Okay, so today I messed around with getting some engine effects working on the “zzz signature” thing. It wasn’t super straightforward, but I figured it out, so I’m gonna jot down what I did while it’s still kinda fresh in my memory.
Initial Setup
First, I grabbed the basic model – I think it was already set up, which saved me some time. I wanted to see what it looked like without any fancy effects first, just to get a baseline. So, I loaded it up, made sure everything was connected right, basic stuff.
Adding the First Effect
Then, the fun started. I wanted to add a simple engine glow. I’ve done this before on other projects, so I had a rough idea. I started by creating a new material, I just duplicated what I had and tweaked it. Gave it a bright color – I went with a sort of fiery orange.
- Duplicate existing material.
- Change the color to a bright orange.
Making it “Glow”
Just changing the color wasn’t enough, though. It looked flat. I needed it to actually glow. I played around with the emission settings, cranked those up. Then I fiddled with the bloom settings in the post-processing, that made a big difference. It’s all about tweaking those values until it looks right, lots of back and forth.
Adding Some Movement
The glow was cool, but it was static. Engines flicker, right? So, I wanted to add some animation to it. I messed with the material’s properties, trying to get a pulsating effect. I ended up using a simple time-based setup to make the emission strength go up and down. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave the impression of flickering.
- Animate the emission strength.
- Use a time-based value to create pulses.
The Finishing Touches
After that, it was mostly just polishing. I added a bit of a smoke effect, just a subtle particle system. Again, I just tweaked settings until it looked about right – nothing too crazy. I wanted it to be noticeable, but not overpowering.
Finally,I Tested different intesity of the effects to match the overall aesthetic.
All in all, it was a pretty good day of tinkering. The engine effects are definitely an improvement. There’s probably more I could do, but I’m happy with how it turned out for now. It’s always fun to learn this stuff by just diving in and trying things.
