tripo logo
allPosts

Improving Skin Materials in Unreal Engine 5.2

In Unreal Engine, a common issue with Genesis 8.1 characters is the excessive shine on the skin. This can detract from the overall realism of the character. Additionally, there may be problems with the hair cap transparency, resulting in a noisy pattern on the forehead. In this guide, we will focus on fixing the shiny skin appearance.

Adjusting Character Orientation

  1. Set Up the View: Begin by opening the skeletal mesh and adjusting the character's orientation for better lighting. Create a one-frame animation to rotate the character's face forward, ensuring the light falls more naturally.

Understanding Material Setup in Unreal Engine

  1. Material Creation: Unreal Engine utilizes shaders with nodes to create materials. These materials are often instanced to override specific values for performance optimization.

  2. Instance Hierarchy: Unreal Engine further refines this concept by allowing instances of instances. Each material instance can be based on another instance, which, in turn, can relate back to a base material.

Adjusting Material Settings for Skin

  1. Identifying the Base Material: By tracing the hierarchy, locate the base material governing the entire character. In this case, the base material for the Genesis 8.1 character is the 'DJ Feer HD 8.1 base mat.'

  2. Adjusting Roughness: To reduce skin shine, modify the roughness offset value on the base material instance. Experiment with values until the desired level of shine is achieved across the character's body.

  3. Fine-Tuning Specific Areas: If specific areas like lips or eyes require varying levels of shine, access the material instance for those regions and adjust the roughness offset accordingly.

Enhancing Lip Shine

  1. Detailing Lips: To add an extra shine to the lips, access the lips material and override the roughness offset value. Decreasing this value will enhance the glossy effect on the lips.

By following these steps, you can effectively address skin shininess issues and create a more realistic appearance for your characters in Unreal Engine. Stay tuned for the upcoming guide on fixing hair cap transparency.

Summary

In this guide, we explored the process of adjusting skin materials for Genesis 8.1 characters in Unreal Engine 5.2. By understanding the material setup, leveraging material instances, and fine-tuning roughness values, you can achieve a natural-looking skin texture. Remember to consider the overall character appearance while making these adjustments for a cohesive and realistic result.

Meet Tripo

Discover the capabilities of Tripo and unlock a world of possibilities:

  • Draft Model Generation: Instantly spark inspiration with our fastest models. Perfect for rapid prototyping and conceptualization, this feature lets you explore various designs or perspectives before diving into detailed modeling. Accepts both text and image input.

  • Refine Draft Models: Elevate the quality of your initial draft models into finely detailed creations. Seamlessly transition from conceptual drafts to high-resolution models, streamlining your creative workflow.

  • Model Animation: Bring your creations to life with automated animation. Transform static models into dynamic animations, enhancing presentations or digital experiences effortlessly.

  • Stylization and Conversion: Customize and convert your models with unparalleled ease. From transforming models into lego-like or voxel-based versions to supporting format conversion (USDZ or FBX), Tripo offers unique stylization options, ensuring compatibility across platforms and applications while injecting a creative twist into your projects.