Get started with VFX

Visual Effects (VFX) can be the wow factor in a real-time 3D project, ranging from a subtle splash of water to a massive fiery explosion.

Without VFX, an environment can feel dull. These effects introduce movement into an environment, bringing it to life.

In this tutorial and the ones that follow, you’ll learn to create your own VFX using Particle Systems and Unity’s Visual Effects Graph (VFX Graph). You’ll work with fire, generate weather effects, and even trigger bursts of smoke through user input.

By the end, your project could look something like this:

In this first tutorial, you’ll learn more about what VFX are, then open your project and play around with some fire.

New to Unity?

This learning experience assumes that you are already familiar with the Unity Editor. If you’re new to Unity, the Unity Essentials learning pathway has been designed to help you get set up and ready to create in the Unity Editor.

Update the Unity Hub

Before you begin to set up your Unity project, consider updating your Unity Hub to the latest release. If you are using an older version of the Hub, there may be differences between the guidance provided and your experience.

Review the Unity Editor basics

If you need to refresh your memory of the Unity Editor basics, you can take a moment to review Explore the Unity Editor at any time.

VFX can be broken down into two categories:

• Environmental effects are meant to represent physical occurrences, such as fire, rain, mist, or explosions.
• Gameplay effects are meant to enhance or draw attention to specific user interactions. For example, you could add a glowing effect when an object is selected, or a celebration effect that accompanies an in-game achievement.

Below, you can see a sandstorm environmental effect. This is a recreation of a physical phenomenon that you would expect to see in the real world.

Image from VFX Showcase video

Compare that to the gameplay effect depicted below, which is a confetti explosion as the player’s racing kart passes through a floating ring. This adds emphasis to the action and communicates to the player that they’ve done something successfully.

Image from Karting Microgame Game Jam

Now that you have a basic understanding of what VFX are, let’s see if you can identify them in a scene for yourself:

Look at the two images above from the 3D Game Kit and consider these questions:

• What environmental or gameplay VFX do you notice in the images?
• What specific purposes do these VFX serve in this game?
• How do both of these VFX improve the overall experience of the game?

Check your work

• The first image shows an environmental mist effect hovering over the water. This adds an element of mystery and danger to the scene.
• The second image shows a gameplay effect, where a blue slash trail follows the player’s swinging staff. This makes the swinging interaction much more satisfying and noticeable for the player.
• Combined, the VFX add a level of polish to the project. It’s these final touches that make the difference between an experience that feels immersive and one that does not. Without VFX, the project wouldn’t feel complete.

Responsibilities

A VFX artist is usually responsible for any computer-generated imagery (CGI) that moves but is not a character or animal.

• If it doesn’t move (like a tree or building), it’s probably made by a 3D artist, including 3D modelers and texture artists.
• If it’s an animated character, it’s probably the responsibility of a character artist, rigging artist, or animator.

When people think of VFX, they usually think of live action movies, where effects are added on top of real footage.

For example, watch the trailer below for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Almost every scene has VFX in it. Keep an eye out for things that move in the scene, but which you suspect were not really there on set with the actors. Those effects were probably created by VFX artists.

Background

Most VFX artists will have a foundation in traditional art principles, like color, texture, and composition. They will also be familiar with physics and fluid dynamics in order to understand how liquids, types of cloth, or particles behave in different conditions.

Tools

In addition to Unity, VFX artists might use or be familiar with other software programs, including:

• 2D image editing software, such as Photoshop, to create 2D textures and particles
• 3D modeling and animation software, such as Maya, to create 3D shapes for certain effects
• Software specializing in procedural simulations like fluids and particles, such as Houdini

In these tutorials, you will take on the role of a VFX artist as they implement their effects in Unity.

Before getting started, you should be aware that Unity actually has two separate systems for developing VFX: the Particle System and VFX Graph.

The Particle System is Unity’s default component-based system that you will find in most Unity projects. VFX Graph is a newer, node-based system, which is extremely powerful but a bit more difficult to learn.

Here are examples of some highly complex simulations made possible with the VFX Graph.

Image from VFX Showcase video.

Image from VFX Showcase video.

In this project, you will get started using the Particle System. You will learn more about the VFX Graph and why you would use one system over another later on.

Let’s open the project and check out some VFX. To set up your Unity project:

1. Install Unity 6, if you haven’t already done so.

2. Download and unzip the project for this learning experience.

3. Move the project folder to a suitable location on your computer.

4. Add the Unity project to the Unity Hub.

5. Open the project from the Unity Hub.

6. In the Unity Editor’s Project window, open Assets > CreativeCore_VFX > Scenes, and then open the scene TutorialScene_VFX_Outdoor. In the scene, you will find a simple firepit in the clearing of a rocky outcrop.

7. Press Play to see the fire Particle System in the firepit.

Notice how much visual interest the fire adds to the scene! Fire is a very common effect for a VFX artist to work on, so this is a perfect place to start.

8. Exit Play Mode when you’re ready to move on.

By default, the Particle System will not play in the Scene view. You need to select it first in order to preview it.

1. In the Hierarchy, expand FirePit, then select Fire_ParticleSystem_Prefab. The fire Particle System should begin playing in Scene view.

2. In the Particle Effect menu that appears on the right side of the Scene view, select the Pause, Play, Stop, and Restart buttons to control the fire.

Using this Particle Effect menu within Scene view is a helpful tool during testing and development of Particle Systems.

As you watch this fire, you may notice that the Particle System is just a series of simple individual objects floating up into the air. In the zoomed in image below, you can see the flames are made up from a bunch of simple textures.

Below is the actual texture file containing the shapes of the individual fire particles.

That’s all this Particle System is: a bunch of individual objects (called particles) combined together in interesting ways to simulate a more complex effect.

In this tutorial, you learned what VFX are and what a VFX artist does. Then you opened your project and previewed a basic fire effect. In the next tutorial, you will learn how to work with a Particle System’s modules to change the way it looks.