Unreal Engine 5.7 preview doubles performance in content generation
Unreal Engine 5.7 has officially entered its preview phase, showcasing significant advancements aimed at enhancing performance and efficiency across its tools while incorporating innovative creative features. Among these are the Procedural Content Generation (PCG), Nanite Foliage, MegaLights, Substrate, and MetaHuman Creator, alongside improvements in animation and rigging. So, how does this new version compare to the earlier version 5.6 in terms of performance? Let’s dive into it.
Epic Games is clearly positioning its engine as a leading tool in the industry, even as it faces scrutiny and criticism. Interestingly, more and more studios are choosing to adopt Unreal Engine for their projects. A notable advantage is that they are ahead of current hardware capabilities, suggesting that the next generation of graphics cards may offer a substantial leap in performance, especially when compared to the latest RTX 50, RX 9000, and Arc Battlemage models.
Exploring the Innovations in Unreal Engine 5.7
Unreal Engine 5.7 brings a plethora of new features that cater to various aspects of game development. Leading this charge is the Procedural Content Generation (PCG) Framework, which is now production-ready after being in an experimental stage in earlier versions. The improvements in this area are remarkable, with performance benchmarks showing it operates almost twice as fast as in UE 5.5.
This substantial increase in speed is achieved through optimizations in both GPU performance and game threading, particularly with the introduction of “GPU parameter overrides.” This feature allows developers to dynamically modify parameters on GPU nodes, supported by a redesigned GPU Compute pathway that is scalable and cross-platform, including support for FastGeo. This means that while the editor incorporates specific modes that utilize spline brush tools and volumes, the independent execution of graphics ensures flexibility without sacrificing efficiency.
An exciting addition is the Procedural Vegetation Editor, which has been released as an experimental plugin. This tool empowers developers to create trees and forests using Nanite directly within the editor, utilizing assets from Fab without the need for external software. This integration simplifies the development process and enhances productivity.
- Dynamic vegetation sculpting that reacts to gravity.
- Real-time model swapping and branch modification.
- Exporting results as static or skeletal meshes.
Additionally, Epic has confirmed that the final version of 5.7 will introduce new Quixel Megaplants, which will serve as an initial resource to expedite workflows, providing libraries of realistic vegetation that are optimized for memory and performance, although specific improvements in this area have yet to be disclosed.
Rendering Dense Foliage at 60 FPS with Current Graphics Cards
Another noteworthy feature is Nanite Foliage, currently in the experimental phase, yet already demonstrates impressive capabilities by rendering and animating extremely dense vegetation at 60 FPS on current hardware. This milestone is particularly relevant for users of RTX 50 and RX 9000 graphics cards, achieving this frame rate thanks to three complementary systems designed to enhance efficiency:
- Nanite Assemblies: Reduces storage and rendering costs.
- Nanite Skinning: Manages dynamic animations, such as wind movement, without significant performance penalties.
- Nanite Voxel: Preserves detail, materials, and animation at various distances while minimizing resource usage.
Lighting systems also see advancements with the introduction of MegaLights, now in beta. This feature significantly enhances lighting compatibility with directional lights, Niagara particles, translucency, and hair, while also providing performance controls to adjust resolution scaling and update frequency. Epic aims to strike a balance between quality and speed across all projects, alongside improved noise filtering that promises superior results right from the start.
Substrate, MetaHuman Creator, and Animation Enhancements
Epic has declared the Substrate material system ready for production, which replaces traditional fixed models with a modular approach. This system aims to balance expressiveness, scalability, and performance through two differentiated alternatives:
- Adaptive GBuffer: Designed for advanced effects such as pixel topology and layer closures.
- Blendable GBuffer: Ensures compatibility across a wide range of platforms, allowing for precise physical mixing of metal, skin, fabric, or gloss layers without compromising resources.
In terms of character development, the MetaHuman Creator has expanded its compatibility to Linux and macOS and introduces an API for both Python and Blueprint, streamlining the automation of editing or assembly processes. This update includes enhancements in model conformity regardless of pose and vertex correspondence in UV space. Furthermore, the complete version of 5.7 will enable real-time animation generation from an external camera using Live Link Face on iPad or Android.
The animation and rigging systems are also seeing significant improvements centered around efficiency. The introduction of Selection Sets allows developers to group controls and share them among teams using the new Constraint UX. This unifies the management of spaces, constraints, and snap functionalities into a single interface, while the Skeletal Editor now boasts sculpting capabilities, bone creation, morphology editing, and skin weight adjustments without the need for external tools. Additionally, expectations for realistic physical collisions and a dependency view that simplifies data flow debugging have been raised.
The innovations in Unreal Engine 5.7 showcase a truly fascinating leap forward, particularly in terms of performance and usability across various development aspects.
For more details, you can watch this insightful video about Unreal Engine 5.7 and its new features:
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