General 6 — Ethan C. Richards

Visual Development

A Fateful Night

A Fateful Night, Concept Style A - Procreate, 2023
Ethan Richards

A Fateful Night, Concept Shot

A Fateful Night, Style A

A Fateful Night, Style A Development Videos

A Fateful Night, Concept Style B - Procreate, 2023
Ethan Richards

A Fateful Night, Style B

A Fateful Night, Style B Development Videos

Programs Used:

Maya: Modeling
Substance Painter: Color maps, shader masks, and baking Normal/AO maps.
Unreal Engine 5: Shader Development, Post Processing Development, Rendering

Creating Custom Shaders

Shader Stills

Integrates Mathematical Systems including:
- Fractional Brownian Motion
- Random Noise
- Cellular Noise
- Trigonometry

Shadertoy Adaptions for Visualization

Main Code

  
        vec2 st = gl_FragCoord.xy/u_resolution.xy;
    st.x *= u_resolution.x/u_resolution.y;

    vec3 color = vec3(0.0);


    vec2 q = vec2(0.);
    q.x = fbm( st - 0.03*(u_time));
    q.y = fbm( st + 0.05*(u_time));

    vec2 r = vec2(0.);
    r.x = fbm(st*6.008 + 4. * noise(st) + q + vec2(8.3,2.8)
             + .1 * sin(u_time));
    r.y = fbm(st*10.0 + 4. * noise(st) + q + vec2(8.3,2.8)
             + .1 * cos(u_time));

    color += vec3(fbm(5.0 * st*fbm(r)), fbm(5.0 * st*fbm(q)),
                fbm(5.0 * st*fbm(r + q)));
    color -= vec3( 1.0 - distance(vec2(0,1), vec2(st.x, st.y)))
                * .1;
    color -= vec3( 1.0 - distance(vec2(1,0), vec2(st.x, st.y)))
                * .2;

    gl_FragColor = vec4(color,1.0);
  

Main Code

  
      vec2 st = gl_FragCoord.xy/u_resolution;

  float stripes = .2 + sin(st.x * 3.14 * smoothstep(-5., 1., 
                      sin(st.x * 4.0 + fbm(st.xx * vec2(1000., 20.)) * 6.)));
  vec3 color = vec3(fbm(stripes * st.yy - .07), fbm(stripes * st.yy + .01),
                  fbm(stripes * st.yy + .03));

  st *= 5.0;
  float v = cellular(st) * .2;

  color += vec3(v) * vec3(.8,.8,1.0);

  gl_FragColor = vec4(color,1.0);
  

Real Time VFX and Shaders in Unreal Engine

Developing VFX in Unreal Engine using Niagara systems and in engine material shaders.
Methods include writing custom HLSL shaders, procedural randomness, and dynamic material parameters

Gravitational Explosion

Uses seven unique materials to provide layer and depth across the length of the explosion.

Divided into the 3 stages:
- The Buildup
- The Anticipation
- The Explosion
Combination of 20 different Niagara FXs Layered across the 3 stages
Combines Radial, Fractal, and Refraction manipulations of noise to create unique visual interest and accentuate chaos and intensity
Integrates Dynamic Parameters on multiple shaders

Three Stages

Materials

Niagara FXs

Stylized Explosion

Uses Dynamic Parameters on a material to dissolve the explosion

Implements Parameters and parameters over time to adjust sizes, colors, and dissolving
Layers Smaller particle effects for debris coming off of explosion

Custom HLSL Shader

  
    float result = 0;

for (int i = 0; i < nSides; i++) {
  for (int j = 0; j < nCopies; j++){
    float angle = (i / nSides) * (time) * 3.14159;
    float2 pos = center + ((j/nCopies) * radius 
       * float2(cos(angle), sin(angle)));
    result += length(pos - uv) < size; // Draw Circle
  }
}

return(result);
  