UI particles and Niagara migration
UI Foundry runs deterministic CPU particle effects directly in UMG and Slate. Layered effect assets describe the effect, and runtime controls determine when and how it plays.
Author layered effects
Section titled “Author layered effects”Effect layers support configurable spawning, bursts, lifetime, velocity, gravity, drag, wind, pointer interaction, tint, and material variation. The editor provides starter effects, layer controls, presets, snippets, and diagnostics.
Rendering options include:
- Sprites.
- Approximate distance-field circles.
- Custom material quads.
- Pre-rendered texture plates.
Choose a rendering option that matches the artwork and effect behavior you need, then review the effect in its actual widget context.
Runtime controls
Section titled “Runtime controls”Runtime controls include activation, resets, bursts, budgets, culling, and reduced-motion profiles. Use these controls to manage an effect’s lifecycle and the amount of particle work the interface performs.
Deterministic CPU simulation supports repeatable behavior. It does not remove the need to measure the result on the interface and hardware where the effect will run.
Optional Niagara extension
Section titled “Optional Niagara extension”The Niagara extension converts supported renderer and parameter information into editable UI particle layers. Confidence reports and parity tools help review the conversion and identify where the source and result differ.
The extension does not reproduce arbitrary Niagara graphs, GPU simulation, or ribbons. Treat conversion as a supported-data transfer followed by review of the editable layers.
A first effect
Section titled “A first effect”- Begin with a starter effect and inspect its layers.
- Adjust spawning, lifetime, and motion for the widget’s size and purpose.
- Choose a sprite, distance-field circle, material quad, or texture plate.
- Exercise activation, reset, and burst behavior in context.
- Review budgets, culling, and reduced-motion behavior.
UI material nodes provide Particle Data Texture access and generated material samples. The Widget Profiler can help inspect related widget CPU activity, while retaining its documented measurement limits.