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Design Proposal Presentation Video
WEEK 1 Unreal Engine Introduction
This week, I learned some basic information and operations in Unreal Engine 5, such as project creation, working with the viewport, and placing assets. Additionally, I started to familiarize myself with navigating the interface and understanding how to organize scenes efficiently. It’s exciting to explore how these tools can be used to build immersive environments for animation projects.
WEEK 2 Unreal Engine World Building
This week, we learned about environmental lighting in Unreal Engine, which includes: Environmental Light Mixer, Directional Light, Sky Atmosphere, Sky Light, Exponential Height Fog, Volumetric Clouds, and Light Mixer. We also explored how to import assets from Quixel Bridge into Unreal Engine. And worldbuilding workflow.
WEEK 3 Unreal Engine Level Sequencers
In this week’s Serra class, we learned about using Level Sequencer in Unreal Engine for shot composition and a series of concepts related to the Cine Camera. I hadn’t explored this much during my previous experience with UE and wasn’t very familiar with it. However, the teacher explained everything in great detail, and I learned a lot. I now have a deeper understanding of using UE to create animations.
At the same time, I conducted preliminary research and confirmed the style for my project (as shown in the image above).
WEEK 4 Sequencers and Materials
This week, we continued to delve deeper into Sequencers, focusing on using the Master Sequencer and Sub-Sequences. A clear workflow, along with proper grouping and organization, will greatly benefit our upcoming project production. We also learned about materials, using blueprint nodes to create various material shaders. The material system is incredibly versatile, and editing it with different nodes and logic can lead to many unexpected effects. Among them, I found the Blend Material particularly aligned with the style I am aiming for in my project, and I plan to incorporate it.
This week, I experimented with and started building the environment. I plan to first finalize the style and scene design before focusing on narrative and character creation. I began by using Procreate to draw some abstract patterns and plants, then moved into Unreal Engine, where I used planes and opacity masks in material shaders to create some scene assets. I plan to use lots of emmisive materials
I plan to use more emissive materials and the Niagara system to create a dreamy and surreal atmosphere.
WEEK 5
This week, Serra taught us about Unreal Engine’s physics-related features, such as the CHAOS destruction system. This powerful tool enables the creation of highly realistic effects like fractures, explosions, and more. For example, it can simulate scenarios such as collapsing buildings or shattering glass, with options to customize fracture patterns, material stress points, and debris simulations, making it incredibly versatile.
In addition, I gained an understanding of various force fields in Unreal Engine, such as gravity, radial force fields, wind fields, and vortex fields. These can be used to influence particles, objects, or even fluid simulations, offering endless possibilities for dynamic interactions in a scene. Combining the CHAOS destruction system with force fields allows for the creation of even more immersive and physically accurate effects, whether for games, animations, or simulation scenarios.
This week, I replaced and optimized the houses in my project and increased the height variations across the scene to make it more layered and visually rich. However, due to the extensive use of emissive materials, the scene appears somewhat flat. I plan to gradually refine this in the future.
WEEK 6 Control Rig in UE
This week, we learned about Control Rig in Unreal Engine. I usually use Maya for rigging and skinning, but this time, we tried rigging a small octopus in UE. Control Rig uses a blueprint-based, node-driven workflow, which is highly intuitive and flexible, allowing for quick creation and adjustment of rigs. It also supports real-time preview, enabling direct observation of effects within the engine without the need for constant importing and exporting. Although I encountered some errors and bugs during the process, I found UE’s rigging functionality very intelligent, especially with its built-in IK and FK switching, which could be incredibly useful in future projects.
This week, I continued to enrich the scene. I organized some assets from my past projects that fit the style, reassembled and adjusted them, and added some new content relevant to this project. After the adjustments, this scene has a stronger sense of depth, and its lighting is more similar to real-world lighting compared to the other one. Therefore, I plan to use it as the outer world.
WEEK 7 Project Adjust
This week, I adjusted the vertical lighting in the scene to prevent the background from being completely black. I plan to add a character, which is one I created in a previous project. To make her better fit this scene, I painted more suitable materials for her and made adjustments in UE.
WEEK 8 Dynamic Lighting and Character import
This week, we learned about dynamic lighting and various types of lighting in UE, such as point lights and spotlights, with some being more performance-intensive and others being more cost-effective. When using dynamic lights, performance balance is important. Point lights and spotlights are very flexible, but too many lights in a scene can cause a performance drop. To optimize performance, lightmaps and light probes are often used to reduce the computational load of real-time lighting. Additionally, using light probes to simulate ambient lighting can reduce the reliance on dynamic lights. We also downloaded a resource pack with dynamic lighting that changes over time, which helps create a wide range of effects and enriches the visual experience. Additionally, we explored how to balance the use of real-time and baked lighting to optimize performance while maintaining the quality of the scene’s lighting.
This week, I imported the character’s skeleton and animations into UE and started setting up the cameras. This is an important step in enabling character movements and scene interaction. Next, I will further adjust the character’s performance based on the camera movements and angles to better present the story within the scene.
WEEK 9 Rendering in UE
This week, I set up the cameras and scene animations. I adjusted the camera angles and post-processing volumes to achieve better visual effects.
WEEK 10 Post Possessing Volume and Rendering
In class, we learned about post-processing volumes and used LUTs (Look-Up Tables) to adjust the overall scene effects, similar to applying a filter to the scene, which produced interesting results. Finally, we also covered rendering settings and the export process, preparing the scene for its final presentation.
This week, I set up the cameras for another scene and adjusted the scene based on the camera angles. This helped me better control the composition and atmosphere, ensuring a more harmonious integration between the scene and the camera.
WEEK 11 Adjustment and Video Output
This week, I focused on the final adjustments and video output of my project. I fine-tuned the details based on the previously set cameras and scene animations, ensuring smoother transitions and better visual effects. By adjusting the post-processing volumes, I enhanced the atmosphere, aligning it with the project’s style. I also carefully tweaked the lighting and materials to ensure each element in the scene appeared as natural as possible during rendering.
I then exported a PNG sequence and imported it into video editing software for cutting and compositing. During this process, I added sound effects and background music, further enhancing the emotional expression and overall atmosphere of the scene. Finally, I completed the editing and export of the video.