Unreal Engine 4.20 Preview 1 Now Available

Included in Preview 1 are improvements to the proxy LOD tool, as highlighted in the May 17th livestream, many mobile improvements and optimizations made for Fortnite on iOS and Android, and early access to mixed reality capture. New particle system - Niagara will be rolling out in early access, and you’ll also see a number of GDC features, including the new cinematic depth of field and improved rendering features for digital humans.

To get Unreal Engine 4.20 Preview 1, head to the Library section on the launcher, select “Add Versions” and choose 4.20 Preview 1.

Rendering Updates:

• Cinematic Depth of Field. We have a brand new implementation of Depth of Field to achieve cinematic quality. It is a replacement for Circle DoF method that is faster over most other Depth of Field methods, such as Bokeh and Circle DoF.

• Digital Humans Improvements. A set of improvements targeted at both skin and eye rendering. Including dual lobe specular for skin, subsurface scattering for the eye material model and more.
• Rectangular Area Lights. There is now support for a Rectangular Area Light type accessible from the Modes panel with other light types. Currently only supports the Deferred Renderer. Acts mostly like a Point Light, except it has a Source Width and a Source Height to control the area emitting light. Static and Stationary mobility shadowing works like an area light source with Movable dynamic shadowing working more like a point light with no area currently.

Sequencer Updates:

• Frame Accuracy. Sequencer now stores all internal time data as integers, allowing for robust support of frame-accuracy in situations where this is a necessity.
• Media Track. Sequencer has a new track for playing media sources. It is like the audio track, but for movies.
• Curve Editor/Evaluation. Weighted tangents are now supported on float curves. Sequencer now supports continuous euler angle changes when changing rotations.
• Anim Instance Control. It is now possible to animate variables on anim instances through possessables, allowing direct control of anim blueprint variables, functions and other content.
• Final Cut Pro 7 XML Import/Export. Sequencer movie scene data can now be exported to and imported from the Final Cut Pro 7 XML format. This can be use to roundtrip data to Adobe Premiere Pro and other editing software that supports FCP 7 XML.
• Sequence Recorder Improvements.
• Track Improvements. Tracks, Actors and Folders can now be reordered in Sequencer and UMG animations.