An orbital laser VFX Created in Unreal Engine 5, using Niagara and Blueprints to animate the various laser beams. Animated textures rendered and simulated in Houdini.
This effect consists of 3 major parts:
1. Main laser system. with the different elements separated in time for demonstration.
2. Individual "Buildup ray" Niagara systems, with line traces to adapt to terrain
3. Scorchmark decal with custom 3d mapping
These systems are controlled by a blueprint actor allows for some art direction in terms of spawn timing and animation speeds with instance-editable variables and custom curves:
Blueprint actor for spawning and animating the various Systems
Parameters for Art Direction
Smoke and explosion sprite sheets were generated using Houdini simulations:
Houdini Setup
Explosion Sprite Sheet
