LogInThomas Pluys from Deltatime Studio shared with us the making of the shockwave visual effect, which was composed in Niagara, explaining how refraction and the DeriveHDRfromLDR node were adopted to achieve better control over the colors and create a more realistic effect.
Introduction
Deltatime Studio is a video game development and Technical Artist outsourcing studio. We met during our bachelor's studies in Technical Art and decided to spend an extra year at the same school to learn about the business side of a development studio. During that year, we created our first game, "Project Umbra." Afterward, we chose to focus on outsourcing, which allowed us to gain experience and build a client list.
It was during this time that the VFX part of our services grew significantly. Being passionate about it from the start, we decided to take it to the next level.
We've participated in various projects, ranging from indie to AAA titles, but unfortunately, we cannot disclose any names at the moment.
About The Magic Windy Shockwave Project
With this effect, I wanted to train some techniques to make more realistic effects than what I usually do. When I need inspiration, I usually turn to magesbox.com, filled with talented East Asian VFX artists (I really love their approach when it comes to VFX).
Step-By-Step Guide On Creating This Effect
For this effect, I used only one Master Material for the shockwave; the other materials were for the ground cracks and particles. The composition was made in Niagara, and I used the Sequencer to manage animations, time dilation, and camera shake.
I used three sets of materials, High, Mid, and Low, to create a nice combination of visual resolution. All these instances were derived from the same Master Material.
High instances used sharper textures with more details, Low instances used smoothed ones, and Mid instances were in between. Every part of the shockwave is composed of these three types of instances applied to the respective meshes.
To give a more realistic look, I played a lot with the refraction and with the DeriveHDRfromLDR node to have better control over my colors and make them less visible.
For the shockwave and anticipation effect at the start, I also used a custom node (TilingMethod). It allows you to clamp the texture dynamically in one of the UV axes. Pretty useful when you want to pan a trail texture and not have it repeating.
Summary
The whole effect was done in three days, from start to finish. The main challenge for it was to have a more realistic approach than what I'm used to in general.
In terms of advice for creating semi-realistic effects, I'd advise playing a lot with the randomness of your effects and particles (colors, sizes, shapes) to give it a more natural look, also focus more on refraction and light/desaturated colors.
I recommend checking out Allen Lin's YouTube channel. It does not contain many videos, but his approach to VFX is really interesting. Even though it's in Chinese, you can still follow along if you don't speak the language and test things on your end.