What this book covers
Chapter 1, Creating Your First Project in Unreal Engine 5, teaches you how to download and install Unreal Engine 5. You will discover the importance of the learning portal and how to use the marketplace. By the end of the chapter, you will be able to create a project based on a temple, as well as a blank one.
Chapter 2, Navigating through the Unreal Engine 5 Interface, explores the Unreal Engine user interface. Throughout the chapter, you will be introduced to all the features that are going to be explored in depth throughout the book. By the end of this chapter, you will know a bunch of essential shortcuts; you will also be able to navigate the main Viewport and manipulate objects with the Gizmo.
Chapter 3, Exploring the Unreal Engine 5 Project Structure, teaches you how Unreal Engine works and where to find folders and files. By the end of this chapter, you will be confident with carrying out the saving process.
Chapter 4, Importing and Working with Assets, teaches you how to import a 3D model and all the characteristics that a 3D asset must have to be correctly imported. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to import and save any kind of assets.
Chapter 5, Mastering Materials and Shading, teaches you the fundamentals of PBR shading in Unreal Engine 5. Starting with very simple examples, by the end of the chapter, you will be able to create a complex master material with material functions.
Chapter 6, Illuminating Your World with Lighting, teaches you how to use the lighting system in Unreal Engine 5 to create stunning lighting for your objects and environments. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to create a variety of different types of lighting for single and multiple objects and massive environments.
Chapter 7, Exploring Nanite, RVTs, and the World Partition Tool, teaches you what ray tracing means, how lumen is revolutionizing real-time rendering, and the difference between these two systems. You will also learn what Nanite is and why it is revolutionizing the industry, as well as how the World Partition tool works.
Chapter 8, Utilizing the Megascans Library, teaches you how to use the Megascans assets library with the Quixel Bridge plugin. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to create a simple environment by using Megascans assets.
Chapter 9, Mastering Landscape and Terrain, teaches you how to create and manage a landscape, create a landscape material, and use foliage tools. At the end of this chapter, you will be able to manage a landscape in all its aspects, including landscape auto-material and procedural foliage.
Chapter 10, Creating Diverse Environments with Plugins, teaches you how to activate and use the Landmass plugin to modify the landscape shape. You will also learn how to activate and use the Water Tools plugin to add a water system to your environment. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to create a landscape scenario from the draft by using the Landmass tool and will be able to modify the morphology of the landscape to add rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Chapter 11, Crafting Cinematic Shots with Cameras and Sequencer, teaches you how to create and set up a cine camera actor and how to create and use a sequencer inside Unreal Engine 5. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to use a cine camera actor, compose a frame, animate a camera inside a Sequencer and edit complex cinematic shots directly inside Unreal Engine.
Chapter 12, Enhancing Scenes with Post-Processing and Niagara, teaches you what a PPV is and how to use it. You will understand how exposure control works and learn how to modify the visual appearance of the frame with PPV. You will also learn the fundamentals of Niagara. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to create a Color Lookup Table, carry out colour grading inside Unreal Engine, and create a night light setup. You will also be able to create a simple smoke system and add dust to your scene.
Chapter 13, Rendering and Exporting Cinematic Shots, teaches you how to set up a render with a movie render queue. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to render images and videos to the best quality possible by modifying settings and adding some variables in the rendering process.
