How to learn advanced material creation?

Hey guys!

For a while now I’ve seen many, many amazing materials and shaders people create using UE4 (specially when it comes to water), but when I open them and try to reverse engineer, my brain stops working because of its complexity.

I always feel overwhelmed when trying to learn those, and I’ve been wondering here, for those who know a lot a bout material creation, how did you learn it? How did you learn how to use fresnel, world position offset, material functions and all that?
I really want to learn it, but I find it very hard on my own. :confused:

Thanks!
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