Unreal Engine 5.5 update: new animation, rendering, and virtual production tools

Epic Games has released Unreal Engine 5.5.

The animation toolset has seen several updates, including improvements to the Sequencer, Unreal Engine’s nonlinear animation editor. New features such as nondestructive animation layers allow animators to manage layers with additive or override options, animate layer weights, and set up dynamic cinematic scenarios interactively. Additionally, the release includes updates to Control Rig, now in Beta, with modular components for bipedal and quadruped rigs and improved UI/UX. The Animator Kit plugin introduces ready-made rigs and deformers for creating realistic or stylized animations like squash-and-stretch effects.

Rendering sees key improvements, with Lumen achieving 60 Hz performance on hardware-supported platforms and Path Tracer now production-ready. The Path Tracer gains Linux support and improved fidelity, providing high-quality rendering for applications requiring precise visual outputs. Substrate, the material authoring framework, moves to Beta, offering a flexible toolset for real-time and linear material creation. Movie Render Graph, now in Beta, features improved workflow for rendering sequences, including EXR metadata and better support for complex rendering scenarios.

An interesting new addition is MegaLights, an experimental feature designed to handle hundreds of dynamic, shadow-casting lights with minimal performance impact. For virtual production, Unreal Engine 5.5 improves its in-camera visual effects toolset, which now fully supports SMPTE 2110 for IP video workflows. Other updates include an improved Camera Calibration tool for precise lens and camera parameter estimation, and an upgraded Virtual Scouting toolset compatible with OpenXR HMDs. A new Color Grading Panel offers a more friendly interface for scene-wide color adjustments.

On the mobile side, the update focuses on improving visual fidelity and performance. The Mobile Forward Renderer now supports features like volumetric fog, D-buffer decals, and improved screen-space reflections. Developers also benefit from runtime automatic Pipeline State Object precaching, simplifying shader compilation workflows.

Developer iteration sees enhancements with the production-ready Zen Server, enabling faster asset streaming and data storage. Additional tools like the Unreal Build Accelerator and Unreal Horde Continuous Integration improve development workflows, reducing iteration times for large-scale projects.

Unreal Engine 5.5 also integrates Fab, Epic’s unified content marketplace, allowing users to easily add high-quality assets, including Quixel Megascans, directly into their projects.

Many more features are included, for full details visit Epic Games’ website.