As a dedicated UEFN artist with over 7 months of experience rendering key art in the UEFN engine, I’ve encountered significant limitations with the platform’s default lighting system. Inconsistent, harsh, overly bright, or lackluster lighting significantly impacts the quality and workflow for creating high-quality renders.
While I understand that UEFN is still in development, improving the lighting tools would be a game-changer. Here’s what I propose:
Key Feature Request:
- Advanced World Lighting Controls: Currently, we only have limited control over time and rotation. I propose adding more granular controls for the sky and sun specifically:
- Intensity
- Color Temperature
- Source Angle/Soft Angle
- Volumetrics
- Sky Atmosphere Controls (Cloud Density, Scattering, etc.) similar to the Day Sequence Device but with better options
- Enhanced Skybox/HDRI Integration: Streamline the process of using custom skyboxes and HDRIs within the default lighting systems.
Why This Matters:
I acknowledge that creating custom lighting setups is possible, but it shouldn’t be the only way to achieve high-quality results. Enhancing the built-in tools would dramatically improve the workflow for many artists, especially those who are newer to UEFN.
Examples of Current Limitations:
Here are some examples of a scene with the default lighting as well as a custom lighting setup.
As you can see, each setup offers a slight difference in color and quality. Unless you are creating a custom setup, there is just not enough controls in the current system.
Current time of day controls:
Current day sequence controls:
We are missing some valuable controls in the current system.
Inspiration from Epic’s Key Art:
I’m a massive fan of Epic’s official key art. The lighting and atmosphere are always top-notch. It would be incredibly helpful to learn more about Epic’s process:
- Is the official key art created within Unreal Engine?
- What does the process look like compared to UEFN?
- Has there been any experimentation with creating similar art in UEFN?
Call to Action:
I believe there’s a real opportunity to elevate UEFN’s potential for key art creation. More tutorials, resources, and community discussions about techniques would be incredibly valuable. Let’s start the conversation and push for improvements!
