How to create Pre rendered Backgrounds with Unreal Engine
A quick tutorial on how I have created pre rendered backgrounds in my game with Unreal Engine.
I’ve been developing my RPG with Unreal Engine for over a year now, incorporating fixed camera angles, tank controls, and pre-rendered backgrounds. Drawing inspiration from classics like Resident Evil, Jade Cocoon and Final Fantasy , to name a few, I’m blending nostalgic design with modern tools. In this post, I’ll explain how I create pre-rendered backgrounds and integrate them into my game.
Why Pre-rendered Backgrounds?
Pre-rendered backgrounds allow for rich, detailed environments without the performance cost of real-time rendering. They provide a visually striking experience while keeping the game’s performance smooth and add an old school visual and gameplay.
1. Main Level and Temporary Streaming Level: I use two levels for creating each pre-rendered scene:
- Main Level: This contains all the essential gameplay elements, including the characters, interactive items, and blockages (which determine where the player can and cannot go).
- Streaming Level (temporary): This level contains all the high-quality meshes, lighting, vegetation, and detailed assets that will be visible in the pre-rendered backgrounds. It is always loaded only for the purpose of taking screenshots. Once the screenshots are taken, this streaming level is disabled or removed.
2. Setting Up the Scene: I populate the streaming level with all the visual details that will be part of the final background, such as buildings, environmental props, lighting,foliages and any other decorative elements. These are carefully placed to align perfectly with the blockages in the main level. The sun, shadows, and any other visual effects are also added to the scene.
3. Capturing the Screenshots: Once the scene is ready and the cameras are positioned, I take a high-resolution screenshot of the environment for each camera view. Before capturing, I hide all characters, interactive objects and blockages from the main level, ensuring the screenshots only includes the background elements from the streaming level.
4. Disabling the Streaming Level: After all the screenshots are taken, the streaming level is no longer needed, so it is disabled or removed. The game will only use the main level for gameplay, while the screenshots from the streaming level becomes the pre-rendered background.
Now having all the pre rendered backgrounds, we can create the post process material for showing them on screen. But before this, we must enable in the project settings the stencils.
Then, we create a new material.
The Post Process Material must be set to Before Tonemapping if you do not have materials with any kind of transparency in your game.
If you have materials with transparency, instead set the Blendable Location to Before translucency, otherwise even if the meshes with transparency have a value of 1 for their stencil they will not be displayed.
All meshes that have the Custom depth value set at 1 will appear in front of the pre rendered backgrounds.
The Texture Name variable will be use for naming the screenshots taken, the variable Pre Rendered BG variable is the texture that we need to be set for each Camera Switching actor. Both if these are Instance Editable variable.
At every Camera Switcher we must set a camera actor, and a Texture name and a pre rendered background.
This function is created in the Construction Script of yourr Player Controller
The function in details, We will have to set our Post process volume settings here. This function create a dnynamic material of the Pre rendered Background material that we created earlier.
We must add this somewhere after Beginning play of the Player Controller. It takes all the Camera Switchers in the level and create an array of them. This is just for creating the screenshots for the pre rendered backgrounds. before packaging the game, we’ll erase this.
Assign this function to an input of your choice, open YourProjectName > Saved > Screenshots folder, play your game, press the input you chose for taking the screenshots and enjoy seeing a new pre rendered background everytime you press the button. The screenshots will stop when all the cameras from the camera switchers are all used.
If you share this small tutorial put a link to this blog, it is helping me to spread my art.
Also if you have questions, ask in the comments below.
Middle eartth Collectible Card Game (MECCG) Unofficial new card
I have made artworks for the unofficial Dream cards expansions of Middle Earth Collectible Card Game this summer and I will illustrate some more in the near future.
If you don't know this amazing card game and love the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien I suggest you to take a look here.
If you know the game and have played or still play, you can take a look at the dream cards created by Thorsten the Traveller and Vastor Peredhil
The man in the interview below is one of the creators of MECCG, Rolemaster, MERP (MIddle-Earth Role Playing), and a co-founder of Iron Crown Enterprises.
Planes of the face based on the Andrew Loomis method
The lack of angles in Andrew Loomis' books doesn't help people who like to draw understand better. So I decided to buy 3D models inspired by his explanatory drawings and I traced the renderings by hand.
If you draw and struggle with head shots, feel free to save these images and share them on the internet. I hope they help you as much as they help me draw the lights and shadows of the human head better.
Enjoy!
Artworks made especially for the game Imagine Role Playing.
These are some of the best creatures I did for the tabletop RPG Imagine: I started illustrating just with cross-hatching but after a few creatures I started to paint them digitally to add more life to them.
I would like to remake some of the The first ones I did but they are sent and approved as it so I’ll accept their flaws and move on.
Artworks made for HARP Beyond The Veil by ICE
OYEZ! OYEZ!
I can finally show the five artworks I did in 2020 for the new book Beyond The Veil of the Roleplaying game HARP From Iron Crown Enterprises.
My girlfriend and I opened an Etsy Shop!
As a couple who love fantasy, we opened our Etsy shop as a lovers project.
Here you enter our magical world and will find artworks created from our dreaming mind.
The name of our Shop is
Fairies n Goblins Guild!
As a love relationship between two Fantasy artists, we decided to have this beautiful couple project to create an Etsy shop to sell our originals, prints and other stuff to the world who share the love for fantasy art!
The first original for sale is from my partner of life, Rachel Moreau
She creates art for the light world of Fairies, the beauty of nature and more.
The Green man
An original artwork signed & created by Rachel Moreau
Here you enter our magical world and will find artworks created from our dreaming mind.
As above, so below, lost in fantasy forever.
Enjoy
Rigor Mortis - Self-Portrait
My mother passed away at the beginning of February 2021 during the pandemic. A big void is in my mind since that moment.
My mother passed away at the beginning of February 2021 during the pandemic. A big void is in my mind since that moment. I am in grief most of the time but art makes me smile and think she’ll be happy to see what’s new… I promised her that I would never stop making art. I cannot betray her promise.
With this self-portrait, I tried the best I could to represents how I feel about the death of my mom. I tried to put all the sadness that I have in me about her final sleep … I feel like something in me has died since she passed away but time will heal as they say.
I love you mom, you left us too quickly, I miss you very much. I promised you that I would never stop doing art and I'll keep my promise until my last breath. Rest in peace XXXX
HALL OF SHAME OF MY MIDDLE-EARTH ROLEPLAYING CHARACTERS
This is the records of the deads and alives of my characters that I played and STILL play in MERP.
Crumblepot: Scout (THIEF), Hobbit - lvl 3 (R.I.P)
When Frodo, Sam, Merry & Pippin arrived at The Shire after the ring was destroyed, Crumblepot and others hobbits tried to stop them to enter and ruins the plan of Saruman. While fighting Frodo, Crumblepot was killed tramped by a pony ridden by a fellow hobbit who was going toward Frodo to crush him.
Simonak: Warrior, Dwarf - lvl 1 (R.I.P)
Simonak was brutally killed by orcs up the stairs of a wine cellar. Also before the combat, He was cursed by the Valar Ulmo because after exploring the wine cellar, he discovered a secret sacred place behind a big fake barrel and destroyed a statue of the altar for Ulmo.
Aphadon: Ranger, Half Elf - Lvl 1
Currently alive and don’t want to die.
“Life in Middle-Earth is not restful when you soak in the blood and sweat of orcs all days....”
Oliphant Morn -Morë olori i Palantìr
Last week I finished the Artwork & the logo for the first album of Oliphant Morn; A great new Dungeon Synth project.
I inked for 4 hours if not more, little dots around the Palantir but in the final it was worth it. After all the inking done, I used digital screen tones for the light and shadows. Also, I would like to thanks my girlfriend for the help for making the illustration more good and beautiful.
Now my champions, put youself into bed and take some time to listen this beautiful dreaming music and enjoy your travel.
Come, travelers. And gaze trough the sinister and hypnotizing Palantír of Saruman. To see battles of uncertain fate and
desolate landscapes forgotten by time.
An Owl Oil painting - WORK IN PROGRESS
Final result!
For only the third oil painting, I am really happy with the result so far.
This beautiful owl is my third oil painting. It is in work in progress until an unknown time. this week I will continue the wing.
So far I have painted 28 hours on the canvas. Each time I paint something new, I want to push it to the maximum that my skills can handle.
Each picture is a 3 hours session of painting.
Hippocampus oil painting; A fast painting done for an exposition
hippocampus oil painting
For having only 3 courses for painting this hippocampus , I am really happy with the final result.
hippocampus painting first layer
hippocampus painting second layer
After my first painting finished, I had a quest to create something within 3 courses for an exposition the next week-end.
With only 9 hours, I have finished and managed exposing my hippocampus oil painting. It was hard because I take a LOT of time mixing my colors and preparing my tools... but I did it! Enjoy
This is Oolong tea, I don’t drink alcool anymore :-P
My first oil painting - A grim mountain
For my first oil painting, I am really happy with the final result. Off course I could correct and add a lot of tones but I signed it, so be it.
I started my first oil painting course in september 2019 with the great painter Richard Morin
Before trying the oil painting, I would sometimes draw and ink a finishing illustration in black and white in 9x12 format. Oil painting cannot be rushed if you want something beautiful; It takes time ... Lots of time!
At first, I was not happy to have to touch up part of the painting in a week. I wanted something good, quickly. After a few lessons, I discovered that this "meditation" was good for me and my art in general.
Focusing on what I do and not wanting everything to be finished quickly adds quality to my creations. I see it with drawing, 3D and even in other areas of my life.
Oil painting, i love you.
Mathieu V.
Call Of Cthulhu: When fear of blood and murderous frenzy coexist.
Mi-go, a creature from the Cthulhu Mythos
My last game of Call of Cthulhu as a keeper was really fun. I initiated two of my old friends to play this wonderful game by Chaosium Inc.
For one of them, tabletop RPGs were a new thing. We had a great time together. It was a challenge to create a story really scary with people who are accustomed to horror & gore theme since young years.
One of the strong parts of the session was when my players saw a cultist very badly mutilated in a corner of a room, they loosed enough sanity points at the same time and had a bout of madness. The first player, Trevor by his character name, exploded in a spree of uncontrolled violence and destruction directed at the cultist, butchering him with a knife.
Marc, the second character, developed a fear of blood for 8 hours... When he saw the cultist mutilated, he started to run in terror and screaming while Trevor continued stabbing the remains of the poor cultist.
Zoog, a creature from the Cthulhu Mythos
After the insane violence fury that Trevor went through, he went after his terrorized friend Marc to try to calm him down, covered in blood head to toes and ignoring that his friend had developed a phobia of seeing bloodfor 8 hours! This scene was memorable and really special. My players and I really liked it.
Will their character die or become insane next time? We will find out next session.
Thank you Howard Phillip Lovecraft for creating an amazing mythos and thank you Chaosium Inc.
New home with a studio
Since the beginning of summer, my girlfriend has moved with me and we have installed our studio in a room. We can create each of our own art and thus inspire, encourage, ask and give criticism on our works.
When the magic happen…
Being both artists, we have arranged our studio with compartments for our artistic material, a metal wire on the wall to pin references and projects in progress. There is also a tripod for the camera if we want to record when we draw and paint. We may also add decorations on walls in the futur.
Some of my art tools
Principally I am an illustrator and I use most of the time black ink but recently I brought my first kit of watercolor and I am learning to mix color. My kit is really small so I can paint everywhere I want. last week I went to a museum and I painted old human skulls, and instincted birds. It was really fun and I will do this again soon, it is a great way to improve watercolor and study the models.
Also, in setember to october, I will start my oil painting courses in Montreal. I have brought a French Style Easel for painting outside landscapes and tweek them with a Fantasy flavor after in my studio. I can not wait to start learning how to paint with oil!
Imagines my black & white creatures painted with oil, they will become real nightmare.
The cultist, made with watercolor.
Call of Cthulhu the RPG and some new artistic goals
In early February with friends, I played the tabletop RPG Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium for the first time. A year to flip through this amazing book of rules, to look at the illustrations, to immerse myself in this macabre and unforgivable world.
In early February with my girlfriend and my friends, I played the tabletop RPG Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium for the first time. A year to flip through this amazing book of rules, to look at the illustrations, to immerse myself in this macabre and unforgivable world. This was finally the moment I waited so much, playing this amazing game with people I care. I was not deceived and I spent many hours of pleasure, horror and laughter. It tooks one year to play because of some events in my life.
some personal problems surfaced but also other old ones settled. I have known for real poverty, lack of food, fatigue and black thoughts.
Having participated in the Lovecraftuary of 2018, I continued my series of the Cthulhu Mythos. Right now I am doing since the begining of February 2019 the same challenge and I must say that after this, I want to devote myself to something else.
I really love illustrating creatures but between two filthy horrors, I practice, and I will always practice, human anatomy.
After February 28, 2019, I will drop my pencil from the H.P. Lovecraft universe to devote myself to another subject that fascinates me and inspires me more and more everyday; old European tales. I intend to interpret them in my way and immortalize these beloved tales again. I will begin with some of the tales of Charles Perrault first and then the ones by the Grimm brothers. I also have plan to touch diverse mythologies.
I will not give up forever illustrating the Cthulhu's mythos. It is still inspire me, but I need artistic beauty for a few months or even years. Only the future will tell.
P.s. I can’t wait to play my next game of Call Of Cthulhu. This game is so cruel for players!
Story behind ‘‘Ånden som Gjorde Opprør’’
Only the sound of guttural songs carried by the wind that seem to come from a distant creature.
Only the sound of guttural songs carried by the wind that seem to come from a distant creature. The idea of a fire to find a little comfort is impossible.
The atmosphere that emerges from this illustration is like cold biting frozen skin after a long journey that seems eternal. The moon, which seemed to serve as a guide to winter deliverance, is in reality only an accomplice to the forces of nature who are the hangman of our existence.
The black and white evokes the desolation and death that winter brings to the heart far from home. The soul lost in this white desert sees no color and suffers only pain.
This creation is strongly inspired by the album Ånden som Gjorde Opprør by the Norwegian artist Mortiis. and was used to cover the Canadian reissue produced by Gravecult Records.
Available as FINE ART PRINTS
Lovecraftuary 2018
I created the illustrations below for the Lovecraftuary Challenge of 2018. Everyday of february I had to draw a specific creature from the Cthulhu mythos.
I created the illustrations below for the Lovecraftuary Challenge of 2018.
Everyday of february I had to draw a specific creature from the Cthulhu mythos.
I tried to create them within 3 hours (penciling+ inking) and it was really hard because I am a perfectionist haha... enjoy!
Interview for Artichaut Magazine March 18, 2018
Ink and creatures. Incursion in the dark art of Mathieu Vaillancourt by Krystel Bertrand
Ink and creatures. Incursion in the dark art of Mathieu Vaillancourt
March 15, 2018
On the eve of the publication of our PROFANATIONS issue, we present a Montreal artist whose works will be published in this next opus, which promises to be very occult. The creations of Mathieu Vaillancourt quickly caught our eyes and our interest. His very charming creatures, although a little terrifying, certainly remind us of the monsters of the universe of Lovecraft or those of the movies of the popular series Aliens. This emerging artist who regularly shares his approach on #social networks reveals to you, in this post, his inspirations and the secrets of his approach.
Grim and frostbitten kingdom
Krystel Bertrand: You are an emerging and multidisciplinary artist with a background in 3D Animation Design. In your opinion, what are the main challenges of an artist who makes his official debut in the visual or musical arts?
Mathieu Vaillancourt: In my opinion, the main challenge is to be original (although everything has already been done). It is necessary to be known for its integrity and to avoid making art just to please the mass and having as main goal, the sale of works. I think it's important to do what we love. Another important issue is to make a name for yourself in this ocean of sharks. It's all about visibility and it's demanding. Getting the same energy for promotion and creation is hard to manage. In the long run, it is possible to discover ways to make it work.
KB: Your practice is between classical and contemporary: your hand-drawn images certainly remind us of the engravings of Gustave Doré and Goya, but you digitally retouch some of your works to enhance the colors. This approach is very interesting because it honors the legacy of art history, while demonstrating openness to new media. Can you tell us a little about your approach?
MV: The use of digital mediums helps me to access a wider range of possibilities to tackle some themes inspired by artists of the golden age. First, I sketch my sketch with a blue pencil. When I am satisfied, I add lines with a red pencil. These serve to delimit hatches for shading. Then I use a light table to ink with a pen the final version. With the help of the computer, I sometimes add some colors and I adjust the contrast of my illustrations so that the black is perfectly black.
The Dreams in the Witch House
KB: One of your current projects is inspired by one of the great classics of American literature, H. P. Lovecraft's The Myth of Cthulhu. What is fascinating about this project is that you share the stages of your creation on your website as well as on your various social networks. This really allows us to enter your universe and suddenly in the Lovecraftian universe. You also participated in the Lovecraftuary challenge. What inspired you to create a tribute series to H.P. Lovecraft and why did you choose to share your approach with your audience?
MV: While reading the writings of Lovecraft, I became familiar with the author. Recently, I discovered the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, the seventh edition to be precise. The creature index of the book inspired me and I decided to make my own interpretation. In general, I find that this kind of illustrations draw their imagery in an aesthetic approaching too much of the comic book type. In my opinion, they do not do justice to the atmosphere of the writings. For this reason, I chose to render Lovecraft's work in pictures without using colors and in a darker and realistic style.
I share my approach for those who practice the same technique as me. Personally, I often prefer to see the process of creating a work as the end result, because I am learning to perfect my knowledge by seeing other artists work. Also, I share my approach for the curious and curious who, like me, want to know how things work in artistic creation without only being interested in the final result.
Duvet du Diable - First album published on tape
KB: You're not just a visual artist, you're also behind the musical project Duvet du Diable that fits in the particular branch of medieval music called Dungeon Synth. For our readers, let's explain that the Dungeon Synth is a generally electronic musical genre characterized by more ambient melodies.There is certainly a connection between your visual works that present all kinds of fantastic creatures sometimes nightmarish and your musical works inspired by dark stories. How did you discover the Dungeon Synth and how does this music echo your current artistic approach?
MV: My music evokes an emotional dungeon more than a real medieval dungeon. It is rooted in the romantic movement and the sickness of this century. I discovered Dungeon Synth through black metal more specifically with Burzum with his album Hliðskjálf and later with Mortiis era 1. This music reflects my inner self; by a reaction of cause and effect, shows up like black bile in my projects in the visual arts.
KB: We know that you active on different social networks. We can follow you on your website and your Instagram account where you seem very active. Would you like to tell us, in closing, what are your next projects? Are you looking to expose your works? Do you have other creative ideas that you would like to talk to us about?
Interpretation of a creature in the game MYFAROG
MV: This year, I started to learn oil painting and I want to perfect my 3D creations. I also intend to make more prints of my works and I plan to stage an exhibition next year.
We thanks Mathieu Vaillancourt for generously agreeing to tell us about his work. We wish him every success for his future projects.
What is my main inspiration for my style?
Maybe when you saw most of my art you already figured out what I am going to tell you. My main inspiration for my style, mostly in my inking, is the old engravings.
Once upon an engraving...
Maybe when you saw most of my art you already figured out what I am going to tell you. My main inspiration for my style, mostly in my inking, is the old engravings. Now if you don't know what is an engraving, it's time for a little reading about it (Thanks Wikipedia!)
Everything started when I was in high school reading history books. Every chapters were full of engraving about persons, battles, scenes, etc. I found fascinating that they could achieve so much details, illustrating light and shadows and making them so realistic with only black ink.
There is something ''magical'' that happen when I see engravings. Maybe it reminds me of old lifes I had who knows. One thing for sure it is making me dream.
One G-Pen to rule them all
My favorite artist of all time is Gustave Doré. As an artist, he is my mentor. I want to achieve his level, maybe it is an impossible task but anyway...it motivates me like nothing else can.
The second artist that I have a great admiration and inspiration for is Francisco Goya. His engravings are amazing. My favorite series by him is Los caprichos. It is a set of 80 prints in aquatint and etching created in 1797 and 1798, and published as an album in 1799.
A coexistence with black metal
The esthetic of a lot of black metal albums is inspired or use engraving for their cover arts. The black and white of the illustrations, often the subject and the minimalism of some of them fit perfectly with this kind of music.
For one of their demos, the band Emperor used the artwork "Death on the Pale Horse (Revelation)" by Gustave Doré, created in 1865.
Most of the subjects in black metal is a rejection of Christianity and a praise to paganism or satanism (often used to despise the christian beliefs). So I think taking engravings or create art inspired by it is a good choice.
For their first album, the band Dimmu Borgir used the artwork taken from Gustave Doré's illustration of for the poetry book "Idylls of the King" by Alfred Tennyson.
Also, the used of heavy contrasted black & white pictures of the band members fits perfectly.
They look like coming from the same magic world so to speak.
For their first album, the band Ossuaire used a bunch of old medieval engravings by unknown artists of that era.
Evolving the style with less difficulty.
In the world we live today, creating engravings cost a lot of money and it is not easy to achieve. Also, this technique of art demands a lot of skills to create something really beautiful.
A few years ago, seeing videos of how to ink manga's pages introduced me to the use of nib pen. It is hard to mastering at first and scary the first time you use it but like anything in life, with determination and practice, I can say that I am not a rookie anymore with this medium.
Anytime I ink an illustration I try as most as I can to reproduce the feeling I get when I see engravings. I am on the way to achieve it I think. Maybe in the next months or the next years who knows. But I know deeply that one day I will acomplish my goal.
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Blog of temporary creative madness
here lie my devotions and thoughts on my little artistic universe. This dungeon is often abandoned, please excuse the spider webs and dust.