Volumetric Smoke Rings Effect Created in Unreal Engine 5

Over the past few days, Principal VFX Artist Bryan Venzen has been sharing a series of experiments with Unreal Engine 5, demonstrating an astonishing volumetric smoke rings effect set up within the engine.

Notably, the creator emphasized that this particular FX achievement was accomplished without the use of particles, fluids, simulations, or flipbooks, relying solely on a single mesh and shader math instead. The exact method used by the author left other artists intrigued, encouraging them to speculate about the exact production process behind this mesmerizing smoke effect.

Luckily, the series culminated in an insightful written breakdown shared by Bryan, that offered a thorough explanation of how the FX was set up, showcased the artist's Material graph, and provided some informative commentary regarding each step.

"I wrote up some quick documentation on how to achieve the volumetric smoke rings effect I posted earlier this week," commented the creator. "I'm all about transparency and knowledge sharing. Feel free to reply with questions."

You can check out the full breakdown by visiting Bryan's LinkedIn page and see more of the artist's works on Twitter.

And here are some great tutorials on creating volumetric effects in Unreal Engine 5:

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