Technical requirements
The project files for the chapter can be found at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Architectural-Visualization-in-Unreal-Engine-5
The Unreal Material system may appear unfamiliar to those accustomed to offline renderers, but its immense flexibility and power become highly appreciated over time. Similar to node-based systems such as Cycles and V-Ray, Materials in Unreal are programmed in a simple yet advanced way that goes beyond traditional limitations, enabling the realization of any desired effect, whether it’s animated water, flowing lava, or shiny metals. Although further explanation will be provided later in this chapter, we’ll introduce two key concepts here: Master Materials and Material Instances.
Master Materials
In Unreal Engine, a Master Material serves as the foundation for creating various Material Instances: it consists of various nodes and functions connected in a visual scripting interface known as the Material Editor...
