Paint Dissolve
Paint Dissolve
Paint Dissolve
The visual goal was to create a controllable dissolve with a glowing emissive edge. Rather than default to fire or simple noise, I explored a melting iridescent paint aesthetic. The surface will liquefy and flow before vanishes entirely.
The visual goal was to create a controllable dissolve with a glowing emissive edge. Rather than default to fire or simple noise, I explored a melting iridescent paint aesthetic. The surface will liquefy and flow before vanishes entirely.
The visual goal was to create a controllable dissolve with a glowing emissive edge. Rather than default to fire or simple noise, I explored a melting iridescent paint aesthetic. The surface will liquefy and flow before vanishes entirely.
Type
UE5, Paint, Dissolve
Type
UE5, Paint, Dissolve
Instructions
275
Instructions
275
Written
03.24.26
Written
03.24.26
Figure 1: Video Demonstrating Shader Dissolve
Figure 1: Video Demonstrating Shader Dissolve
Figure 2: Snapshot of Shader Graph nodes responsible for the Material Dissolve
Figure 2: Snapshot of Shader Graph nodes responsible for the Material Dissolve
Dissolve Logic
Dissolve Logic
To solve the dissolving effect, I wanted to ensure that the melting effect would start from the top to bottom. This began with a bounding box based node, the blue channel is combined with a dissolve noise texture to distort the edge. The noise texture is multiplied by a dissolve noise tiling to give control of the UV seams to the artist. These are then separated into 3 color blends by using a cheap contrast node, creating the dissolved layer, the dissolving edge, and the material underneath. I added a node to account for glow for more customization before plugging the opacity mask into a Dither Temporal AA Node
To solve the dissolving effect, I wanted to ensure that the melting effect would start from the top to bottom. This began with a bounding box based node, the blue channel is combined with a dissolve noise texture to distort the edge. The noise texture is multiplied by a dissolve noise tiling to give control of the UV seams to the artist. These are then separated into 3 color blends by using a cheap contrast node, creating the dissolved layer, the dissolving edge, and the material underneath. I added a node to account for glow for more customization before plugging the opacity mask into a Dither Temporal AA Node
Figure 1: Snapshot of Progress of Bioluminescence in Snow using Parallax Mapping
Figure 1: Snapshot of Progress of Bioluminescence in Snow using Parallax Mapping
Figure 2: Snapshot of Shader Graph nodes responsible for the Material Dissolve
Figure 2: Snapshot of Shader Graph nodes responsible for the Material Dissolve
Paint Surface
Paint Surface
I was inspired by melting paint and overlapping colors so I started building the material with 2 texture samples, each with custom panning (controlled by artist). In rotating and panning the specific textures we’re able to simulate advection similar to a lava lamp. After the texture is rendered, I linear interpolate the inverse with a Color Curve (Gradient). The result is multiplied into the emissive node of the result. I added parameters to give the artist full control of the color gradients, panning speed, and noise textures. For fun, I added a blending parameter to simulate blending layers in Adobe Photoshop.
I was inspired by melting paint and overlapping colors so I started building the material with 2 texture samples, each with custom panning (controlled by artist). In rotating and panning the specific textures we’re able to simulate advection similar to a lava lamp. After the texture is rendered, I linear interpolate the inverse with a Color Curve (Gradient). The result is multiplied into the emissive node of the result. I added parameters to give the artist full control of the color gradients, panning speed, and noise textures. For fun, I added a blending parameter to simulate blending layers in Adobe Photoshop.
Figure 1: Snapshot of Progress of Bioluminescence in Snow using Parallax Mapping
Figure 1: Snapshot of Progress of Bioluminescence in Snow using Parallax Mapping
Wobble Warp Displacement
Wobble Warp Displacement
To add a final touch I wanted to experiment with vertex shading and implemented a simple displacement logic to make the melting paint behave more slime and wobble like. I used another Noise Texture Sample here to drive the WPO in a more specific way like a gel fluid. The artist has control of the wobble like animation by changing the coordinates (U and V) as well as the speed of the panning. I have two nodes responsible for the magnitude of the displacement, one is the strength scalar and the other is a strength multiplier (more powerful)
To add a final touch I wanted to experiment with vertex shading and implemented a simple displacement logic to make the melting paint behave more slime and wobble like. I used another Noise Texture Sample here to drive the WPO in a more specific way like a gel fluid. The artist has control of the wobble like animation by changing the coordinates (U and V) as well as the speed of the panning. I have two nodes responsible for the magnitude of the displacement, one is the strength scalar and the other is a strength multiplier (more powerful)
Figure 1: Snapshot of Progress of Bioluminescence in Snow using Parallax Mapping
Figure 1: Snapshot of Progress of Bioluminescence in Snow using Parallax Mapping
Optimization
Optimization
Masked Materials maintain shadow consistency without the overdraw and shader costs associated with the translucent render type. This was combined with Temporal AA Dithering, which I would note adds a difference in the effect, but achieves a similar look while preserving depth. This reduced the shader complexity from bad to more acceptable. The layer also is not 2 sided, preventing overdraw costs and overlapping
Masked Materials maintain shadow consistency without the overdraw and shader costs associated with the translucent render type. This was combined with Temporal AA Dithering, which I would note adds a difference in the effect, but achieves a similar look while preserving depth. This reduced the shader complexity from bad to more acceptable. The layer also is not 2 sided, preventing overdraw costs and overlapping
Readable Gameplay Iteration
Readable Gameplay Iteration
Masked Materials maintain shadow consistency without the overdraw and shader costs associated with the translucent render type. This was combined with Temporal AA Dithering, which I would note adds a difference in the effect, but achieves a similar look while preserving depth. This reduced the shader complexity from bad to more acceptable. The layer also is not 2 sided, preventing overdraw costs and overlapping
Masked Materials maintain shadow consistency without the overdraw and shader costs associated with the translucent render type. This was combined with Temporal AA Dithering, which I would note adds a difference in the effect, but achieves a similar look while preserving depth. This reduced the shader complexity from bad to more acceptable. The layer also is not 2 sided, preventing overdraw costs and overlapping
Thank You for Playing!
Thank You for Playing!
Thank You for Playing!
Thank You for Playing!
Thank You for Playing!
Thank You for Playing!