shader.mov
Here the animate texture:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pm8bmddke2...namic_wind.mp4
the final texture has 32px x 32px resolution


Hope this was helpful, sry for my bad english. :P

greeting,
Ulrich

[Kuro1n]

Thank you a lot for sharing Ulrich will try this later (and your English is just fine).