The Official Wingfeather Podcast Chris Vlaha on Ban Rona, Unreal Engine, and The Wingfeather Saga
Feb 5, 2026
Chris Vlaha, an Unreal Engine technical artist who shapes materials, simulations, and visual R&D, talks about making Ban Rona and the show’s stylized oceans. He recounts early R&D on snow and waterfalls. He describes procedural building generation, tradeoffs for production speed, and what lighting and season four advancements mean for the series.
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Technical Art Is Art Plus Math
- A technical artist blends artistry and math to create stylized materials and effects in Unreal Engine.
- Chris Vlaha says his role maps textures and math to control where effects, color, and lighting apply on surfaces.
Hundreds Of Snow Iterations
- One of Chris Vlaha's first big tasks on the show was iterating a snow material, which was revised at least a hundred times.
- He describes the iterative tests and fixes required to make snow read as storybook while working in 3D.
The Ocean Was A Beast
- Building believable ocean involved combining multiple wave simulations and lots of research and reference.
- Chris says he mashed sine and Gerstner waves together and iterated with Garrett to make the water read as storybook.
