Materials & shaders

UE materials are node graphs that compile to HLSL shaders. The central workflow idea is parameters + instances: one parameterized base material, cheap asset variants (constant instances), and runtime-tweakable copies (dynamic instances). Understanding where to put logic — parameter vs. static switch vs. separate material — determines both quality and compile cost.

When to use this skill

• Creating a material or family of material variants from a shared base.
• Changing material parameters at runtime (damage tint, team color, wetness, dissolve amount).
• Choosing domain, shading model, or blend mode for a material.
• Fixing shader permutation counts or translucency overdraw performance issues.
• Setting world-wide values through a material parameter collection.
• Cross-referencing UMaterial, UMaterialInstance, UMaterialInstanceDynamic, or UMaterialParameterCollection in C++.