This example shows off the real-time reflection capabilities of Unreal Engine. The scene shows a subway terminal with a lot of water leaks, grimy ceramic tiles, dilapidated pipe work, and other worn-out environment details. In this document, we will give an overview of some of the Functions that you can use to manipulate reflections like these.
ViewAlignedReflection
This function takes in a spherical reflection texture and aligns it to the view. The calculation can be offset by inputting a custom reflection vector.
| Inputs | Description |
|---|---|
| ReflectionVector (Vector 3) | Takes in an existing reflection vector that needs to be aligned to the view. |
| ReflectionTexture (TextureObject) | Takes in an existing reflection texture, which needs to be spherical. |
| Outputs | |
| Texture | Outputs the resulting view-based reflection texture. |
| UVs | Outputs the UV coordinates of the reflection texture so they can be reapplied elsewhere. |
WorldAlignedReflection
This function takes in an incoming sphere-based reflection texture and aligns it to the world coordinates. The calculation can be offset by inputting a custom reflection vector.
| Inputs | Description |
|---|---|
| ReflectionVector (Vector 3) | Takes in an existing reflection vector that needs to be aligned to the view. |
| ReflectionTexture (TextureObject) | Takes in an existing reflection texture, which needs to be spherical. |
| Outputs | |
| WorldReflection | Outputs the world-based reflection texture. |
| WorldReflectionShadowed | Outputs a more highly contrasted version of the texture that can be applied in shadowed areas. |
CustomReflectionVector
This function uses a normal map to generate a reflection vector independent of the default reflection vector and the normal's input on the base shader.
| Inputs | Description |
|---|---|
| Normal (Vector3) | Takes in a normal map to be used as the basis for the custom reflection vector. |
