Float House is my last project of the Winter 2018 semester (post-winter show project), hence the calmness! I started this project roughly 2 weeks ago when we were introduced to Unreal engine. It has been challenging navigating in Unreal! Even though I have experience with Cinema4D, Unreal has its own rules and logic (elaborated below).
Work process
- Fuse – we created the character appearance on Fuse
- Mixamo – we then uploaded the charater to Mixamo in order to rig (put in joints and bones), as well as to explore various animations
- Unreal Engine
- ENVIRONMENT – create the environment / world for our animation
- T-POSE – import character from mixamo in t-pose format (this is only available as an option of some animations – it prompts you to select the option on mixamo)
- SCENE (SEQUENCE) – once the t-pose character is imported, we must create a ‘sequence’ in order to begin the animation – this works like a timeline where keyframes can be added on various components
- ANIMATE – import animations from mixamo and add them on top of the t-pose in order to move the characters
- CAMERA+EXPORT – once the keyframes are done, add a camera and see the video play from camera view – notice the lighting and focus. Once the camera is adjusted, export the sequence in a video format. Remark: adjust the resolution!
- for future reference: unreal tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoJ1QVW2Xa7QYlCR5xO9EvFOCRrCPMEko - class screen caps
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/3/folders/1bGVkkfzctGXauHC6-WQQchvHh2zd6T8p
- Premiere Pro
- import all the sequences from Unreal engine and fine tune / edit on premiere, add sounds, title etc.
Takeouts:
- I very much enjoy creating a world on Unreal engine. The amount of detail on texture, shapes, animation, lighting etc. allows another dimension of storytelling e.g. feels calming, modern, cold, high-tech, rough
- The characters and animations are limited to the presets unless we build our own models and rig our own characters (apparently a very long and complicated process)
- Overall this process made me appreciate 3D animations more!