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ha, fun! I actually just had to this some weeks ago, using UV input as distortion really is one of the coolest way to create convincing distortion effects!
I have the duality of titles now: This video is called both "why can't i hold all these fire shaders?" and "how to make a BotW-style fire shader" at the same time! (I've had it tabbed for too long I guess.)
Even though I don't have a personal use for this type of information anymore, the information is just too interesting to ignore. I have to keep watching.
Congrats on the patreon boost! Looks like taking your own advice and making stuff cheap and accessible to more people has already paid off. I think that was you right? ;)
You should have a look at Fortnite's campfire effect, specifically on next gen consoles as I'm not sure if it looks the same on PC, I don't know how they did it but the fire coming from campfires literally look better than fire does in real life
surely the right combination of scrolling noise textures and masks could make a flame identical to the flipbook version, its just a case of finding out that combination of shaders and math nodes to make it all work and look incredibly realistic. its a shame that the 3rd party software doesn't come with UE export options to export a nodetree to create an almost identical looking effect. that way it could be manipulated programmatically in realtime using ingame influences rather than being pre baked... Although on second thoughts those 3rd party software companies don't want to end up maintaining just a plugin after they realise their software would become largely obsolete.
...the problem is that those high-fidelity flipbooks tend to be pretty expensive to render out, which is why they're pre-rendered into an atlas in the first place. you *can* do it, but be ready for inevitable compromises unless you really just do not care about performance, which i guess if you use UE, then... fair enough
@@randomcatdude those flipbook style fire effects are created from a simulation though (as you said, very slow and expensive to render out) what I'm saying is any visual effect or simulation can be converted into an algorithm. It's just a case of working out the precise shader setup to create the look without needing to either simulate or use pre rendered. There WOULD be compromises in the same way jpeg compression can create almost any image with only slight artifacting. Creating a complex enough shader that can recreate the exact look of a pre baked fire effect in real-time is just a matter of effort and experimentation, if the third party simulation software could output an effect but as a real-time shader (with perhaps dozens or hundreds of scrolling noise textures and alpha overlays) which would give the exact look of the pre baked effect but allow realtime interaction with a physics system.
So which method does FromSoft use for Elden Ring and which one does BluePoint for Demon's Souls Remake? Edit: I believe the short answer is Flipbook. But how do they make it look so good? (especially DS Remake)
They probably generated those textures in Houdini or Embergen. That's what we use in our games. There's way to achieve realistic fire with maps in a shader, but it's a lot of work!
@@GWAFEM yeah, I get that these are textures from simulation used as flipbook. But did they do anything else to enhance the effect? Also, as the video said, is it really worth using realtime shaders?
@@sharif47 Depends on your use case, realtime shaders usually have more instructions but need smaller textures meaning they use less memory than flipbooks that need to be quite high res for invidual frames to look good when the fire is big, so depending on your project you might have a lot of benefits using one vs another. For example Nintendo Switch only has 3GB of RAM which is shared between the CPU and GPU, meaning memory is luxury and realtime shaders make more sense, but for AAA games on PC and consoles, you'll just get more detail and a better feel if its simulated or hand drawn for really stylized games (Leage of Legend uses tons of hand drawn flipbooks, not just for fire but a lot of magicy stuff).
5:45 That vehicle burning in Halo infinite looks godawful. No offence to anyone making it, I'm sure it wasn't important enough to divert many resources, but it looks nothing like the vehicle is actually on fire. Just a bunch of 2D fire assets thrown at it and calling it a day. No lighting, no depth, no variation, no actual contact or scorching. Definitely a 'how not to do it'.
