I created a number of custom emitters for Niagara which I have yet to release to the public. (I wish there was a nice way to package up and share custom modules rather than having to share out entire project files.) These frames are illustrating the use of a fibonacci (or phyllotactic) sphere emitter which is tailor-made for dandelions…
It’s wrapping up, I’ve added all the bells and whistles – Ambient Occlusion, Depth fading, Image Adjustment, etc. Highlights can now be dialated or eroded. Support for separate outlines of normals. Presets and clean menus. I think this shader is about done.
The shader allows for a pretty broad array of looks, from architectural sketches to classic toon shading. Below is an example of a more painterly rendering.
Here are some presets:
I’m continuing to refine the NonPhotoRealistic (NPR) sketch post-process in Unreal. This is using completely different methods now, I’ve changed the method of convolution edge detection for outlines, and am using world-aligned sketch texturing in the shadow and highlight regions.
The background is also given a custom color and texture. The light source is defined through any number of unreal lights.
There is now support for sketchy highlights and varying line colors, and much better response to light. Ideally the post process would support variation in outline width, although I don’t have a good method for that yet.
There are options to use procedural line, dot and crosshatching for a more comic/newsprint look.
The results are very solid and smooth in motion, with no temporal swimming or distractions. I see this shader being ideal for architectural stylization and general NPR usage. 
To get a more chalk-like effect with ink outlines I take this post process and combine it with an NPR painterly process which applies brushstrokes on the image in world space. Here’s the result:
Some more NPR experimentation, this time implementing a Matcap shader in Unreal as a post process.
This is a first test of a simple NPR shader I just put together, used as a post process in Unreal for a lithograph-like effect. Works well temporally but lacks a “handdrawn” feel, being very precise.
https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/vector-field-collection The collection of 109 vector fields I placed on Unreal Marketplace for Cascade and Niagara is now live and response has been really gratifying, thank you! If you’re using this pack, please send me links to what you’ve made, I can’t wait to see what people are doing with them!
Here’s a first look: a procedural (generated) shape from Houdini converted into Niagara particles using SideFX Labs .hbjson cache and animated to “collapse” in real-time.
Just a quick test scene in Unreal. It has no home, so I decided to let it live here. The camera gear was modelled by me years ago for the Sketchup Film and Stage release, I was really gratified to discover that all of those models I made are still in use and part of the collection of .skp files at 3D Warehouse.
Just messing around, this time taking particles from Houdini into Unreal.
