Learning to use UE5 this semester with no prior experience was a huge challenge, but I have very much enjoyed the process once I was able to get over the hurdle of not knowing where to start. I’m excited by the possibilities of this software in my future practice, especially because I have previously struggled with other programs because of the lack of live visual feedback. I feel like using UE5 will allow me to focus more on animation, which is what I want to focus on most, as previously most of my project times were taken up with parts of the pipeline I found a lot easier and faster to do in UE5.
As shown in my Formative Presentation, the production process for me was as follows:
- Visual research
- Storyboarding
- Animatic
- Environment layout
- Shot set up
- 3D Animating (Maya)
- Texturing/creating materials
- Lighting
- Making custom LUTs
- Rendering
- Editing
I briefly mentioned it in my Formative Presentation, but if I had more time to work on this unit I would prioritise animation clean-up, adding more characters to the environment, and material creation. I did enjoy making materials in UE5 a lot, but I didn’t feel like my project idea gave me the time to fully delve into the process and possibilities. Early on in production, I really wanted to explore 2D line art materials, but I unfortunately wasn’t able to fit it into my schedule. As previously mentioned however, UE5 allows for easier editing of the different parts of the project in the future, so I will definitely be returning to this project as personal work to improve on existing parts and to add new assets.
Credits
Apollo rig, M-rigs (Maya): Ramon Arango
Subway train (UE5): Dekogon Studios
‘Slow Trap’ music: Anton Vlasov