Product work | Smog Effect
As with all the other effects/shaders, I started my work with a thorough discussion with the designer on what the smog's purpose is and its required elements. Then I collected the visual reference on it.
There were multiple options in which I could have had the smog effect created. I did test them all to compare the results and choose the most fit one for our product.
The Unreal Engine Height Fog
This was easy and fast to set up but the issue was that the smog was not interacting much with the buildings.
Smog post process effect
This effect was interacting with the environment better, but it did create a weird glitch.
After a bit of struggle we figured out with the lead artist that the issue was created by the screen resolution and as soon as the preview screen got adjusted, the issue was not there anymore.
When it comes to the effect itself, it was possible to create the camera distance setup in 2 ways, with different visual results. First was based on the "Scene Depth" node, while the second was based on the "Depth Fade" node
After some feedback from the lead artist, we decided that the smog based on the "Depth Fade" would fit the product better.
Volume material
The effect looked nice and it relied on the Unreal Engine height fog being in the scene in order to work. After careful consideration, and taking into the account that all the effect are quite cheap, I decided that the final smog will be a combination of the 3 methods.
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