Unreal Engine 5.4 Released: Enhancements Across Animation, Rendering, AI, and More
Animation Gameplay:
Motion Matching, previously available as an Experimental feature, is now deemed Production-Ready after extensive testing in Fortnite Battle Royale across various platforms. Motion Matching offers a next-gen framework for animation features, relying on character motion information to select and transition animations in real-time from a large database of captured animations. This release focuses on optimizing Motion Matching for performance, reliability, and memory scalability, along with the addition of debugging tools for developers.
Furthermore, the introduction of Choosers addresses a common request by providing a tool to drive animation selection based on game context. Choosers allow for the use of variables to inform animation selection and vice versa, enhancing interaction between animation and gameplay logic.
Rendering
Nanite
Continuing its evolution, Nanite—the virtualized micropolygon geometry system in UE5—receives updates in this release. An Experimental Tessellation feature enables the addition of fine details like cracks and bumps at render time without altering the original mesh.
Furthermore, the introduction of software Variable Rate Shading (VRS) via Nanite compute materials brings significant performance improvements. Support for spline mesh workflows is also included, ideal for creating roads on landscapes. Additionally, a new option to disable UV interpolation allows for the use of vertex animated textures for World Position Offset animation, making the AnimToTexture plugin compatible with Nanite geometry.
AI and Machine Learning
Neural Network Engine
In Unreal Engine 5.4, the Neural Network Engine (NNE) transitions from Experimental to Beta status. NNE supports both in-editor and runtime applications, allowing developers to efficiently load and execute their pre-trained neural network models.
Various use cases, including tooling, animation, rendering, and physics, have distinct requirements in terms of platform and model support. NNE addresses these diverse needs by offering a common API, facilitating easy backend swapping as necessary. Additionally, extensibility hooks have been provided to allow third-party developers to implement the NNE interface in a plugin.
Developer Iteration
Cloud and Local Derived Data Cache
Virtual Production
Filmmakers embracing virtual production will find updates to Unreal Engine’s Virtual Camera tool, now deemed Production-Ready and expanded to support Android alongside iOS. Virtual Camera workflows are now fully compatible with Unreal Engine on macOS, with the mobile application renamed Unreal VCam, available on the Apple Store and Google Play.
On the VR Scouting front, a new fully customizable toolkit utilizing XR Creative Framework introduces Experimental support for OpenXR HMDs like Oculus and Valve Index, promising a vastly improved user experience compared to the existing Virtual Scouting toolkit.
For ICVFX, the addition of Depth of Field Compensation allows precise control over the depth of field falloff of digital content rendered by nDisplay, particularly beneficial for close-up beauty shots.
Multi-Process Inner Frustum has been incorporated, enabling the render of what’s visible to the movie camera across multiple GPUs and hardware resources, alongside stability improvements and enhancements to SMPTE 2110 support, edging closer to Production-Ready status.
Linux Support
Linux-based studios will enjoy improved editor stability on the platform, along with Experimental ray tracing support for Vulkan.
Cloth Simulation USD Importer A new USD Importer in the Panel Cloth Editor enables the import of garments, including simulation parameters, from Marvelous Designer or CLO for real-time simulation setup within minutes.
With automated simulation graph setup, skinning, and level of detail (LOD) creation, this streamlined workflow empowers users with varying levels of experience to create realistic garments for Unreal Engine characters.
And More… These are just some of the new features and enhancements in Unreal Engine 5.4. Refer to the release notes for the complete feature list.
New Pricing and Licensing In March, we announced a new pricing and licensing model for Unreal Engine, Twinmotion, and RealityCapture, effective late April. With this release, the new model is now in effect, aiming to sustain future engine development for all creators.
Image Credit: UNREAL ENGINE
Source Content: https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/unreal-engine-5-4-is-now-available