Art Of Shader - Film And Special Effects - Documentation

The AOS Blueprint Actor

The AOS (Art of Shader) Blueprint Actor is the central tool for combining, grouping, and managing multiple post-process effects. It provides an intuitive interface for creating complex visual combinations without dealing with multiple Post Process Volumes.

Why Use the AOS Actor?

Combine multiple effects in one organized location
Control effect intensity individually or as groups
Switch between effect presets at runtime
Apply effects to specific objects or screen regions
Animate effect parameters smoothly
Organize effects by purpose (background vs foreground, etc.)

Basic Setup

Place an AOS Blueprint Actor in your level
Select the actor and open its details panel
Add material instances to the appropriate effect arrays
Adjust master intensity and individual effect weights

Effect Organization

The AOS Actor organizes effects into groups:

Main Effects

Primary visual effects that apply to the main scene objects.

Use for character and environment effects
Controlled by scene depth
Can exclude background

Background Effects

Effects that only apply to distant background elements.

Useful for atmospheric effects
Based on depth threshold
Independent from main effects

Screen Effects

Full-screen effects that apply to everything.

Camera lens effects
Overall color grading
Screen-space distortions

Blend Modes

Control how multiple effects combine:

Additive - Effects add together (can become very bright)
Multiply - Effects multiply (darkens the result)
Overlay - Balanced blend of both
Screen - Brightening blend mode
Linear Burn - Darkening blend mode

Example Combinations

Cyberpunk Hacker Vision

Main Effects:
  - Chromatic Aberration (Low intensity)
  - Scanlines (Medium intensity)
Background Effects:
  - Color Shift (Blue/Cyan tint)
  - Digital Noise
Screen Effects:
  - Vignette
  - Film Grain

Horror Atmosphere

Main Effects:
  - Desaturate (reduce color)
  - VCR Glitch (subtle, occasional spikes)
Background Effects:
  - Fog/Depth blur
Screen Effects:
  - Heavy Vignette
  - Film Grain (heavy)
  - Color Grading (green/gray tint)

Stylized Cartoon

Main Effects:
  - Cel Shader
  - Outlines
Background Effects:
  - Watercolor texture
Screen Effects:
  - Color Palette Reduction
  - Slight halftone

Performance Considerations

Each effect adds rendering cost
Limit to 3-5 active effects for best performance
Disable effects that aren't visually contributing
Use LOD systems to reduce effects at distance
Profile on target hardware

Runtime Control

Control effects dynamically during gameplay:

// Blueprint pseudocode
On Event (e.g., Low Health):
  - Increase Glitch Intensity
  - Add Desaturation
  - Pulse Vignette

On Event (e.g., Power Up):
  - Add Chromatic Aberration
  - Increase Bloom
  - Add Color Shift

Best Practices

Start Simple - Begin with one or two effects and add more
Group Related Effects - Organize by purpose, not just visuals
Use Reference Images - Know what you're aiming for
Test in Motion - Effects look different when camera moves
Get Feedback - Effects can cause motion sickness if overdone
Save Presets - Create material instance collections for reusability

Combining Effects