Elham Malekfar
Mon, 27 May 2024 13:02:25 +0000
Feedback & Requests

Impact of Mesh Topology on the Refraction Behavior of Glass in Unreal Engine 5 (Especially Curved Surfaces)

Hello Unreal Engine 5 pros,

I have a question regarding the impact of mesh topology on the realistic refraction of glass in UE5. As a professional 3D modeler, I primarily use CAD-based software like Rhino, which doesn’t require extensive adjustments to topology and edge flow, unlike 3ds Max or Blender.

In traditional render engines like Corona or V-Ray, achieving accurate light behavior and refraction in glass materials necessitates using quad meshes, especially on curved surfaces. Adding weighted normals or playing with smoothing groups often doesn’t resolve shading issues, resulting in jagged and inaccurate refractions (see attached images: Pic 1 with quad mesh, showing perfect refraction, vs. Pic 2 exported from Rhino without quads, showing jagged refraction).

When exporting models from Rhino as meshes in FBX or OBJ formats, the resulting meshes are precise but not in quad form. This non-quad topology causes issues with physically accurate refraction in traditional render engines. These refraction shading issues are particularly noticeable on curved surfaces!

My question is: Does Unreal Engine 5 offer specific modifiers or light simulation algorithms that can effectively tackle these shading issues on curved glass surfaces in a clear and realistic manner? (As I mentioned, solutions like the Weight Normal modifier in 3ds Max aren’t satisfactory, and I have extensive experience with such methods.) If UE5 provides solutions for these challenges, I would strongly consider shifting my focus to UE5 over traditional render engines reliant on mesh topology and normals.

2 posts - 2 participants