Fortnite’s Real-Time Lighting Techniques and Tools | GDC 2018 | Unreal Engine

[@zipl0c]

This man is an excellent spokesperson for your brand. He is very well spoken, and articulates things very clearly. Be sure to value him accordingly at Unreal, as his talent would likely be surely missed. And no, this isn't his mother making a secret account to dote on her child! I SWEAR (but please make sure he's eating his veggies, k?).

[@marc0matic]

Agree 110.5% Covered a lot of core areas or me

[@DeepFriedOreoOffline]

I have always struggles setting up lighting in Unreal Engine, and I know this is more-so a talk about the specific techniques they used in Fortnite, but even so everything he went over really helped me understand the fine things that go into tuning lighting settings. I am doing some research before the upcoming Spooktober game jam, and I feel like I'm just about ready!

[@ActualZakEpic]

Hey folks, just wanted to shout out and say thanks to Tim Hobson here at Epic, who actually compiled most of the data for this particular talk.

[@mentionedfirebread1115]

Thanks tim!

[@TimothyBell90]

Thanks Tim, and thank you Zak. You're one of the best presenters for Epic

[@UnrealEngineTutorials]

is there a way to get updated when a presentation of yours is posted online? You're the best when it comes to teaching UE4

[@guestplayzroblox1188]

@Pet Default snippet not snip-it.

[@IIMyLittlePonyII]

Amazing speaker! Some people are boring and you find yourself rewatching the video several times because you zone out. This guy keeps your attention, so please make more videos with him speaking.

[@brookslee2227]

true dude

[@rangeslider]

All you guys and gals at Epic Games are absolute LEGENDS! Unreal Engine is pure love

[@Ghaffar75001]

what a talented and experienced is this man...

[@laughinmann]

Best lecture available for lighting in Unreal Engine, over the last few days I've watched loads of them. I won't even hold his hair against him.

[@cosmotect]

I just going to chime in and say that the manner in which all of this info was presented is on a stellar level, I understood everything right away and am ready to use these techniques (Given, the subject matter isn't very complicated, but still!)

[@legacythegame]

this was an incredible presentation, I got some instant results having this side by side with my project, thanks Zak!

[@ryumaster666]

This guy is amazing as lector

[@Khalibloo]

They should make more of these short concise lectures. You learn nearly as much from them as you would from the really long live streams.

[@diffraction163]

this was VERY helpful. not only did i get a neat idea to draw players attention, it also helped me (and this is something thats hard to find) to understand how to optimize my game in terms of performance

[@Kiadaw77]

Learned a lot in this session. Thanks.

[@TitanAnteus]

I love this guy. He's so clear, concise and fun. He is Unreal's PREMIER public speaker.

[@Ghaffar75001]

Precious lecture.....

[@cloudlove1]

Omg this guy is smart. So cool to see secrets from my favorite game, was not expecting that ❤

[@unreal_metronomus678]

Zak, you are a great speaker! Thanks!

[@mentionedfirebread1115]

Zak parrish you're awesome.. love you😊

[@ianfinquelstein9380]

jesus, imagine 4 hs with this guy. I cant imagine how much he actually knows about the engine. Great video

[@naikrovek]

I am thankful for these videos. Small request for next time you record this kind of thing - can you increase the bitrate by quite a bit?

[@AerysBat]

Seriously awesome presentation, info firehose and all great stuff ready to use in your own scenes!

[@eggyrepublic]

IMO the graphics and art style in Fortnite is very well done, do people hate it because of the gameplay? I haven't actually played it so I'm not sure how the gameplay works.

[@mrwang420]

I wanna see an Extreme Battle Royal play option. It plays like normal Battle Royal but there is no storm. Whole map is usable at all times and buildings can be taken over as player bases, everyone starts off solo but there is an option to join a team but only join once per match. No switching sides.

[@magyararon6918]

Very usefull, so much information packed into 20 minute.

[@DaMeshMonster]

Best documentation ever unlike Unity

[@AndyCormack]

You're the best Zak :D

[@ieee7546]

Do you use any second program with UE4 to make some models ( as cars, trees,plans )?

[@gk0r]

Can we please have more talks like this? How come this kind of stuff doesn't get covered in normal streams?

[@darodism]

Important Question, Why did Epic add Eye Adaption(exposure) when starting up new projects? I never played fortnite but does it use it? It's default and haven't noticed until now that it was messing my scenes up everytime which I gave up on lighting and handed it to someone else. Disabled it and omg I can actually adjust shadows properly, now on top of that after watching this. OMG!

[@ibrozdemir]

15:42 enabeling "capsule based shadow" activates Volumetric Shadow technique, and when its disabled Shadow Map technique is being used right? i wonder what tech unreal uses when "capsule based shadow" selected

[@mariomguy]

That's actually not true. Cascaded shadows are used up close, Distance fields are used for the rest. And characters or any skeletal meshes require a capsule setup in order for distance fields to work, because distance fields will not work on the mesh itself. Turning on capsule shadows for a mesh simply tells the computer to use the capsule shadows instead of the cascaded dynamic one.

[@ibrozdemir]

@@mariomguy i dont know distance field method, i will look it up. thank you for input :)

[@Xenthorx]

Yay Lightning ! :D

[@herculesmare4209]

Reallu good video. How would distance field work with Alembic geo cahces?

[@zakparrish]

Hercules Mare It wouldn't work.

[@Potatinized]

Oh, it's zak. Is it the same zak that has been making tutorials for Unreal Engine? Been a while since I watch his tutorials.

[@GoblinGamesLtd]

Great info, thanks!

[@The9PointStar]

Thank you!

[@s1nontribes]

Does this use dynamic GI like LPV or SSGI?

[@TY_Blender]

nice Lighting Techniques!

[@DANUNAVARRO]

loved!

[@kyneticist]

If the mesh distance fields are nearly always the same ratio, why not program the lights to do the work?

[@denver5144]

Can we use mesh distance fields lighting for mobile?

[@ErvinJesse]

I'm a bit confused. He mentions at the start how DF shadows are nice and soft, and look better than cascade shadows. Then he goes on to say that the DF shadows are only drawn at a distance where they are replaced by cascade shadows. Wouldn't you want to see the nice soft ray traced shadows up close instead? Is this 4500 unit replacement set only for certain objects like trees?

[@TheKakan1337]

Take a pen and paper and make notes, he tells you why :)

[@ErvinJesse]

I got it. The Directional sun light uses cascaded shadows up until a certain point, all the other light types use distance fields. He doesn't really mention that, but great presentation regardless!

[@TheKakan1337]

You are just restructuring your last sentence, rewatch it again and take notes :)

[@TheMastercoms]

Ervin Jesse It's because animated models are not cast by DF shadows, so they only use them when they are far away enough for the player not to notice.

[@ActualZakEpic]

Sorry I wasn't super clear. Chalk it up to shouting your way through from the show floor! :) It's like this: CAMERA| --------4500 units of cascaded shadow maps----|----blend area---|---distance field shadows

[@angrybonobro8711]

Why are subtitles disabled and even those generated automatically?

[@AlmondChocolateMilk]

Bro imaging opening up Unreal Editor and having a whole copy of Fortnite.

[@CompanionCube]

awesome talk!

[@AlfexOmega]

Interesting stuff :)

[@Davide-if5sy]

Can i have season 2 graphics with this?

[@M4v3RicK99]

so this isn't compatible with VR in UE4 yet?

[@imagine-games6677]

you know you have a great presentation when there are only 3 thumbs downs... from haters obviously

[@KeenanWoodall]

This dude could be a shoutcaster

[@cgCody]

Well this was quite the surprise seeing Zak outside of ye ol Buzz Cave. Good on you, man! Your presenting skills are Epic, after all. :) Question: You talked about not using MDFs for trees since they move. Got it. But what about using the character capsule shadows on foliage if soft shadowing is needed? Viable option?

[@zakparrish]

cgCody First, MDFs definitely work for trees, but you should probably only do it at distances where ambient animation shadow loss isn't a big deal - like we do in FN. Capsule shadows in foliage? Nah. Not worth it. You'd have to make your foliage a skeletal mesh and there is currently no way to instance those.

[@pinoepelzockt7460]

Omg this is whistleblower christopher wylie!!!

[@Smash_ter]

Could you guys optimize Unreal Engine for AMD Radeon cards?

[@bluegizmo1983]

Your should totally send me a complete copy of the Fortnite source code and UE project files! 😁🤣

[@vegitoblue2187]

interesting how this tech is probably what evolved into lumen

[@darodism]

I hate fortnite but on a technical standpoint I knew it was very well made. Great fricking job however Why this game????/ Important Question, Why did Epic add Eye Adaption(exposure) when starting up new projects? I never played fortnite but does it use it? It's default and haven't noticed until now that it was messing my scenes up everytime which I gave up on lighting and handed it to someone else. Disabled it and omg I can actually adjust shadows properly, now on top of that after watching this. OMG!

[@davidcristian9536]

please fix fortnite... the material of all third person controller is controlled for hackers and active the light material and this doing that all players are see you.

[@butchertibi6039]

And I disabled all shadows in Fortnite, so no enemy could hide in the tree shadows

[@月华丛云]

Epic Games please make Subtitle in some important vedio，lt is important for can 't listen understand English's Learner，thanks！

[@djmips]

This guy's previous job was tour guide.

[@dharcsu]

Fuzzy Penumbras

[@shadowolf3998]

Only 2 requests: Please find a way to optimize the Engine for MMOs better, it has been extremely CPU-Heavy. Please fix Fortnite BattleRoyale spots where the light has the same color as the loot which confuses players.

[@MrLemon2232]

How did you get map

[@taligranguerra4161]

Yo no entendí Nada

[@omhr9554]

empieza aquí, es gratis... www.duolingo.com/

[@elrius3801]

Wow 🐹🐹🐹

[@tanraycz]

What is unreal engine for on fortnite? And does anybody have please spare codes for PvE please? :(

[@mrwang420]

Honestly. I'd love to see a battle royal match done at night. It's always during the day. Come on. Switch it up.

[@acf2802]

Guy with pink highlights in his hair "I'm a developer for Fortnite." Of course you are.