Magical Powers Real-Time VFX Reel

This is the collection of my real-time VFX work over the last couple years. I did not make the environments or characters. Hope you enjoy!

This is my creative spin on the Tree of Life concept art by Farid Sandoval, shown in the PureRef below. I imagine a boss sitting at the base of the tree who stands up when you approach, and then begins to fight you using all of these magical swords.
I did not make
-The water material, which is default in Unreal
-Base tree trunk which is from "Giant Trees (trunks and branches)" in Unreal marketplace by AleksandraSobas
-The swords meshes are from "[Swords] Dark fantasy Greatsword - Two-handed sword - Heavy sword" package in the Unreal Marketplace by Naked Singularity Studio
-Textures from "100 Seamless Noise Textures for VFX" pack on ArtStation were used

This is the shader I created for the wisps on the tree. It was an exciting challenge!

Here is my Substance Designer graph for one of the tree trunk textures. I used a color curve in Unreal to create the nice blend of colors you see.

Having struggled making wisps in the past, and needing a lot of variety I decided to write a Maya Python script. I made a tool that can generate randomly shaped wisps, and then can be easily adjusted.

This is a lava snake I felt compelled to create after seeing an awesome concept on Pinterest, shown below. The snakes body is actually a tube ribbon attached to the head mesh!
I did not make
-the character which is from the Unreal Paragon assets inside the Unreal marketplace
-Textures from "100 Seamless Noise Textures for VFX" pack on ArtStation were used

I originally wanted to become a creature modeler, but later fell in love with effects. I spent a decent amount of time sculpting which has been helpful in making my effects!

This is my personal favorite out of all of my effects. It was inspired by Ifrits overdrive Hell Fire in Final Fantasy 10.
I did not make
-The environment is the Fantasy Cave Environment Set by Denys Rutkovskyi - Environments in the Unreal marketplace.
-Characters are from the Unreal Paragon assets in the Unreal marketplace
-Textures from "100 Seamless Noise Textures for VFX" pack on ArtStation were used

I wanted to make a Dark Souls style effect, but I wanted to do something unique. I had been watching Naruto again at the time and just saw Gaara in action. I thought it would be cool to do an ice style attack with an ultimate ice defense!
I did not make
-Textures from "100 Seamless Noise Textures for VFX" pack on ArtStation were used
-Characters are from the Unreal Paragon assets in the Unreal marketplace
-The scene is the Infinity Blade: Temple by Epic Games - Environments in the Unreal

I felt I had done too many magic attacks and wanted to do some more environmental effects. I searched the unreal marketplace for an environment I could add to. When I found this swamp I was ecstatic to transform it into a dangerous poisonous environment.
I did not make
-Textures from "100 Seamless Noise Textures for VFX" pack on ArtStation were used
-The swamp environment is from Dave Berg - Environments in the Unreal marketplace.

The bubble material was an interesting challenge. I wanted the bubbles to expand and pop, it took some trail and error.

Whenever I played Dark Souls I always used a faith lightning build. When Elden Ring came out with all their new incantations I couldn't help myself and created some lightning!
I did not make
-Textures from "100 Seamless Noise Textures for VFX" pack on ArtStation were used
-Character is from the Unreal Paragon assets in the Unreal marketplace
-The environment was is from Fantasy Bundle Environment Kit 3 in 1 by Denys Rutkovskyi - Environments in the Unreal marketplace.

This is the flipbook texture I created for the lightning dissipation

I decided to post one of each creation element instead of all elements for each effect, so this entry wouldn't be extremely long.
I hope you enjoyed my work! Thank you for taking the time to look!