Hello all,
In my game, I want a character to stand on a switch in order to change the material of an object (a simple Actor).
Specifically, the material of the concerned object goes from ‘normal’ to glowing.
Here I demonstrated the change in material I would like to achieve.
Now I’m assuming I need to use trigger volumes.
I watched a bunch of tutorials, but their solutions require either that 1) the TriggerVolume is a Component in the actor blueprint (which I don’t want since I want to use a switch elsewhere in the level) or 2) the object only changes Base Colour or another specific parameter (which I also don’t want because the second material requires other parameters for it to glow).
I’ve also seen some tutorials talk about Dynamic Materials, but I cannot figure out how to apply this technique to my situation.
Some notes that might be useful for helping me out:
- It is an option to find a solution where not necessarily an Actor itself changes material, but a specific material applied continuously in the level changes to another material once triggered.
- The object in question that I want to change material once triggered, consists of 3 materials applied to the mesh: all of them must glow.
- The object in question is a Blueprint placed in the level, but ideally I would like to be able to apply the material change also to a Static Mesh elsewhere in the level that uses the same materials.
I am really not very experienced with Unreal or programming in general, so please explain as easily as possible 
Thanks a bunch!
would it be ok if your object you want to make glow will have a blueprint?
and do you want it to be triggered by a switch not an close contact type style?
your object you want to make glow when triggered will also make the other object you want to make glow, glow at the same time?
specify these small few detailing , i know how it can be done but i need a few more small details to narrow question to make a small setup to share as you require.
ok i hope you can wait till tomorrow (it’s night here) i will make the setup and share it’s necessary pics with you or even share the zip if needed.
No problem at all! Thank you so much
To me it seems that the first method is better.
so i found two ways but have done the first one which is easy and would recommend that (both give same result, no need to make different materials and swap, first one can also overcome it’s problem by an complicated setup) :
result of first setup(haven’t tried second but result should be same)
:1) uses parameter collection :
profit: easy ,requires less setup( even an actor ,like switch make it glow without casting ,acts upon every meshes using that material.
loss: changes every mesh even if spawned afterwards. , useless in multiplayer (a bit casting is required in multiplayer to make it work)
2)uses material parameter:
profit: you can change each mesh required , doesn’t applies changes to meshes later spawned
lose:very complicated setup , requires casting , requires you to specify each mesh material to change , making each material dynamic.
i have also shown that the color of glow can be changed , glow can be masked, and of course an normal glow can be applied.
the setup will require explanation so i will be waiting for an reply to see which method suits you. and so i will share/make that setup.
ok so i will be sharing the screenshots with explanations part by part answerhub got image limits.
do the following:
for knowing what parameter collection is ,see this
other nodes can be found by typing the name
clear version.
just add all in level ,don’t forget to add the material in mesh(not necessary for it to have blueprint) and the switch.
about the zip, there is no method to add it here,
just give a mail here
and i will send it to you.
I see you did a lot of effort, thank you very much for taking time to explain! At the moment I am working on other parts of the game, once I got time to try this out I will let you know how it goes.
So I tried it out, but unfortunately I don’t seem to be able to make it work. Not sure where I went wrong though… I sent you an email for the .zip, hopefully that will help!
i have sent you the zip, i hope you are using ue4.10.4 or higher.
It worked! You are great! 
