Cinematic Car VFX in Unreal Engine 5: IES Lights, Brake Detection, Tire Smoke | True Ride Rig

IES headlights, automatic brake detection, tire tracks, and per-wheel Niagara particles in Unreal Engine 5. The entire visual side of a cinematic car shot — integrated with the rig's physics. In this tutorial: real photometric headlights using IES profiles (the format lighting architects use), RectLight brake lights that turn on automatically when the car decelerates, automatic turn signals based on spline curvature, tire track decals that align to terrain, and 10 per-wheel data parameters pushed to Niagara every frame. Nothing is animated manually. Whatever can be calculated from speed, deceleration, or steering — the rig calculates. 🎬 What you'll learn: IES Light Profile vs texture projection Setting cinematic headlight intensity, color, cone angle RectLight brake lights with BarnDoors Automatic brake detection from deceleration Auto turn signals based on spline curvature Hazards with sine-based blinking MetaSounds audio data for procedural engine sound Tire track decals with slip threshold Per-wheel Niagara: location, forward, RPM, velocity, surface type, slip Keyframeable VFX intensity Surface-based VFX branching (asphalt vs dirt vs snow) ⏱ Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:30 Headlights with IES 2:30 Texture projection alternative 3:15 RectLight brake lights 4:00 Auto Lights — brake / turn / hazard 5:15 MetaSounds audio data 6:30 Tire tracks decals 7:45 Per-wheel Niagara data 9:30 Surface type branching 10:15 Wrap-up 🔗 Links: True Ride Rig on Fab: [link] Product page: https://www.kineticpulse.studio/true-... Documentation: [link] Discord:   / discord   📺 Full tutorial series playlist:    • True Ride Rig — Complete Tutorial Series (...   Previous:    • Opening Car Doors, Hood, Steering Wheel in...   Next:    • Export Car Animation from UE5 to Houdini, ...   #UnrealEngine #UE5 #Niagara #CarVFX #IESLights #Sequencer #AutomotiveCGI #UE5Tutorial #TrueRideRig #KineticPulseStudio