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Youtube

YouTube: hands‑on video tutorials and breakdowns.

A dedicated VFX tutorial channel, focused on real-time effects in Unreal Engine and Unity
Content includes technique breakdowns, such as noise textures, portal and campfire effects, weapon trails, smoke loops, stylized tornadoes, hammer impacts, typically uploaded every few months
Viewers can expect step-by-step procedural texrturing workflows, often linked to related breakdowns on your website or Gumroad offerings.

Gumroad

Gumroad: downloadable assets, texture packs, and a VFX newsletter

Premium Noise Textures – Paid set for professional stylized VFX
FREE Noise Textures – 22 MB packs highly rated by the community
Realtime VFX Monthly Newsletter – Free or donation-based monthly content updates, tutorials, tips, industry links, portfolio spotlights

Artstation

ArtStation: polished work samples, project showcases, and detailed breakdown posts.

Includes high-quality breakdowns, "Hammer Impact VFX" and other community‑driven tutorials, often linked to YouTube content
A portfolio showcasing a broad range of VFX-centric projects, including interactive effects (Portals, Fire, Shadows, Projectiles) for games in Unity & Unreal
Features non-tutorial work too, like your BouncyPix iOS Unity game template, revealing your full creative breadth

Why choose 1MAFX Tutorials ?

Easy to Follow

Our tutorials are super beginner-friendly! Just follow along and you'll be creating awesome designs in no time. No headaches, promise! 😊

Start from Zero

Every video starts fresh - we build everything together from scratch, from cool textures in Substance Designer to awesome 3D stuff in Houdini.

Join Our Discord

Get access to our cosy Discord community. It's members-only, so you'll find friendly faces ready to help out!

Master Houdini & Substance Designer

Jump into Houdini and Substance Designer with our free YouTube tutorials, plus get some exclusive content in different membership tiers.

Tons of Content

Been making tutorials since 2022 (started on Patreon), and the library just keeps getting bigger!

Variety of Effects

We cover all sorts of cool stuff - from fireballs and magic spells to sword slashes, plus smoke effects, impacts, and lots more!

Common questions

What content is included in each membership tier?

Tier 1 includes extensive content with monthly tutorials covering a wide range of subjects, including AoE spells, various projectile types, smoke effects, muzzle flashes, and loot drops.

Tier 2 features tutorials on realistic VFX like smoke and fire, plus advanced topics such as simulations and optimization.All tiers include access to our Discord community for support and feedback.You'll also get to vote for upcoming tutorials.Here is a video link for more information about Tier 1

Besides VFX, do you cover related topics like Blueprints, animation montages, and adding VFX to character sockets?

Yes, absolutely! Our tutorials cover character interactions like projectiles and ground-crack VFX, including blueprint implementation and adding VFX to animation montage sockets. We teach everything from scratch—setting up complete systems while creating textures in Substance Designer and 3D meshes in Houdini. The content is structured to be easy to follow and replicate, helping you learn real game development techniques.

What's the difference between Tiers and Mentorship?

Tiers offer self-paced learning across multiple subjects, while mentorship is an 8-12 week guided course focusing on a specific complex system that's too detailed for our regular tiers. Mentorship students also receive lifetime access to the mentored course content.What's the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2?

What's the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2?

Tier 1 is aimed at beginners who want to learn VFX techniques. It offers easy-to-follow content that introduces you to various VFX subjects, helping you quickly understand how different effects are constructed.Tier 2 is designed for students with more VFX experience who want to take their skills to the next level. It covers complex topics like realistic VFX, simulations, optimization, and more.

What software do I need?

You'll need Unreal Engine installed. I provide downloadable texture and 3D mesh files for each lesson. If you want to create textures and meshes from scratch along with me, you'll need Substance Designer and Houdini (indie). Alternatively, you can use Houdini Apprentice (free) to follow the Houdini tutorials and use my provided files to complete the lessons without purchasing a Houdini license. For Tier 2 content, I also use EmberGen.

I'm an absolute beginner. Is Tier 1 content suitable for me?

Yes, you can follow the tutorials, but I personally recommend starting with Epic's free Unreal Engine introductory course. Once you're comfortable navigating Unreal Engine, you'll be better prepared to dive into 1MAFX content.

Do you provide feedback on Discord?

Yes, our Discord server is members-only, which keeps it focused and prevents random people from responding to your questions. This makes getting personalized feedback from me or other community members easier. Many members have undergone the same training you did, so they're familiar with common issues and can easily help solve them.

Do you offer one-on-one feedback sessions?

I occasionally hop on a call with members who are struggling with specific issues, but usually the training content is clear enough that this isn't necessary. For general feedback, I respond through our dedicated Discord channel. One-on-one sessions are only available as part of the mentorship program.

What will I learn here?

You'll learn common VFX techniques and how to apply them to various effects. The content covers many subjects, including elemental projectiles, AOE spells, fire, smoke, and more. With the diverse range of tutorials, you'll gain confidence to tackle VFX systems on your own once you've learned the techniques. You'll also learn how to integrate effects with environments and animated characters. Tier 1 includes introductory courses for Substance Designer and Unreal Engine, while Tier 2 offers advanced tutorials for realistic VFX and additional courses.

What's the best way to get started with 1MAFX content?

If you have Unreal Engine experience, you can jump right in and start with any available tutorial. If you're just starting out, I recommend beginning with the intro courses available for Tier 1 members.

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About Me

My name is Pawel, and I'm a VFX artist working in games. I believe I've collected enough knowledge about game development throughout my career to guide and help others, especially people who would like to learn more about VFX in games and have fun with the shaders and materials.

Here, you will learn a bit more about how to construct shaders in both Unity and Unreal Engine, my thought process when creating shaders and special effects.
Pawel Margacz / 1MAFX

Companies I worked for