Shader weirdness

OK, here is an issue that I am pretty sure everyone is seeing but nobody is talking about:

20535-untitled1.jpg

20537-untitled3.jpg

20539-dropoff1.jpg

What I am talking about is why the shader seems to behave as it is like a flapping cat door. And as it turns away from you (upwards, hinged at the top in these samples) the outside of this ‘cat door’ leaves the area outside with no shading (or the impression of it) at all.

Likewise when turning to the side, you get the same effect where the shader seems to ignore areas that actually do need shading. Then there is also the halo effect. Like the sunken structure (the one with the ‘???’ in it) see that halo? Or ‘gloria’ if you will. I´bet it’s the same shader, bleeding light out on the sides from behind the structure.

Now… the obvious question here is, what can be done about this? Because I much rather turn that shader off entirely, and have everything brighter, than having a cat door flapping all over the screen :slight_smile:

I don’t consider this a bug of course, but I am curious as to what can be done about it. And like I said, I’d much rather get rid of it entirely.

Regards/
Mike

Update: I changed the shader to make the ‘cat flap’ more visible.

20540-catflap1.jpg

20541-catflap2.jpg

Hey Mithril -

What are your water’s refraction and opacity settings? This looks like an issue with refraction and translucency sorting but I would need to see your water shader to debug it more, a screenshot would be helpful here.

Thank You

Eric Ketchum

Actually I see this behavior in every single demo that got reflective surfaces like water in it. Your shaders too. For instance when moving across the icey water in the mountains demo.

So… to give an example.

  1. Create a project using the mountain landscapes projects you yourself provide.
  2. Move the camera to the lake. Next to the ‘Boost ring’ (for instance) near the surface. Not too close.
  3. Open up the material for the water of the lake and bring up the m_Ice_Vertpaint. We are going to make this easier to see.
  4. In the nodes. go to the final material inputs and disconnect Basecolor and normal (this is not required, but will make it easier to see)

Now, apply this change. and start rotating the camera up and down. Now you should be able to see like a window in the lake, turning as you do, but away from you. A mirrored motion.

The problem here is that inside this ‘window’ you get the type of shader you’d expect. But outside everything gets brighter, as if the shader data is missing. And as it turns away, this effect covers more and more area. Each by themselves isn’t a problem really. But it’s the behavior as such, This ‘window’ (or whatever you may call it) is so noticeable that I would like to know where I can either turn it off entirely, or stop it from rotating. Also, I would also like to know why there is such a change outside this window? If for instance. it is possible to control this windows dimensions etc… in any way.

I whish I could explain it better, but I honestly don’t have enough experience for that.

I hope I have explanied sufficiently what I mean? And of course, any help is appreciated.

Best regards/
Mike

Hey Mike -

Sorry for the delay getting back in touch with you but I believe I have found teh cause of the “window” effect you are describing above. This is generated by the Screen Space Reflections. If you add a Unbound Post Process volume to your level and go to the Screen Space Reflections section in the details panel check intensity to true and set the intensity to 0. The window should disappear and you will only have the Static Reflections generated by any sphere reflection actors.

Thank You

Eric Ketchum

Hello Eric, and thanks for the solution. That one was driving me nuts :slight_smile: It works. It also introduced other issues, but those are quite easy to work around. Great job there. Much appreciated :slight_smile:

Best regards/
Mike