In part nine of this tutorial series, I will show you how to quickly make your own glass material in UE5.
Settings
Under the Edit Menu, open Project Settings
Search for Default RHI and choose DirectX 12
Activate Support Hardware Ray Tracing
You also need to activate Use Hardware Ray Tracing when Available
Then restart Unreal
Master Material
You can download the window model from Sketchfab
Start by making a Master Material which will allows you to make and use a material template with selected parameters
In the Content Drawer, right-click and choose Material from the menu
Rename the Material
You need to double-click on the Material to open it
In the Details panel, change the Blend Mode to Translucent so the material will be see-through
You also need to activate Two Sides so you can make this a two-sided material
For the Lighting Mode, select Surface Forward Shading – this means that you can get specular highlights from various lights and image-based reflections
Right-click on Base Color and choose Promote to Parameter – this will allow you to control the Base Color
Repeat this process for Specular, Roughness, and Opacity
In the Details Panel, search for Refraction and choose Index of Refraction
Right-click on Refraction and choose Promote to Parameter
You need to select the Specular Parameter and in the Details panel, change the Default Value and Slider Max to 1 – these Specular Parameters control the magnitude of the effects with the Slide Max forcing the Specular Parameter to remain within a specific range
Select the Roughness Parameter and in the Details panel change the Slider Max to 1
Select the Opacity Parameter and in the Details panel change the Default Value to 0.1 and the Slider Max to 1
Select the Refraction Parameter and in the Details panel change the Default Value to 1 and the Slider Max to 3
Save it and close it
Glass Material
Now you can make the actual glass material
There is already a glass material that came with the model which you can delete
In the Content Drawer, right-click and under the Material menu, choose Create Material Instance from the menu
You can rename this Material
Double-click on this new Material to open it
Select the Parent Material – which is the Master Material you just made
Refraction will change the curvature (or wave) of the glass – this can be used to make smoother or wavier glass
Select your Refraction
Save the Material Instance
Drag the Material Instance onto the glass
Under the Add To menu, under Visual Effects, add a Post Process Volume
In the Details panel, search for Unbound and activate it
Search for Translucency and active Type, and change it to Ray Tracing
Also activate everything under Ray Tracing Translucency
Change the Parameters to achieve your desired look