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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to make multiple types of car paint using Unreal's Substrate. We start with the most basic type and work up to a much more advanced version. youtu.be/3T46UraKXwE

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Substrate Car Paint - Unreal Substrate - Episode 9

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use the Glint inputs on a Substrate Slab in Unreal to create sparkle effects for materials like snow, pavement, and car paint. youtu.be/W17MwFCuMfM

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Substrate Glint - Unreal Substrate - Episode 8

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use the Second Roughness inputs on a Substrate Slab in Unreal to gain more control over the shape and appearance of specular highlights and reflections on your material. youtu.be/Z281PRQInRA

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Substrate Second Roughness - Unreal Substrate - Episode 7

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use the Fuzz input parameters on the Unreal's Substrate Slab to create the edge effects on surfaces like cloth, skin, peaches, etc. youtu.be/Q3ZNWiQ4lZE

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Substrate Fuzz - Unreal Substrate - Episode 6

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to create subsurface scattering - for materials like wax, snow, fruit, or skin - using Unreal's Substrate. I also explain related topics like SSS MFP and SSS MFP Scale. youtu.be/wvzBD5u1GeE

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Substrate Subsurface Scattering - Unreal Substrate - Episode 5

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to create transparent materials - like glass - using Unreal's Substrate. I also explain related topics like Index of Refraction and Mean Free Path (MFP). youtu.be/sf-K257zWh8

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Substrate Translucency - Unreal Substrate - Episode 4

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

In this tutorial, I explain why Epic added Substrate to Unreal Engine. As we saw last week, it makes creating basic materials more complex, so what benefits does it bring? youtu.be/VrY_SSvWdQ4

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Why Substrate? - Unreal Substrate - Episode 3

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

In this tutorial, I explain Diffuse Albedo, F0, and F90 in Unreal's Substrate. I also show how to translate Base Color, Metallic, and Specular parameters from the previous system into Substrate, and I explain core principles like reflectance and the Fresnel Effect. youtu.be/a94Lpu1_4dg

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Substrate Light Reflectance - Unreal Substrate - Episode 2

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Today, we start a new series of videos on using Unreal Engine's Substrate material system. In the videos that follow, we'll go in depth and cover the full material system - but today we just cover the basics. youtu.be/P5I38f2O6W8

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Introduction to Substrate - Episode 1

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

In this Unreal Engine tutorial, I show how to remove objects that are overlapping or too close to each other - both in the same PCG graph and also in different graphs. youtu.be/ikhRzWHisEw

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Filtering Overlapping Objects - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 11

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I've wanted to make this effect for a long time and I finally figured it out! In this Unreal tutorial, I show how to add 3D moss cards to the rocks in our forest using PCG. I'm calling it Magic Moss. Take a look! youtu.be/QyCzfsuakuY

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Creating Magic Moss With PCG - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 10

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

In this Unreal Engine tutorial, I show how to use PCG's Hierarchical Generation System to spawn objects only close to the player. youtu.be/u2hsoBgYUR0

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Adding Rocks With Hierarchical Generation - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 9

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to spawn objects along a spline. We start out really basic with a row of traffic cones and then get more advanced with a line of fence segments that connect with each other. youtu.be/WQc0imxsGdI

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Spawn Objects Along Splines - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 8

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use splines to define where PCG can place objects. PCG can be limited to only place objects inside a set of closed-loop splines, or you can use those sample splines to remove objects. youtu.be/AWJ7H4C6ObI

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Using Splines For Boundaries - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 7

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to automatically add a dirt and roots material to the landscape under PCG trees. I also show how to make the trees deform the landscape just slightly so they feel more connected to the ground. youtu.be/VtvM-OkZYDk

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Automatic Landscape Tree Blending - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 6

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

In this tutorial, I show a simple method and a more advanced method to grow a forest using Unreal Engine's Procedural Content Generation system. youtu.be/DoZRYtvb8OU

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How To Grow A Forest in Unreal With PCG - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 5

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to add multiple different detail meshes and mask them using various grass masks generated in the landscape's material. youtu.be/ceP88Hvopao

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Adding Multiple Detail Meshes to Landscapes - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 4

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use grass masks from a landscape material to control where PCG grass is placed. Using this technique you can use any of the features of a material to control PCG placement. youtu.be/PNXIGplTsgU

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Using Landscape Grass Masks With PCG - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 3

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use Unreal's PCG to render grass efficiently. This method uses a compute shader on the GPU to place grass instances and I show several ways to control the density and distance that the grass renders. youtu.be/jL8-C2VvpxY

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Efficient Grass With PCG - Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 2

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Today, we start a new series of videos on using Unreal Engine's PCG to create environments. In this video, we talk about what PCG is and why you should use it. Then we use the system to place some simple assets in the environment. youtu.be/NZLtrWLNTes

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Introduction to Procedural Content Generation (PCG) - Episode 1

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Last week, I showed how to add rain effects to terrain in Unity - so this week I'm showing how to add puddles to landscapes in Unreal. youtu.be/hV8GEZrDe8U

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Landscape Puddles - Terrain Shaders - Episode 19

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to add rain effects to a terrain shader including puddles with rain ripples and animated rain drops. youtu.be/aU3tr7KvjW0

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Rain Effects On Terrain - Terrain Shaders - Episode 18

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to add the ability to manually paint layer materials on an existing terrain auto material. This allows you to make changes and corrections to the materials that have already been applied by the procedural system. youtu.be/DCIv0grJ2AU

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Overridable Auto Material - Terrain Shaders - Episode 17

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to create an advanced terrain auto material for Unreal and Unity. It uses angle blend, height blending, and altitude blending together to blend between grass, dirt, rock and snow. youtu.be/4q6EekzAUI0

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Terrain Advanced Auto Material - Terrain Shaders - Episode 16

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to blend between two terrain layers based on the altitude of the terrain. youtu.be/MC95bu9VTJQ

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Terrain Altitude Blending - Terrain Shaders - Episode 15

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to create a simple auto material that applies material layers based on the slope angle of the terrain in Unreal and Unity. youtu.be/CGTPW2mWeGQ

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Simple Terrain Auto Material - Terrain Shaders - Episode 14

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use the Terrain Texture Node in Unity's Shader Graph to bring in parameters from the terrain system for adjusting material layer settings. This is a new feature in Unity 6.3, so I hope this is helpful in learning how to use it! youtu.be/DKG-qnJ8GDg

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Terrain Texture Node Parameters - Terrain Shaders - Episode 13

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

In this tutorial, I show how to use the tools built into Unreal and Unity to quickly add foliage and other detail meshes to terrain and landscapes. youtu.be/cDs0vgtGjeA

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Adding Terrain Detail Meshes - Terrain Shaders - Episode 12

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

In this tutorial, I go over creating terrain in Unity and Landscapes in Unreal. I show how to sculpt the shape of the landscape and how to apply and paint material layers. youtu.be/r_tiyXdFlSE

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Terrain & Landscape Basics - Terrain Shaders - Episode 11

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Happy New Year! Several people asked me how to paint holes in terrain, so that's what today's video is about - updating the terrain shader to enable terrain hole painting in Unreal and Unity. youtu.be/--gVJq8_aEA

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Painting Holes in Terrain - Terrain Shaders - Episode 10

YouTube video by Ben Cloward

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Ben Cloward @bencloward.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

I enjoyed using this tool today to reduce texture memory. Thanks for making it! Seems like the next logical step would be a variation that scans a directory tree and returns an ordered list of all of the textures, ranked by their mip0 score. Would make it easier to quickly find low-hanging fruit.

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