Creating a Procedural Waterfalls Tool for the Game HAWKED

Introduction

My name is Serge Filin, and I'm a Senior Procedural Technical Artist/Tools Developer. My main focus is creating procedural tools and production workflows for environment art, worldbuilding, and level dressing, primarily using Houdini, Houdini Engine, Unreal Engine 5, Blueprints, PCG, Editor Utility Tools, VFX, and material systems. I entered the industry as a Photogrammetry Artist in VFX, where I focused on bringing game development pipelines into a more traditional VFX production process.

This approach proved successful, and shortly after, I became a Technical Director for photogrammetry services on the film Silver Skates. I was responsible for the full production cycle of high-quality photogrammetry assets, from capture to final delivery. That was also when I first encountered Houdini, and I immediately realized it was exactly what I wanted to work with. At the same time, I understood that I was much more interested in real-time graphics than traditional VFX.

After the film was successfully released and even reached Netflix's top picks, I transitioned into freelance work as a 3D Environment Artist. For several years, I focused on creating environment assets through modeling, sculpting, texturing, and baking. This experience gave me a strong understanding of standard game development pipelines. However, I struggled with how to properly integrate Houdini into that workflow.

That became a turning point for me. I realized I needed guidance, so I reached out to Josh Lynch, founder of The Mentor Coalition. With his help, I was able to shape my ideas into a clear career direction. From that moment on, I fully focused on Houdini-to-Unreal Engine procedural pipelines and began actively building my ArtStation portfolio around this specialization. After about a year, I received my first offer to work as a procedural artist on a small project.

A few months later, after completing it, I received several more offers. My portfolio and social activity had started to produce real results. Later, I joined MY.GAMES as a Procedural Artist, where I focused on creating tools for worldbuilding teams. I worked on Unreal Engine 5 projects, including HAWKED and War Robots Frontiers, both AA+ multiplatform titles. It was a challenging but very rewarding experience. I learned a great deal about how larger studios operate, their production requirements, and what they expect from internal tools.

During that time, I developed several procedural tools and significantly improved my skills in Houdini Digital Assets, Unreal Engine Blueprints, PCG, Master Materials, VEX, and even some C++ programming. Most importantly, I learned what studios truly need from a procedural tool. It's not enough for a tool to be technically impressive — it must be practical, reliable, and production-ready. After that, I worked as a Senior Procedural Artist at Akronix on an unannounced UE5 AAA action RPG in pre-production.

My focus there was integrating procedural pipelines and tools into the core workflows of level design and level art, with the goal of improving iteration speed and scalability. Working closely with the Art Director, Level Design Lead, and Level Art Lead gave me a broader perspective. I began thinking not only about individual tools but also about how procedural systems can support an entire studio pipeline. Since then, I have moved to the UAE and continued working with procedural tools, Houdini, and Unreal Engine 5. I also teach practical Houdini-to-UE5 procedural tooling and pipeline workflows as an instructor at TechArt Worlds.

In my day-to-day work, I'm most interested in the intersection of art and production technology. I enjoy building tools that help artists work faster while maintaining creative control. For me, a good procedural tool is not just a clever Houdini setup — it should solve a real production problem, be intuitive for artists, function seamlessly within the engine, and improve iteration for the entire team.

The Waterfall Tool

The waterfall tool from HAWKED is a good example of this approach. The request for the tool came from the HAWKED environment team and included two main goals: generating procedural waterfall geometry directly in the editor and creating a master material that could use masks from this geometry to produce stylized water and foam effects that closely follow the concept art.

Houdini was a natural choice for this task, as it excels at generating flexible and unique procedural geometry. The system is based on a backbone curve with a width parameter, allowing artists to define the overall shape of any waterfall. It also includes options to switch materials depending on the game season. Vertex color channels are used to pass masks from Houdini into the Unreal Engine master material, enabling smooth transitions and layered visual effects.

Challenges

I faced two main challenges during the development of this tool. The first was generating a smooth transition in the waterfall profile — from a flat surface at the top to a rounded shape as the water begins to fall — while keeping topology and masks consistent. After exploring several approaches, I solved this by using a blend shape setup to generate cross-sections along the spline and then connecting them using a skin operation.

The second, and more significant challenge, was translating 2D concept art into a dynamic, real-time material. At the time, I had limited experience building complex master materials, especially dynamic ones. Initially, another artist was expected to handle this part, but due to shifting priorities, I decided to take it on myself.

It was challenging at first, but once I understood the core principles, it became much more manageable. The process followed a familiar pattern: gather references, break them down, understand how they work, and then recreate them step by step.

One of the key takeaways for me was that procedural thinking applies across different domains. Whether working with geometry or materials, the underlying principles remain the same — you simply apply them in a different context.

Tips for Beginning Artists

My main advice for beginners is to experiment, make mistakes, and keep going. When you start, you usually don't yet know what truly suits you — what kind of work you enjoy, what tasks you are naturally good at, or what direction could become your career path. The only way to understand this is through practice.

Ideally, you can gain this experience as an intern or junior artist in a studio, where real production teaches you very quickly. But if that's not possible yet, create your own small "production" through personal projects. Set yourself a realistic task for one week: model something, texture something, light a scene, build a small material, create a simple tool, or assemble a small environment piece.

Then study how studios approach similar tasks. Choose something you think you might enjoy, complete it as well as you can, and move on to the next experiment. After a few weeks, you will start to understand what resonates with you. Another important aspect is learning from the internet. Today, we have access not only to great artworks but also to the people behind them — their portfolios, breakdowns, tutorials, interviews, WIPs, and production insights. This is an incredible opportunity.

I also highly recommend the book Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. It's short but very insightful. The key idea is not to copy blindly, but to study what inspires you, understand why it works, and use that knowledge to shape your own direction. Analyze strong work, recreate small parts for learning, and gradually build both your taste and technical skills.

Once you feel you've found a direction that truly interests you, make sure your portfolio and LinkedIn profile clearly reflect it. If you want to become an environment artist, showcase environment work. If you want to become a procedural artist, present procedural tools and workflows. Don't make others guess your goals.

Be socially active as well: share your work, post WIPs, write about what you're learning, and connect with people in roles you aspire to. Your posts don't need to be perfect — what matters is consistent improvement. Then repeat the cycle: experiment, learn, create, share, improve, and try again. Over time, your skills, artistic taste, portfolio, and professional network will grow together.

Best of luck to all of you on your journey! 

Serge Filin, Technical Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine