This repo is my continued effort to keep the SparseVolumetrics aka UnrealVDB plugin alive and up to date.
Because plugins have very limited access to the renderer, I have now decided to change Unreal source code to allow for better rendering and features like lighting, Lumen sampling, shadows read and write, volumetric fog integration etc.
See those instructions to be able to use all those wonderful features.
This plugin first started as an Eidos-Montreal R&D project and was shared with the community in January 2022 (huge thanks to Eidos-Montreal for letting me do this). From that moment on, I've been working, updating, fixing and improving the plugin on my spare time only (and I have also left Eidos-Montreal).
I highly recommend reading these first:
The initial README documentation.
Some help to make your volumes look nice.
For convenience, this repository is compatible by default with vanilla versions of Unreal (you still need to compile it yourself, within a C++ Unreal project).
But to get all the new features you will need to compile my custom version of Unreal:
- Download / Clone my custom version of Unreal (make sure to fetch the correct branch).
- Download / Clone this repository in the custom Unreal
Engine/Pluginsfolder - Open
Source/Runtime/VolumeRuntime.Build.csand setVDB_ENGINE_MODIFICATIONSandVDB_CAST_SHADOWSvalues to 1 - Compile Unreal
That's it !
Please read how to access Unreal Engine source code on GitHub and how to compile Unreal.
This repository is my personal sandbox to experiment, have fun and keep learning Unreal.
This is NOT meant to be a polished, bug-free and user-friendly plugin that I'll distribute every time Epic releases a new version of Unreal.
I'm willing to help anyone who tries to use it though, if you're asking nicely and politely 😊.
You can contact me on Twitter or Discord.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"). See LICENSE for the full license text or you may obtain a copy of the License at