Week 1 and 2: Introduction to Unreal Engine
- Introduction to Unreal Fundamentals
- Downloading Unreal Engine
- The Epic Games launcher
- The anatomy of Unreal projects
- Using learning content and adding assets from the Unreal marketplace
- Getting to know the Unreal interface
- Importing 3D models and 2D textures into Unreal
- Bonus video, using the model viewer to optimise your models
By the end of this module, you should feel comfortable using Unreal Engine 4's interface.
You will also understand the basics of real-time rendering and how to bring artwork in and be able to manipulate it, using grid snapping to create a simple environment that you will be able to navigate in Real Time.
Week 3 and 4: Introduction to materials in Unreal Engine
- Introduction to PBR and materials
- The material editor
- Organising your graph
- The texture viewer and textures
- Channel packed textures
- Creating a material part 1 - using pre-existing materials
- Creating a material part 2 - UVs multiply and add
- Creating a material part 3 - using Lerps to blend textures
- Creating a material part 4 - controlling roughness
- Creating a master material and material instance
- Opacity blend modes and shader cost
- Creating a glass material
- Adding Fresnel in the spec instead of using metal
By the end of this module, you should feel comfortable using Unreal Engine 4’s material editor, have a basic understanding of PBR, how to import textures, how to control them and how to create materials, master material and instances.
Week 5 and 6: Introduction to lighting and post process in Unreal Engine
- Introduction to lighting
- Static vs real-time lighting and light mobility
- Light types and properties
- Making lights and light mass
- View modes and optimisation
- Introduction to volumetric fog
- Post process settings and changing the look of your scene
By the end of this module, you should have a foundation towards understand lighting in Unreal and how to create various effects such as fog and colour correction to control the look of your scene. You will also be able to create simple camera animations and be able to render out images, create a simple sequence and interact with the environment in Real Time.
Week 7, 8 and 9: Final project
Using the knowledge, you have gained through previous projects you will refine your work or create a new scene with materials, lighting and post processing to create a real-time environment.
Week 10: Live Q&A
This will be a live Q&A session, where you can ask questions about your next steps. You will simply need to submit your questions at the beginning of the week and your tutor will answer them in the live session.
