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Procedural Snow Toolset

snow toolset cover

A modular procedural snow toolset for Unreal Engine, integrating Houdini and custom material functions to enable physically-accurate snow coverage, accumulation, and shading across Nanite and non-Nanite assets.

This toolset was developed to streamline the process of adding realistic snow coverage in production environments. It combines procedural generation in Houdini with flexible Unreal Engine material functions, allowing artists and technical directors to control snow accumulation, displacement, and blending at both geometry and shader levels. The goal was to create a non-destructive, scalable workflow for cinematic and real-time environments.

the snow material function and mesh

Features

  • This toolset includes 3 assets, so the features are divided into 3 sections:
    • The Snow Material Function
    • The Snow HDA
    • The Snow Master Material
snow toolset assets

the assets

  • Snow Material Function:
    • Plug-and-play material function for adding snow to any existing surface.
    • Supports Nanite displacement (UE 5.3+) and Nanite tessellation (UE 5.4+).
    • Includes tri-planar projection for consistent surface coverage, with both world- and local-aligned options.
    • Exposes parameters for controlling snow amount, texture scale, roughness, normals, displacement, and subsurface scattering.
    • Enables advanced blending with noise, detail, and edge buildup for realistic accumulation.
    • Automatically aligns snow to the upper-facing surfaces of meshes, regardless of rotation.
material function

plug-and-play material function

snow parameters

snow parameters added to the material via the material function

advanced blending (noise & detail)

snow displacement via the material function (without affecting the main mesh)

tri-planar parameters

snow automatically aligns with the upper-facing surfaces

  • Snow Houdini Digital Asset (HDA):
    • Fully procedural, non-destructive workflow for generating snow geometry directly in Unreal Engine via Houdini Engine.
    • Provides intuitive controls for coverage, including spread angle, density, scale, and randomness.
    • Utilizes Perlin and Simplex noise for natural surface variation.
    • Supports Limited Area masking to define specific snow regions.
    • Includes optimization tools for maintaining visual fidelity with lower polygon counts.
    • Features vertex color blending and seam-fix utilities for clean intersections.
    • Offers one-click baking to convert procedural results into static meshes.

iterating with the scatter parameters

snow tool hda previz option

“Pre-Viz” parameter

snow tool hda previz disabled snow tool hda previz enabled

“Pre-Viz” enabled vs. disabled

enabling and disabling the “PreViz” option

density noise parameters

snow tool hda noise parameters

snow mesh noise parameters

we can have snow in limited areas

iterating with scale and height parameters to add variation to the snow surface

optimization parameter

snow mesh optimization parameter

snow tool hda vertex color

adding vertex color to where the snow mesh connects with the base mesh

  • Snow Master Material:
    • Custom shader designed for snow meshes generated by the HDA.
    • Provides full control over textures, displacement, roughness, normals, and subsurface color.
    • Includes seam-fix dithering to smooth transitions between snow and base geometry.
    • Uses tri-planar projection with both world-aligned and local-aligned mapping options.
    • Supports both texture-based and color-only snow variations.
    • Works seamlessly with Nanite meshes for high-quality rendering.

material parameters

look-dev parameters

displacement parameters

with & without displacement

with & without dithering

tri-planar parameters

Development Notes

  • Developed with production readability: clearly labeled parameters, organized material graph sections, and commented nodes.

  • Built modularly: each component (HDA, Material Function, Master Material) can be used independently or combined in a shared pipeline.

  • The HDA is designed for flexibility, iteration, and seamless integration into Unreal Engine.

  • Parameterized workflows designed for quick iteration and non-destructive edits at any stage.

  • Structured with clear node organization and color-coded sections for easy readability and team handoff.

  • The HDA is optimized to maintain mesh integrity and reduce polygon density when exporting to real-time engines.

  • Tested in Unreal Engine to ensure compatibility with Nanite, material functions, and procedural texturing workflows.

  • Designed for flexibility across multiple production scales. From single props to large environment assets.

snow HDA organized parameters

snow material parameter groups

snow material parameter groups

hda graph in houdini

the HDA graph in houdini

material graph

the material graph

the material functions graph

My Tutorials on How to Use This Tool

Seeking a Full-Time Studio Position

I am actively seeking a full-time role as a “Technical Artist”, where I can contribute my skills in Unreal Engine material design and procedural tooling to a dedicated team.

If my work aligns with your studio’s needs, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how I can add value to your projects.

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