Which video is it exactly?
hi all,
im trying to follow the latest Cascade tutorials from mr.Parrish, but already at the beginning hit a solid wall. For some reason, the most default mat we created in the tutorial, used on a mesh typedata emitter results in this (it should look like small greyish bubbles, as on the video
heres the screenshot of the material editor aswell.
Im out of ideas, the only thing different I guess is that my version is still at 4.2 and maybe Zak uses 4.3 that has some other features.
cheers for any info
Hi strahobrz -
The default Mesh used in the Mesh Emitter is a Cube, which it looks like you are using with your material. This is causing your fade to be applied to each face of the cube in a way that you are not wanting. Change the Cube in the Mesh Data Type to the Material Sphere or Simple Sphere in the Content Browser. That should generate the look of a sphere like you have in the Material Editor.
Let me know if you are still having problems -
Eric Ketchum
Jacky,
Eric thanks for the response.
The above behavior is the same even if I open a completely default particle setting and use a default material on it.
no default mesh data type to change… At least with my basic knowledge ?
I think you have gotten a bit off track and are trying to use the wrong material. The material you want is what he makes at about 2:03 in the video.
The one you are showing is a banded texture for use in a ribbon or beam. The confusion probably comes from viewing it on a sphere. change to viewing it on a plane or cube to see the actual texture.
Rimmy, thanks for chiming in. Even with the basic mat, like done in the video with radial gradient exponential, this is what comes up in on default particle system
Hi Strahobrz -
Sorry misunderstanding your terminology with the particle systems. A Mesh emitter is what I thought you were dealing with, but for a default sprite particle system RimmyD is correct the material itself was your problem.
Here is what the default material should look like:
The Particle Color node will allow the Color Over Life default node to add color to you particles in Cascade as well as set their alpha (transparency) value.
Thank You
Eric Ketchum
Eric,
thanks so much for having the patience with me. But like I said n one of the bottom comments, I already tried with the exact replication of the material in the video, and it produces the same effect. The material itself looks different to yours in the preview window. Check the picture for proof
Hi strahobrz -
For some reason I believe your Radial Gradient Material Function is incorrect. Can you open your Radial Gradient Material Function, double-click on the node in your material editor, and check it against the picture below:
Let me know if there are any discrepancies, also what version of teh engine are your using.
Thank You
Eric Ketchum
If you use only Particle color node and no gradient or an alpha texture for opacity then it is normal to get square shapes. Since there is no information(gradient or black&white texture) to tell it what shape the opacity should be, it takes the particle sprite’s shape. This applies to translucent and masked materials in general though, not just particles.
Eric, still using 4.2. And YES the gradient function was different to yours. I adjusted it accordingly and now the material seems to be working correctly.
the same issue remains though if I make a simple mat, with only particle color component, and connect the output and alpha to the opacity and emissive channels. I get squares instead of circly shapes. Is this normal, in the sense that particle materials have to be done differently ? (I havent proceeded through Zak’s tutorial because I wanted to clear up the issues first so I may be asking wrong, trivial questions regarding particle mat creation)
again, thanks so much for helping me ! UE4 support rules
Hey strahobrz -
Jacky is correct. But I do want to clarify what exactly is being generated in the Particle System. A default emitter, Sprite emitter, is generating planes. You can see this by changing the view mode in Cascade to Wireframe and all that is generated is planes. So unless, as Jacky says, an alpha is generated you are adding color to the whole plane and alpha fading the whole frame.
Thank You
Eric Ketchum
ahhhh awesome !!! This clears up many things I wanted to ask…
thanks so much Jacky and Eric. Hopefully this puts an end to my particle enigma !