Niagara Fluid Plugin
Enable the Niagara Fluids plugin to get grid-based gas and liquid simulation templates for Niagara.
Enable the Niagara Fluids plugin in Unreal Engine 5 to gain access to some amazing grid-based fluid templates for Niagara. Smoke, fire, explosions, pools, splashes, shallow water, and more all ship as ready-made systems you can open, try out, and pick apart.
How do I enable the plugin?
Open Edit > Plugins, search for Niagara, and enable NiagaraFluids. Accept the Beta warning and restart the editor. In Unreal Engine 5.8 the plugin is still Beta.
To use a template, create a new Niagara System and pick one from the Niagara Fluids categories in the template list, such as 3D Gas.
What’s included?
The docs group the templates into 2D Gas, 2D Liquid, 3D Gas, 3D Liquid, and Shallow Water. Here are some of the systems in the plugin’s Content/Templates folder:
| Folder | Example Systems |
|---|---|
Gas/2D | Grid2D_Gas_Smoke, Grid2D_Gas_SmokeFire, Grid2D_Gas_Explosion |
Gas/3D | Grid3D_Gas_Fire, Grid3D_Gas_Explosion, Grid3D_Gas_DustExplosion |
Liquid/2D | Grid2D_FLIP_Pool, Grid2D_FLIP_Splash, Grid2D_SW_Pool |
Liquid/3D | Grid3D_Flip_Pool, Grid3D_Flip_Splash, Grid3D_Flip_Hose |
Sand | SandSystem |
The SW systems are the shallow water templates.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use the 2D or 3D templates?
The 2D templates are aimed at games. The 3D templates look more realistic, however, they cost more memory and GPU time and are aimed at cinematics.
Why does my GPU crash with heavy fluid scenes?
Heavy fluid scenes can cause a GPU crash on Windows, and the Niagara Fluids docs cover the fix.
How can I make the simulations cheaper?
It’s ideal to bake expensive simulations to a flipbook with the Niagara Flipbook Baker, then use the flipbook in any material.
Links
Check out the following resources to learn more about the subject.
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