Game Engines dundamentals

[alexres]

Hello and happy holidays everyone,

 

The following is a list of questions on the whole concept of game engines (Unity,Unreal Engine) which unfortunately still eludes me in its entirety. I'm approaching this from an architectural visualization point of view, not a game creation one.

 

From what I understand Unreal Engine for instance, was originally created as a game engine and with UE4 was succesfuly integrated into the workflows of many visual artists providing a wide range of tools for VR walkthroughs, animation (?), real time rendering (with GI) . It is the software of choice as far as arch viz goes and is the leading sotware for an immersive experience if you have the time to put into it.

 

Questions (I'll be refering to these platforms as GE for Game Engines)

 

Rendering

 

1.Does a GE have an integrated renderer by default or do you need to purchase and use your own rendering software (VRay, Corona, Octane, Maxwell etc). I know that V-Ray now supports Unreal Engine.

 

2.Can you also get high quality still renders (like you would with an offline renderer) or are GE just for producing/animating sequences?

 

Assets / Textures / Imports / Linking

 

3. I am aware that you can import a model (for instance some sort of structure and building) into a GE, maybe create the terrain inside that platform. Is this transition instantly useable or does it still need finetuning? For instance what happens to the materials once the model has been imported to said engine? Are they successfuly incorporated or do you need to replace them with UE,Unity materials? Are these any good or is the quality lower than materials made with premium textures from outside sources (Quixel,Textures,Poliigon etc)

 

4. I own various 3d assets. Mostly fbx, obj, skp. Can any of these be used to start a project from scratch inside Unreal or do I have to build a whole new library of assets that only work with Unreal. I read here in the forums that one needs to approach this with a completely different workflow. Everything needs to be readjusted to become low poly (which is why some people have started selling assets for Unreal) The number of polygons is the only difference here. Correct?)

 

 

Terrain / Landscapes / Topography

 

5.Can you export terrain that was created in a GE into your 3d modelling software?

 

6.Is it easier to create landscapes and terrain in UE than it is in a 3d modelling software?

 

Animation / Flythroughs

 

7.Can a rendered animation/flythrough be produced far easier and quicker in a GE than inside a 3d modelling software with an offline renderer? I wouldn't even bother with a CPU based rendering workflow for animated sequences tbh. I just state that I can't provide animations at the moment. Could a GE help me overcome that?

 

8.Where does Lumion fit into all that? Is it a real time rendering platform + modelling suite (maybe more architecturaly based). Are Lumion's animations produced faster but at the expense of quality?

 

If anyone could help me out so that I can start somewhere I would be very greatful.

 

Thank you

 

Alex

Edited January 4, 2020 by alexres