How To Create A Day Night Cycle In Unreal Engine 5 (Tutorial)

[@dardade3277]

If you can't find the M_SimpleSkyDome Material shown at 9:21 It's an "Engine" Material, which was unchecked for me by default. Click on the Material dropdown that Matt opens at 9:12, then click on the grey Gear at the top right of the dropdown (blocked by the white text box, Gear seen at 9:17). In the new popup, Check *"Show Engine Content."* ALL DONE! Now you can use that Material! You can tell that Matt is using an Engine Material because the File Path when Matt hovers over the Material says "Path: Engine/EngineSky" My Materials that I had been using before that were mostly under "Path: Game/..."

[@VengefulGamer-e3n]

Brill this save me loads time as I couldn't find it either many thanks

[@SalariaStudios]

It’s refreshing to know that I wasn’t to far off to setting it up on my own. This is really more simple than what I had. I made a blueprint sun and has it hooked to a time line but dang man this is way smoother and easier to mess with

[@deadreadygames]

Well done, Matt. Yet another quick and easy implementation of your tutorial! Thanks again!! Please consider making a video follow-up to this one on how to calculate and translate the 'Cycle Speed' to real-world minutes on an in-game timeline...(ie.24h in game time = 45m real world time)...and perhaps include a 'wait' function to fast forward X number of hours in game.

[@riukinho]

if you want to add a delay in the day and night cycle, you can add a "divide" after multiply and add "24"

[@Amasyrepairs]

As always straight to the point and easy to understand. I sure have learned a ton from you Matt and looking forward to keep learning. Thanks a million.

[@RubufasoMukufo]

Great tutorial! Thank you so much! I believe a lot of people would like to see how to add dynamic night sky with rotating stars and moon to this scene. There are no tutorial videos on youtube about it, what about to be the first one? :)

[@VengefulGamer-e3n]

great tutorial as ever thanks can't wait for more :)

[@johndoe35717]

finaly someone who makes unreal seem easy

[@MrTreeGuy]

You're tutorials are so good that now i can make my own day and night cycles for my games and also i can make my own key door system from watching ur videos i understand UE4 - UE5 Alot more now. Like example the dynamic footstep system i can literally make it myself now because i memorized ur tutorial. keep up great work, I can even make my own random storm cycle with a niagara rain system

[@joeanrachelmiller6529]

Is the old BP_Sky sphere a dead actor? Im trying to use ue4 tutorials and looking for a modern work around.

[@saruedev]

You made it on ue4?

[@rickfreiberg39]

A smoother transition from day and night sky dome would be nice. Thanks for the tutorial !

[@rifshahh]

Yeah, wondering if there is a way to slowly lerp/blend between the sky dome material

[@JwGesshoo]

I'm laying in bed watching this so I can implement it tomorrow and this was my first thought as well. First of all Im going to make the moon rotate in sync as was mentioned above. but for the sky dome I'm thinking to simply have two, and change their opacity with a timeline on Sun rise and sun set. I just don't know until I try tomorrow if there is an opacity for the sky box material but it should work

[@HighTv420]

​@@JwGesshoodid this work?

[@visamalog]

@@HighTv420 I guess he tried it but his PC blew up and he died in the process. R.I.P. 😢

[@kod_connect]

On a low CycleSpeed when Y hits 90, then X and Z are switching between 0 and 180. Adding to Y will move Sun BACK and rotating X and Z.. again and again

[@TheSkeleton27]

Underrated, just kidding VERY underrated!

[@johnmcinnes2904]

hi Matt, can this be implemented as a reusable BP to add to any level ?

[@VengefulGamer-e3n]

FIX For Sun staying in fixed position after one cycle and then not moving for a cycle speed of below 9 or 10 in the blueprint code bypass the do once nodes by going to the sequence and this will make the cycle repeat at the specified speed including 1 or whatever you choose

[@Emblanefilms]

@Matt Aspland this does not work once you attempt to adjust the speed variable. The cycle goes out of sync and gets worse and worse the more days go by. Its the same with the UE4 day to night cycle. Good few commentors saying the same on that one and some below. Any ideas sir as to what would be causing this issue?

[@wolfiedgr8t]

Very nice Matt, thanks 👍

[@Dontstopbelievingman]

So, I did expose the BP_Sky_Sphere okay, but had trouble getting a reference to the static mesh to then plug into the targets rather than the blueprint. I ended up with BP_Sky_Sphere (from persistent level) into Target Sky Sphere Mesh, which then plugged into the targets of the normal daytime mesh (SkySphereMaterial) and the selected M_procedural_sky_night. But while the sun rotates just fine, no stars appear. I'm not sure if this is to do with not being able to exactly replicate the exact step of selecting SM_Skysphere, or if something else is different in 5.2, and this is no longer how you're supposed to do this.

[@lga9046]

I had an HDR Day set up in my project, and I ran through your tutorial to try and save it for only the daytime. Now the sun progresses and goes down, but only my objects and local area are dark, my hdr stays bright, so I tried to do this by setting it as the day option and made a night time hdr to use for the night, but they're not working. I mute the HDR backdrop too to make sure I'm seeing the simpleskydome, and see the day time sky from SimpleSkydome, but it doesn't switch to the night HDR. Any thoughts on how I can find a happy medium between this and what I had? I thought I could control the HDR backdrop the same way as simpleskydome but it doesn't give you the option to Get Static Mesh Component. AFter your tutorial I'm really close I can feel it, but am stuck.

[@RiverFox_YT]

where do we get the sm_skySphere? i dont have one

[@Ronm3]

Open content drawer, click settings, and check "show engine content", hope this helps

[@FrostyOC]

@@Ronm3 Actual legend

[@karlamartinez-um3qd]

This is great, thank you, but did you show how to enable disable the moon light? Sorry I may have missed it.

[@bananaface1445]

I am having an issue where I can't set my speed variable below 3.65 or the sun does not move and the light does not move either. Any ideas why?

[@UrbexUS]

same issue no idea why

[@SamuelHale-fk9ij]

I have a very large map and have all lighting set to dynamic(not baked). Would running the rotation of the directional light from an event tick not have a big impact on my frame rate??

[@jason_tarr]

I have an issue when the cycle speed is set lower (below about 9) when the "Sunlight" rotation pitch reaches -90 AND 90 it stalls there for a period of time. The clock system from your previous tutorials keeps counting which throws the timing to sun position out. If the cycle speed is set to a higher number it doesn't stop the rotation. From what I can figure the "Make Rotator" that calls the "Add Actor Local Rotation" isn't handling the smaller number correctly. Do you have any ideas on how to fix this?

[@Sneaky1ne]

soo thats why it wasnt working :| , did you fix it?

[@jason_tarr]

@@Sneaky1ne Sorry for the delayed reply, I ended up creating a new empty level (Basic) and that seems to have fixed it, I'm guessing something in the third person template level must be conflicting with it. I've just finished redoing the tutorial version on to a custom "MyPlayerController" rather than the level blueprint so it's faster/easier to replicate to a new level (just need to pass references for the sun and sky sphere) Still need to improve fade between the sphere and moon movement systems.

[@kobysmusic99]

is there any way to make this work with a custom sky? id like to make my own custom skys but dont know how to get them to change depending on what time of day it is (so im not using a daytime sky at night..)

[@LazyDev27]

My node setup is identical, but when night comes it's black still. Could it be my light settings, perhaps I should setup a 'moon' light that also cycles.

[@MrDoshier]

idk if youre still looking but i found out when i tried to rotate my sunlight to come from the "east" it made everything black, but when i reset it it showed the nightsky but i cant figure out how to keep it and have the sun come from the "east" yet

[@hoboindachick]

I figured it out. Have your suns rotation start with x:180 y: doesn't matter z: 180 That immediately fixed my issue.

[@Zombi3Kill3r125]

My sun doesnt move only the light is so setting the night and day parts doesnt work

[@JohnVelma]

Need tutorial : Time of Length (minute). How many minutes does it take to change from day to night? And How many minutes does it take to change from night to day?

[@harathim614]

Hey Matt for me in unreal 4 there isn't a packaging button. And the plugin is greyed out so i can't enable. Can you help?

[@SamuelHale-fk9ij]

Then upgrade to UE5! The title of the video says 'How To Create A Day Night Cycle In Unreal Engine 5'

[@davimartins4656]

thank you so much!!!!

[@Voit4N]

Struggling with same thing where sun stalls on lower cycle speeds. Anyone found solution yet?

[@s3armoredyt849]

anyone know how to fix my error. the skylight won't move when I added in add actor local rotation

[@lisowiligas1524]

make sure its set at y, also NOT skylight, it's Directional light

[@notsure1969]

I have BP_Sky_Sphere instead of SM_Sky_Sphere. What do?

[@SSI-kg5ks]

Same thing

[@michaelbabcock6997]

does anyone know why the rotation stops if the value is set low. I was setting the value of the sun speed to about .5 and it was working, then I set the speed to .4 and the sun would not rotate anymore. Does anyone know the reason for this?

[@mustafaklnc381]

me too ıts annoy me so much

[@michaelbabcock6997]

@@mustafaklnc381 hey I upgraded to 5.1 and that ended fixing the problem for some reason. Idk if you wanna try 5.1 but it worked for me.

[@MonderMurshed]

Thank you man!!

[@BestieAK]

so i dont have thoese simple sky boxes/materials, at all. How do i get them? I tryed making my own sky box with a material and a png. It of course didnt work tho :/

[@devcorpseinteractive7490]

Could you show a way to do day night cycle using hdri

[@onefancyrhino4102]

There any way to make the cycle sync up in multiplayer?

[@hsillams]

my blueprint is identical but i don't have a night sky, its just black

[@mappen614]

My UE5 can't find "Get Static Mesh Comp", any idea why?

[@derekfranciosi4132]

Be sure 'Context Sensitive' is unchecked in the node search box!

[@EMPIRE9022]

how do you get the sky matiral I can't find it

[@kenalpha3]

Thanks. Ive been needing this effect. But does it work in UE4.27 ? Not sure if this 5 is using the new dynamic lighting tech.

[@MattAspland]

This video will probably be better for 4.27 :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJeahJZnq7xpodU

[@megaskod9343]

I have a small problem, when searching for set material. I can't find it, I only get set material index. im on 5.1.1

[@megaskod9343]

nevermind, im an idiot and was trying to get it from sequence, not static mesh component

[@DaHa-Dev]

I don’t understand the thing how it works. I mean when i move the sun manualy, the engine says me to rebuild the lights. How i works with this here? Must be the same or am i wrong?

[@elantrauma]

Highlight the directional lights (sun and moon) in the outliner and set them Movable under Transform>Mobility

[@jamesbarker6373]

Its gets stuck after 2 cycles... It stays at midday the next day. Play it on a speed of 5 to see what I mean

[@Emblanefilms]

Did you find a fix? I am having the same issue, but on Matts UE4 day/night cycle. Came here though hoping to find solution as its very similar set up

[@jamesbarker6373]

@@Emblanefilms I'm noticing this with a lot of Matt's tutorials. Very half assed

[@Emblanefilms]

@@jamesbarker6373 the most frustrating thing for me is when you reach out in the comments to ask OP for help and get no replies. Lots in the UE4 daytonight tutorial saying the same thing with zero replies.

[@jamesbarker6373]

@@Emblanefilms Yet leaves the video up wasting everyone's time knowing it. Countless hours from multiple humans wasted because of greed

[@monke1709]

Again a nice Video i will use this in my game and i have a Question is is possible to make the Ai that you created back then going through Doors (wich the player can open and close too) when its roaming or Chasing the player :)

[@tripsy7435]

Hi just wondering not just for this but for everything for some reason get static mesh doesn’t come up please can you help

[@elantrauma]

"get static mesh" it's under the Static Mesh Actor arrow. Make sure to uncheck "Context Sensitive" box in the upper right corner.

[@psquarepeter]

I'm using 5.4 and my night sky is pitch black. Any suggestions?

[@MrDoshier]

idk if youre still looking but i found out when i tried to rotate my sunlight to come from the "east" it made everything black, but when i reset it it showed the nightsky but i cant figure out how to keep it and have the sun come from the "east" yet

[@AgateSpace2339]

Hi Matt, great video (so far). I really hope youll be doing some new horror related game tips en tricks. Scares, sounds, AI, etc. You are doing such awesome videos and with unreal5 i hope to make some more progress in this regard. Also, do you have a video about orienting en using your own levels, to make the game a game and making transitions from one to another? Keep it up, love to see more :)

[@MattAspland]

Thanks for much for the support Jens! More horror videos sounds like a great idea for the future yeah! Unfortunately, I don’t think I do currently have a video on that topic, however I could look into it for the future :)

[@mahmoudvee6004]

stars didnt show matt im sure i did everything right

[@citizenkober4868]

Same for me. Sky just stays black at night

[@maykesantana9532]

i am with the same problem too

[@citizenkober4868]

I figured it out. I skipped a step. 2 items i didnt cinnect propperly

[@maykesantana9532]

@@citizenkober4868 checking now if i did the same mistake

[@maykesantana9532]

@@citizenkober4868 saddly i rewatched and is everything on place :(

[@MartKart8]

I noticed these texture cubes in the Engine Content > MapTemplates > Sky there are a few of them, I couldn't figure out how to change the default one, to one of them, I like the desert one.

[@MattAspland]

I believe you should be able to select the sky sphere/cube and change the material in there

[@ApocalypsFroid]

share the materials please =D

[@plopyy]

SkySphere doesn't exist anymore T_T

[@CoreyDWillis]

Yeah, was having the same issue with that section as well.

[@doctormohamedabduls8848]

hell wrong with sky light, its always lit

[@Рыцарьсмерти58уровня-р4л]

Выглядит дерьмово, как по мне нужно не тупо заменять скайбокс, а менять его прозрачность + добавить ещё одно солнце, уменьшить у него яркость и увеличить размеры, будет выглядеть как луна.

[@franzhochleitner229]

Great video, but I need the Materials M_SimpleSkyDome?

[@williamweidner5425]

Matt, How do I set this up if my level doesn't come with an SM Skysphere? Everything about the stars seems to be predicated on there being either the obsolete BP_SkySphere which causes more errors with the sun sphere from the skylight, or with a SM _skysphere which isn't even in a template level by default. Because when I add the SM_Skysphere to my level, I get an error which says that the sphere isn't correctly placed.... and it ends up tiling the message in the sky

[@edellenburg78]

same

[@imbelugaandimacat9375]

you found anything?