To start this task, I experimented with the particle effects that come in the Unreal starter content folder.
I created a small scene using these effects, so that I could later see the effects of the various VFX options.
The first thing you should do if you want your VFX to be constant throughout the scene is enable infinite extend, which makes sure that the entire scene is effected by the VFX.
I watched a video on post processing in Unreal and he was pretty adamant that bloom looks artificial. Therefore, for this task I set the bloom intensity to zero.
I do believe that bloom can be useful in the right environment, however I do get his point that too much can look artificial.
I upped the intensity of the chromatic aberration just to see what it would look like. This effect could easily be used in a game when the player is drugged or drunk. I later changed the value down to 1.3 with a 0.7 start offset. This still keeps the effect but it is much more subtle and realistic.
Vignette intensity darkens the edges of the screen and adds focus to a certain point. I could imagine this being useful in a horror game to darken the players surroundings so they can only see what is directly in front of them.
The grain jitter and intensity does exactly what it says – adds grain to the scene. This could be useful when trying to create a static effect.
I then changed the saturation values of the shadows and highlights, as well as the global saturation. This can be used to change the mood and atmosphere of the scene.
As you can see, adjusting all of these options creates a completely different mood, even in such a simple scene. It also makes the scene look less dull and much more exciting.
Overall, this was very useful to learn as VFX and post processing can be used to elevate environments to a completely different level. They can help convey a certain mood by darkening or lightening parts of the environment and can also be used in games to represent certain effects such as being drugged (chromatic aberration).
Reference List:
Nitrogen (2020) Post Processing in Unreal Engine 4 | UE4 Tutorial (2020) [Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU6D-goGk-o&t=15s [Accessed 01/05/2022].