The Magic Fade Generic Graph

The Magic Fade Generic graph in MetaSounds - Unreal 5

Overview

In this tutorial, I will explain the Magic Fade Generic graph (MSS_MagicFade_Generic) of the plugin. With a better understanding of how it works, you can fine-tune its input parameters more effectively.

This graph further extends the structure introduced in the Procedural Magic SFX From White Noise And Modal Explosify Nodes post. Its main focus is to describe movements with a strong bass and some metallic chime lingering, which makes it suitable to connect various elements of a complete magic SFX.

Graph Explanation

1) The Initial Noise Signal

Fig. 1: ADSR node & White Noise node.

In this graph, an ADSR node is utilized to control the envelope. The Trigger Release input is activated by the sum of the Init Duration and Init Fade In Time. This ensures the node enters the release state only once the attack phase is complete.

The Init Fade In Time is usually synchronized with the casting timing of your final magic effect.

The Noise node's seed value is linked to an input graph parameter called Seed. This makes it easy to create slight variations from the same input parameters when calling this graph.

2) The Bass Layer

Fig. 2: Creating a bass layer with a Modal Explosify node.

Using a Modal Explosify node to create a bass layer offers several benefits over traditional methods like pink noise and low-pass filters:

• The distortion effect of the Modal Explosify node creates a more interesting bass sound.

• The reverberation effect not only makes it easy to control the duration of the layer without relying solely on the input signal but also creates a natural tail fall-off.

• Since the bass sound originates from the same input as other layers, mixing all layers at the output achieves a more cohesive sound.

Setting up a Modal Explosify node for a bass effect is straightforward; you just need to adjust the following parameters:

• Num Modals: With a very low FMax, you only need 8 modal filters.

• FMax: Set this below 500 Hz, typically at 300 Hz.

• Decay Min: The lower the value, the longer the tail. Set this according to your desired duration, usually between 2 to 15.

Other parameters are not crucial for this effect. Changing them will have little impact on the final result.

3) The Metallic Distortion Layer

Fig. 3: Creating metallic distortion effects with a Modal Explosify node.

The setup of this node is the same as the one in Procedural Magic SFX From White Noise And Modal Explosify Nodes. We adjusted the gain to 0.2, emphasizing the bass layer in this graph. This setting is ideal for illustrating character animation during magic casting or executing special skills.

Again, these are some of the important input parameters you should pay attention to:

• Num Modals: Keep this low, around 8 to 16, for the metallic effect.

• Init FMax: The maximum sampled frequency. Changing this will change the timbre of the effect.

• Init Freq Spread: Higher values result in a brighter sound, while lower values produce a darker sound.

• Init Distort Decay Min: Influences the decay speed and the loudness of the output.

4) The Metallic Reverberation Layer

Fig. 4: Creating metallic reverberation with a Modal Early Reverb node.

To create this layer, we use a Modal Early Reverb node with a low Diffusion Scale value (0.2) and a low decay rate (Decay Min = 6, Decay Curve Scale = 1). It also employs the same parameters as the previous layer to ensure they blend seamlessly.

The gain of this node is set very low (0.03) to make it subtle. You can also turn this layer off completely by setting Enable Init Early Reverb to false.

5) The Final Output

Fig. 5: The mixing at the output.

The 3 layers are mixed together before passing through a Diffuser node. We use Add nodes here instead of a mixer node because the gain is controlled directly in the synthesizers.

The Diffuser node will remove unwanted pop noises due to the distortion in Modal Explosify nodes. It also enhances the metallic effect at the output.

Further Discussion

Overall, this graph is fairly straightforward. It lacks special effects or distinct pitches in its output, making it generally useful for complementing other elements in your effect. However, by adjusting the gain distribution, it can also function as the main effect in different contexts.

In the upcoming tutorial, we will transition to a different graph that uses an Impact External Force synth node to generate the input signal for Modal Explosify nodes, rather than relying directly on the noise signal.