Learning

February 17, 2025

Free Unreal Engine courses: animating MetaHumans, god rays, PCG tools, and more

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This month’s free Unreal Engine learning content spans an array of topics, including tips and tricks on producing visual effects, customizing and animating MetaHumans, VR game development, and much more. Dive in below.

New Epic tutorials

Creating Stylized Water Ripples in Unreal Engine

Learn how to create stylized, hand-drawn-looking water ripples for your projects. The idea is to create a simple material that’s easy to change and animate and that can be easily art directed to match your aesthetic.

Check it out

NNE - Neural Post Processing

Neural Post Processing in Unreal Engine.

Neural Post Processing involves applying artificial neural networks to modify a final rendered image after the main rendering process is complete, allowing for advanced visual effects and image manipulation using AI techniques.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to program C++ and Blueprint classes to enqueue a neural network to the render graph pipeline that applies neural post processing to the final rendered images.

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How to Get "God Rays" with Raytraced Shadows

Check out this quick and easy tip for achieving realistic, atmospheric “god rays” simply by adjusting a few settings in Unreal Engine.

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An Introduction to PCG Tools In Unreal Engine

Procedural Content Generation tools in Unreal Engine.

Courtesy of David Edwards

Explore Unreal Engine’s Procedural Content Generation (PCG) tools in this beginner-friendly tutorial. You’ll learn how to dynamically scatter assets across landscapes, apply advanced filtering techniques for precise placement, and utilize tags and splines to create immersive and optimized environments.

Dive in David Edwards

Unlocking the Potential of MetaHuman Customization: A Guide for Unreal Engine Developers & Artists

MetaHuman customization in Unreal Engine.

Courtesy of Andrejek Bojan

This guide explores MetaHuman customization in Unreal Engine, covering materials, textures, geometry, hair, and garments. It explains workflows like morph target editing, texture painting with Substance Painter, and garment creation using panel-based methods.

Detailed tips on optimizing performance and enhancing realism will help you create unique characters tailored to your projects, blending technical and artistic approaches.

See more Andrejek Bojan

Color Grading Panel in Unreal Engine 5.5

The Color Grading Panel in Unreal Engine.

Courtesy of Reza Sarkamari

The Color Grading panel centralizes scene color adjustments by managing Actors with color grading tools like post process volumes and color correction regions.

It simplifies workflows by reducing the need to adjust individual Actors’ details panels. This tutorial covers all essential aspects of this powerful tool.

Take a look Reza Sarkamari

How to create realistic smoke and fog

Realistic smoke and fog in Unreal Engine.

Courtesy of Viral Shah

Dive into the world of visual effects with our latest tutorial on creating realistic smoke and fog in Unreal Engine 5. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer, this step-by-step guide will help you master the art of atmospheric effects. Watch to learn tips and tricks that will enhance your projects and bring your scenes to life.

Check it out Viral Shah

Epic talks and demos

Animating MetaHumans with the Game Animation Sample Project

MetaHuman animation in the Game Animation Sample Project.

Watch this recorded talk from Unreal Fest Seattle 2024 and learn how to animate MetaHumans with the Game Animation Sample Project. You’ll learn how to import and manipulate character animations, switch characters dynamically, and create cinematic camera sequences. The video also covers the MetaHuman Mesh-to-MetaHuman workflow, and much more.

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Using UE5 to Build Modern VR Action Games

Check out this recorded session from Unreal Fest Seattle 2024 and explore how Survios built an immersive tech stack for Alien: Rogue Incursion using Unreal Engine 5. Learn how to effectively utilize and extend Unreal Engine’s Chaos Physics, Enhanced Input, and Gameplay Ability System to elevate your VR game development.

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