_SHOWCASE
Slash 02 is a stylized blade-slash VFX piece inspired by the Sakura Dance skill from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. This project focused on constructing slash shapes with meshes, learning how to use horizontal black-and-white masks to control reveal timing, and exploring how a simple black, white, and grayscale palette can be used to build an effect that feels both minimal and elegant.
The full sequence is divided into multiple stages, including buff activation, charge-up, skill release, and buff end, which helped the effect feel more structured and complete in a gameplay context.
The piece also features two color variations, adding an extra layer of visual contrast across the full animation.
"If you cannot return home, at least allow this dance to console you."
_ANIMATION_NOTIFY
The driving setup for this effect is intentionally lightweight, using a single animation montage paired with a simple blueprint trigger. This approach kept the implementation clean while allowing the timing of the effect to stay tightly connected to the attack animation.
All mesh-based visual elements are controlled through Animation Notifies placed directly inside the montage, which made it easier to manage the appearance of each stage of the effect in a clear and direct way.
Because I also needed to attach a visual response to the character’s sword itself, I created a custom Animation Notify to drive the blade’s emissive behavior. This helped the weapon and the effect read as a unified action rather than as separate visual layers.
_SHADER
The shader work for this effect is relatively simple and built around a horizontal mask that defines the core shape of the slash. This mask acts as the main visual foundation of the material.
A distorted noise texture is then added as a secondary detail layer, giving the effect more texture variation and helping it feel more dynamic.
To refine the final result, I also applied a dissolve function to further shape the noise, making the material feel cleaner and more art-directed while preserving a sense of motion and breakup.
_PARTICLE_SYSTEM
This effect was built with the Cascade particle system and uses a relatively simple layered setup. Instead of depending on a single slash element, I combined multiple slash passes to give the final result more richness and visual depth.
The particle system mainly relies on mesh emitters, while the material receives dynamic parameters to control timing and rhythm. This allowed the effect to stay lightweight on the particle side while still feeling more structured and refined in motion.
_SHOWCASE
Slash 02 is a stylized blade-slash VFX piece inspired by the Sakura Dance skill from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. This project focused on constructing slash shapes with meshes, learning how to use horizontal black-and-white masks to control reveal timing, and exploring how a simple black, white, and grayscale palette can be used to build an effect that feels both minimal and elegant.
The full sequence is divided into multiple stages, including buff activation, charge-up, skill release, and buff end, which helped the effect feel more structured and complete in a gameplay context.
The piece also features two color variations, adding an extra layer of visual contrast across the full animation.
"If you cannot return home, at least allow this dance to console you."
