Changing between seasons quickly with curve atlases

Curve atlases store multiple curves together and allow you to linearly interpolate between them. When used together with material instances, it is possible to create a wide variety of changes within your materials. In this recipe, we will see how we can use this concept to make materials change and reflect different seasons by making use of Blueprints and Material Instance Dynamics.

Getting ready...

This recipe will use the Starter Content that is optionally included in Unreal projects, but you may use any texture of your own.

How to do it...

In order to create a curve atlas, we will need to create some curves to use:

1. From the Content Browser, right-click and select Miscellaneous | Curve:

2. From the Pick Curve Class window, select CurveLinearColor and then click on Select:

3. Give the curve a name (I used SummerCurve) and then double-click on it to open the editor:

In our case, we care about the Curve Gradient Result, which you can see on the bottom...