Sky Creator

Dmitry_Karpukhin · January 18, 2022, 3:49pm

Not sure, but it probably has to be the pixel values that you write to the texture. Try to lower down sunlight intensity or play with some other values to not to get overexposed brightness.
It actually reminds me the times when I tried to capture cubemaps of TrueSky and it was crazy cumbersome too. For instance you coudn’t even remove the atmosphere color there at all.

motorsep · January 18, 2022, 3:55pm

Can’t you just introduce editable PP parameters values? Cuz currently I can’t change any PP parameters values on SkyCreator actor placed in the scene.

Dmitry_Karpukhin · January 18, 2022, 4:01pm

Do you mean that you can’t edit Post Process Volume when Sky Creator is placed on the scene? Or I didn’t really understand what you’re meaning.

motorsep · January 18, 2022, 4:09pm

yep, that’s exactly what I meant.

Dmitry_Karpukhin · January 18, 2022, 4:19pm

Did you check “Infinite Extent (Unbound)” on your PP Volume? Because I don’t really have any issues with that. And if you did, please describe your setup a little bit more in detail.

motorsep · January 18, 2022, 4:31pm

I’ll record a video showing my setup and how I can’t tweak any PP values at all … after I get off work.

motorsep · January 19, 2022, 4:24am

This is what’s happening:
v=YL0sE333Flw

Dmitry_Karpukhin · January 19, 2022, 8:46am

But it works just as intended.
There’s a reason this PP component called “Exposure” in Sky Creator, because it controls these exact auto-exposure settings. You can control any other PP settings on Exposure component nonetheless, but exposure settings will be overwritten by these settings in Sky Creator. It’s the same settings, just placed a higher level for easier access. By unchecking “Use Exposure Settings” checkbox you can disable Exposure PP component completely.

And anyway you could place PP Volume and all its settings will overwrite any Sky Creator PP settings if given the higher priority.
Generally speaking you don’t usually have to tune Exposure component itself at all. It’s accessible only if you really need to tinker with it.

motorsep · January 19, 2022, 2:40pm

I wish that was something mentioned in the Quick Start docs

I didn’t think PP volume on the level would override Exposure component in the SkyCreator actor. Thanks for the tip - I will try it later today.

Dmitry_Karpukhin · January 24, 2022, 8:35am

The biggest update yet, 1.20 is finally released! There are plenty of changes and future-proof additions:

Added dynamic Occlusion Capture
Added new Weather Material FX - Wetness
Added new Weather Material FX - Puddles
Added new Weather Material FX - Ripples (including built-in Ripples Solver)
Added new Weather Material FX - Snow
Added new blueprint “SkyCreator_CaptureDistantOcclusion”
Added new blueprint “SkyCreator_DebugOcclusion”
Debug category is now deprecated - now all debug variables are placed at corresponding categories. They are still not visible by default, but can be turned on by “Show Debug Variables” checkbox
Updated “SkyCreator_ControllerExample” - now it has Accumulation/Dry timers for the new Weather Material FX
Updated Demo map
Updated default Weather Settings to be slightly more pleasing to the eye
Updated all Weather Presets and added a few more
Updated Rain material to be slightly more soft looking

@motorsep you’re right about the docs, they will be updated as well in the nearest time.
I will also add a paragraph about how to include “Weather Material FX” to your own materials and so on, but right now you can follow the setup inside the “SkyCreator_Overview” map.
Hope you guys also are waiting for the next updates, I personally just cannot wait to try to add GPU precipitation particles, so real storms and blizzards would be possible at a minimum performance cost.

motorsep · January 24, 2022, 2:34pm

@Dmitry_Karpukhin Amazing stuff! Btw, adding PP volume to the scene overrode SkyCreator actor’s settings and it’s all good now! Thanks!

I am personally waiting for “cloud painter” to make some custom puffy storm clouds

Would it be possible to add such effect (PP most likely) where one can see rain splashes around the edges of the objects, similar to what you can see on this GIF on the ground (such effect is usually seen in anime):

Here is more realistic example (Crysis 3), where you can see those splashes around the edges of the rocks:
v=3GYCMAqAFAM
v=OYUMlybHI5M

ClaudioPiccinni · January 24, 2022, 9:24pm

Great work, can’t wait to try it out!
Any doc/video on the new material FXs or what the dynamic occlusion capture is?

Dmitry_Karpukhin · January 25, 2022, 8:34am

Thanks guys! I added a bit of info to docs about how to include new effects to your own materials. It’s pretty straightforward and also check out updated map “SkyCreator Content/Maps/SkyCreator_Overview” for a live full runtime weather changing example. Current state of docs may be lacking, I’m planning to rewrite some of it in the nearest future. There’s still tons of work up ahead!

@motorsep wow I never noticed that effect. I think that’s doable if using same rain splashes effect which is already available, but on GPU. Have to try at least, looks cool.

Dmitry_Karpukhin · January 27, 2022, 11:12am

Just a quick notification - now I have an open Discord server for support and questions regarding Sky Creator. Welcome!

motorsep · January 27, 2022, 3:34pm

Awesome! I already posted questions there

Bartolomeus · February 5, 2022, 12:20pm

Hi, the Discord link in invalid.

Dmitry_Karpukhin · February 6, 2022, 8:52am

Oh, I somehow missed that! Sorry. Here’s a new link to Discord Server.

Dmitry_Karpukhin · February 24, 2022, 7:09pm

A new update 1.21 is up!

Added Real Sun & Moon Positioning
Moved all Sun & Moon position settings into new single category “Sun & Moon Position”
Reworked “Light Transition” hardcoded feature. Transitions between Sun & Moon are noticeably smoother now
Direction of the North has changed from Y- to X+ to match Unreal’s yaw angle rotation
Disabled Cloud Shadows of MoonLight component by default
Fixed wrong color conversion with Volumetric Fog Albedo in Weather Settings
Minor changes to code to have UE 5.0 Preview compatibility

Here’s how a new category looks in Sky Creator, you can find all positioning settings there. Current implementation of real positioning is good enough I think, the sun/moon elevation precision can vary somewhere in 1°, while azimuth is almost always quite accurate. Also there’s a new Light Transition settings which are managing the smooth transition between Sun and Moon light sources.

caterinabattisti · March 7, 2022, 4:39pm

Hi, @Dmitry_Karpukhin. When using nDisplay with projection type picp_mesh I get this visual bug:

Here I’m showing 4 different viewports, all running on the master node. The visualization is correct only in the left-most viewport. Also, the issue seems to be causd by the presence of clouds in the sky. Do you have any idea why this happens? Thank you

Gliptal · March 8, 2022, 10:27am

Hey @Dmitry_Karpukhin, I’m testing 1.21 and have an issue with Sun Position Type: I created a custom child BP from SkyCreator, to easily set some defaults I use in all levels. When I go and change the Sun Position Type in that BP, the editor crashes:

[2022.03.08-10.23.43:105][ 5]LogWindows: Windows GetLastError: The operation completed successfully. (0)
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: === Critical error: ===
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error:
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: Assertion failed: World != nullptr [File:D:/build/++Portal/Sync/LocalBuilds/PluginTemp/HostProject/Plugins/SkyCreatorPlugin/Source/SkyCreatorPlugin/Private/SkyCreatorActor.cpp] [Line: 540]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error:
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error:
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error:
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ffa99c64f69 KERNELBASE.dll!UnknownFunction
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff98249d066 UE4Editor-Core.dll!ReportAssert() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Private\Windows\WindowsPlatformCrashContext.cpp:1616]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9824a07a8 UE4Editor-Core.dll!FWindowsErrorOutputDevice::Serialize() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Private\Windows\WindowsErrorOutputDevice.cpp:78]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9821ae8cd UE4Editor-Core.dll!FOutputDevice::LogfImpl() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Private\Misc\OutputDevice.cpp:61]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff982145575 UE4Editor-Core.dll!AssertFailedImplV() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Private\Misc\AssertionMacros.cpp:104]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff982147620 UE4Editor-Core.dll!FDebug::CheckVerifyFailedImpl() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Private\Misc\AssertionMacros.cpp:461]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9490a8ffd UE4Editor-SkyCreatorPlugin.dll!ASkyCreator::CheckOcclusion() [D:\build++Portal\Sync\LocalBuilds\PluginTemp\HostProject\Plugins\SkyCreatorPlugin\Source\SkyCreatorPlugin\Private\SkyCreatorActor.cpp:540]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9490b012d UE4Editor-SkyCreatorPlugin.dll!ASkyCreator::SetComponentsSettings() [D:\build++Portal\Sync\LocalBuilds\PluginTemp\HostProject\Plugins\SkyCreatorPlugin\Source\SkyCreatorPlugin\Private\SkyCreatorActor.cpp:716]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9490b3be1 UE4Editor-SkyCreatorPlugin.dll!ASkyCreator::UpdateSettings() [D:\build++Portal\Sync\LocalBuilds\PluginTemp\HostProject\Plugins\SkyCreatorPlugin\Source\SkyCreatorPlugin\Private\SkyCreatorActor.cpp:1689]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97e7c4f90 UE4Editor-CoreUObject.dll!UObject::PostEditChangeChainProperty() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\CoreUObject\Private\UObject\Obj.cpp:454]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff976876d54 UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!FPropertyNode::NotifyPostChange() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\PropertyEditor\Private\PropertyNode.cpp:2342]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97685f05a UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!FPropertyValueImpl::ImportText() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\PropertyEditor\Private\PropertyHandleImpl.cpp:522]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97685f5a8 UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!FPropertyValueImpl::ImportText() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\PropertyEditor\Private\PropertyHandleImpl.cpp:291]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9768ba2f8 UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!FPropertyValueImpl::SetValueAsString() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\PropertyEditor\Private\PropertyHandleImpl.cpp:818]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9769b78b7 UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!SPropertyEditorCombo::SendToObjects() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\PropertyEditor\Private\UserInterface\PropertyEditor\SPropertyEditorCombo.cpp:255]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97698ec0e UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!SPropertyEditorCombo::OnComboSelectionChanged() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\PropertyEditor\Private\UserInterface\PropertyEditor\SPropertyEditorCombo.cpp:195]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff976960037 UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!TBaseSPMethodDelegateInstance<0,SPropertyEditorCombo,0,void __cdecl(TSharedPtr<FString,0>,enum ESelectInfo::Type),FDefaultDelegateUserPolicy>::ExecuteIfSafe() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Public\Delegates\DelegateInstancesImpl.h:307]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9769a1107 UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!SPropertyComboBox::OnSelectionChangedInternal() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\PropertyEditor\Private\UserInterface\PropertyEditor\SPropertyComboBox.cpp:123]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97695f2d7 UE4Editor-PropertyEditor.dll!TBaseSPMethodDelegateInstance<0,SPropertyComboBox,0,void __cdecl(TSharedPtr<FString,0>,enum ESelectInfo::Type),FDefaultDelegateUserPolicy>::ExecuteIfSafe() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Public\Delegates\DelegateInstancesImpl.h:307]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9762fd1e4 UE4Editor-EditorWidgets.dll!TDelegate<void __cdecl(TSharedPtr<FString,0>,enum ESelectInfo::Type),FDefaultDelegateUserPolicy>::ExecuteIfBound<void,0>() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Public\Delegates\DelegateSignatureImpl.inl:599]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9763a8e53 UE4Editor-EditorWidgets.dll!SSearchableComboBox::OnSelectionChanged_Internal() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Editor\EditorWidgets\Private\SSearchableComboBox.cpp:211]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff976369b57 UE4Editor-EditorWidgets.dll!TBaseSPMethodDelegateInstance<0,SSearchableComboBox,0,void __cdecl(TSharedPtr<FString,0>,enum ESelectInfo::Type),FDefaultDelegateUserPolicy>::ExecuteIfSafe() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Public\Delegates\DelegateInstancesImpl.h:307]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9762fd1e4 UE4Editor-EditorWidgets.dll!TDelegate<void __cdecl(TSharedPtr<FString,0>,enum ESelectInfo::Type),FDefaultDelegateUserPolicy>::ExecuteIfBound<void,0>() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Core\Public\Delegates\DelegateSignatureImpl.inl:599]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9763b4880 UE4Editor-EditorWidgets.dll!SListView<TSharedPtr<FString,0> >::Private_SignalSelectionChanged() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Slate\Public\Widgets\Views\SListView.h:947]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff9763a3abd UE4Editor-EditorWidgets.dll!STableRow<TSharedPtr<FString,0> >::OnMouseButtonUp() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Slate\Public\Widgets\Views\STableRow.h:617]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97d8446be UE4Editor-Slate.dll!FEventRouter::Route<FReply,FEventRouter::FToLeafmostPolicy,FPointerEvent,<lambda_cc5aea9e7377b04ce85c30c65ec3889b> >() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Slate\Private\Framework\Application\SlateApplication.cpp:378]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97d8c7f14 UE4Editor-Slate.dll!FSlateApplication::RoutePointerUpEvent() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Slate\Private\Framework\Application\SlateApplication.cpp:4815]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97d8b0337 UE4Editor-Slate.dll!FSlateApplication::ProcessMouseButtonUpEvent() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Slate\Private\Framework\Application\SlateApplication.cpp:5356]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97d8a3632 UE4Editor-Slate.dll!FSlateApplication::OnMouseUp() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Slate\Private\Framework\Application\SlateApplication.cpp:5321]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97dd9bcb5 UE4Editor-ApplicationCore.dll!FWindowsApplication::ProcessDeferredMessage() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\ApplicationCore\Private\Windows\WindowsApplication.cpp:2178]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97dd89197 UE4Editor-ApplicationCore.dll!FWindowsApplication::DeferMessage() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\ApplicationCore\Private\Windows\WindowsApplication.cpp:2642]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97dd9e389 UE4Editor-ApplicationCore.dll!FWindowsApplication::ProcessMessage() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\ApplicationCore\Private\Windows\WindowsApplication.cpp:1046]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97dd84310 UE4Editor-ApplicationCore.dll!FWindowsApplication::AppWndProc() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\ApplicationCore\Private\Windows\WindowsApplication.cpp:878]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ffa9be3e858 USER32.dll!UnknownFunction
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ffa9be3e299 USER32.dll!UnknownFunction
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff97dd9f914 UE4Editor-ApplicationCore.dll!FWindowsPlatformApplicationMisc::PumpMessages() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\ApplicationCore\Private\Windows\WindowsPlatformApplicationMisc.cpp:130]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff64d5f8848 UE4Editor.exe!FEngineLoop::Tick() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\LaunchEngineLoop.cpp:4748]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff64d61117c UE4Editor.exe!GuardedMain() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\Launch.cpp:169]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff64d61125a UE4Editor.exe!GuardedMainWrapper() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\Windows\LaunchWindows.cpp:137]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff64d6252bd UE4Editor.exe!WinMain() [D:\Build++UE4\Sync\Engine\Source\Runtime\Launch\Private\Windows\LaunchWindows.cpp:268]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ff64d627fea UE4Editor.exe!__scrt_common_main_seh() [d:\agent_work\5\s\src\vctools\crt\vcstartup\src\startup\exe_common.inl:288]
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ffa9b6d7034 KERNEL32.DLL!UnknownFunction
[2022.03.08-10.24.02:536][ 5]LogWindows: Error: [Callstack] 0x00007ffa9c382651 ntdll.dll!UnknownFunction

The setting works fine if I change it on the instanced object in the level.