Book Image

Architectural Visualization in Unreal Engine 5

By : Ludovico Palmeri
Book Image

Architectural Visualization in Unreal Engine 5

By: Ludovico Palmeri

Overview of this book

If you excel at creating beautiful architectural renderings offline, but face challenges replicating the same quality in real time, this book will show you how the versatile Unreal Engine 5 enables such transformations effortlessly. While UE5 is widely popular, existing online training resources can be overwhelming and often lack a focus on Architectural visualization. This comprehensive guide is designed for individuals managing tight deadlines, striving for photorealism, and handling typical client revisions inherent to architectural visualization. The book starts with an introduction to UE5 and its capabilities, as well as the basic concepts and principles of architectural visualization. You’ll then progress to essential topics such as setting up a project, modeling and texturing 3D assets, lighting and materials, and post-processing effects. Along the way, you’ll find practical tips, best practices, and hands-on exercises to develop your skills by applying what you learn. By the end of this UE5 book, you'll have acquired the skills to confidently create high-quality architectural visualizations in Unreal Engine and become proficient in building an architectural interior scene in UE5 to produce professional still images.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)
1
Part 1: Building the Scene
6
Part 2: Illuminating and Materializing the Scene
12
Part 3: Completing the Scene
16
Part 4: Rendering the Scene
Appendix:Substrate Materials

A general approach to light

The workflow may vary, depending on the person or the situation, but I will describe my usual approach, which is very similar to the light studio setup (which I will explain later in this chapter). You can compare lighting to preparing a cake – you have a core light, which is the base of the cake; some fill light, which is the cream inside providing the main taste and flavor; and finally, an accent or detail light, which is like the sugar decorations on top – they are small and point-focused and don’t affect the substance much, but they help to make the cake visually appealing. So, light your scene in this order and don’t mix up the roles – focus on the first two types, which are enough to make your scene work, and save the accent light for last:

  • Core light: This is the main light source of your scene. It illuminates everything and gives the first and most important layer of light. It usually matches the outdoor...