Unreal Engine 5.1 has been released, introducing several major updates. Key features include:
1. Nanite Foliage: Allowing for detailed, dynamic foliage without the need for level of detail (LOD) transitions, resulting in improved visuals and performance.
2. Lumen Reflections: Fixing issues with translucent materials, such as glass and water, and providing more accurate and realistic reflections.
3. Lumen Global Illumination: Offering improved bounce lighting, reduced noise, and more accurate indirect illumination.
4. Path Tracer: Now supporting sky and atmosphere, as well as decals and light functions.
5. GPU Lightmass: Featuring improved stability, quality, and support for sky and atmosphere.
6. Increased Level Size: Allowing for much larger environments, with a recommended area expansion from 22 kilometers to 88 million kilometers.
7. Animation Improvements: Introducing layer bars, which simplify the process of retiming keyframes in the sequencer.
These updates aim to enhance the overall user experience, improve performance, and provide more realistic visuals in Unreal Engine 5.1.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Unreal Engine 5.1 is the first major update for Unreal Engine 5.
2. The update introduces Nanite Foliage, a new way of rendering foliage using dynamic level of detail.
3. Nanite Foliage replaces the need for level of detail (LOD) for foliage, allowing for more realistic and detailed foliage without the need for multiple LODs.
4. The update also includes improvements to Lumen, the lighting system in Unreal Engine 5.
5. Lumen now supports translucent materials, allowing for accurate reflections and refractions.
6. The update also includes improvements to path tracing, including support for sky and atmosphere.
7. The GPU lightmass has seen massive improvements, including better stability and quality of lighting.
8. The update also includes changes to the way large Unreal levels can be created, with the recommended area expanding from 22 kilometers to 88 million kilometers.
9. The sequencer in Unreal Engine 5.1 includes new features, such as layer bars, which make retiming keyframes easier.
10. Unreal Engine 5.1 includes hundreds of other new features and bug fixes.