Unreal Engine launches its version 4.27, focused on virtual production

Epic Games has updated its graphics engine Unreal Engine to version 4.27 with a significant number of new features for the field of virtual production.

Thanks to the new 3D Config Editor included in Unreal Engine 4.27, the configuration of nDisplay for LED volumes or other multi-screen rendering applications is simplified. It is not the only novelty in this area, since Epic Games has taken the opportunity to group all the functions and settings related to nDisplay in a single point, thus facilitating access to the functions. Similarly, Unreal Engine version 4.27 speeds up multiple camera setup in the same project.

In parallel, Epic Games has added compatibility with OpenColorIO to nDisplay, promising precise color calibration that connects content creation in Unreal Engine with what the real-world camera sees in the LED volume. Likewise, so that nDisplay can scale efficiently, support for multi-GPU. This improvement makes it possible to maximize resolution in wide shots by dedicating a GPU for the camera pixels and shoot with multiple cameras.

Interface and virtual camera

Unreal Engine 4.27 also presents a new UI builder for remote control. Using drag-and-drop motions, users can quickly build complex web widgets without the need for code, so users without experience in Unreal Engine can control the creative results generated by the engine from a tablet or laptop.

On the other hand, the virtual camera system introduced in Unreal Engine 4.26 has been considerably improved with support for many more features, such as multi-user edition, a redesigned user experience and one extensible core architecture. A new application for iOS has also been enabled, Live Link Vcam, dedicated to managing virtual camera functionalities. In this way, the system allows you to manage a film camera within Unreal Engine using a device such as the iPad.

By completing the main improvements in this area, it is now possible save the state of a given scene and later restore any of its elements or all of them, making it easy to return to a previous configuration.

News for production and video games

Beyond these specific improvements for virtual production, Unreal Engine 4.27 comes loaded with important new features applicable to all types of areas. Among them, we find the improvements introduced in the GPU Lightmass dedicated to global illumination, including support for many more features, the possibility of modify the lighting of a virtual set with more speed and one greater stability.

Likewise, it has been updated Path Tracer, physically accurate and accelerated progressive rendering mode DPR which can be activated without any additional configuration; and the clip render queue, which allows rendering from multiple cameras using a structured batch process.

Other news from Unreal Engine 4.27 are new options compression for games, compatibility with the execution of processes in cloud virtual machines or new support with the plugin OpenXR, dedicated to creating extended reality content.