Humpback Whale

Bending and Rolling Across Procedural Spline Curves

Animating massive marine wildlife often presents unnatural rigidity when following predetermined paths. Spline traversal requires nuanced deformation to maintain credibility beneath the surface.

The Humpback Whale addresses this by using a procedural spline animation system configured to bend and roll organically along custom spline trajectories. Rather than forcing the static mesh into an inflexible orientation along a single vector, the system monitors directional curvature. By evaluating the trajectory path in real time, the whale bends along curve arcs and rolls into turns, allowing wide-arc deep-sea movements or tight directional shifts through complex aquatic topography without breaking anatomical plausibility.

Driving Blueprint Animations and Dynamic Humpback Whale Behaviors

The underlying locomotion relies on direct data exchange between spline parameters and skeletal states.

Within the animation blueprint, the system detects both the current speed and the angle of the spline. This incoming motion data actively drives two dedicated swimming animations alongside three distinct poses, transitioning between them to produce fluid locomotion as speed fluctuates. Beyond linear travel, the whale features contextual player responses; when an observer or player pawn moves within close range, the whale opens its mouth. Accompanying this visual response, integrated whale songs play, enriching the auditory landscape and creating an immersive oceanic presence.

Parent Material Flexibility and Parallax Eye Construction

Surface shaders govern how weathering, light attenuation, and micro-details interact with deep water environments.

The art direction of the whale centers on an adjustable material parent that grants granular control over physical surface traits. Users can dial in specific thresholds for scratches, surface dirt, and roughness levels directly on the skin, accommodating clean pelagic looks or weathered, barnacle-adjacent wear. For the eye, the asset splits functionality into a separate material powered by parallax occlusion. This technique simulates optical refraction and physical depth beneath the lens, while the eye itself operates on its own independent animation track that blends back into the primary animation blueprint for coordinated gazes.

Underwater Post-Processing, Caustic Lighting, and Demo Splines

Achieving genuine marine ambiance requires coordinated lighting and post-processing alongside creature movement.

The included demo scene provides ready-to-use environmental setups configured specifically for deep-sea staging. It incorporates custom underwater post-process volumes, dynamic caustic lighting patterns, and volumetric fog that capture light scattering through water columns. Pre-built whale spline examples demonstrate how to construct varied swimming paths and adjust procedural settings. While the separate museum level is not included, the demo content delivers the lighting and environmental backdrop needed to test scale, motion, and shader reactions immediately.

Vertex Budgets and Foliage Plugin Compatibility

Managing performance in dense aquatic environments demands lean geometry without sacrificing organic silhouettes.

The entire whale model is structured with an efficient budget of 11k vertices, keeping rendering overhead minimal even during continuous spline deformation and material sampling. This lightweight geometric footprint ensures smooth framerates in demanding real-time projects. When outfitting complete subaquatic ecosystems, the asset maintains verified compatibility with the Interactive Foliage Physics - Etherion Foliage Plugin Pro, enabling smooth coexistence alongside dynamic underwater vegetation, kelp forests, or seabed plants in realistic ocean and Arctic settings.

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