Rocco is aspiring to work in the world of Virtual Production in television or movie production. He has recently finished his BSc (Hons) in Visual Effects. For his final project, Rocco has been able to use the new Unreal Engine 5 to create an environment where he has also scanned his own assets to use in the environment. Rocco can also use software like Maya and Substance 3D Painter to create his own assets that can be used in Unreal Engine. Rocco has also had the chance to work with Matt Dixon to create his famous Robot for an exhibition in the Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery in Ealing.
For my major project it will be a cinematic scene of around 1:15 minutes that will focus an undercovering of old cold war era bunkers, kind of like walking through the woods of Chernobyl. The music in the final shot could be of forest ambience (swaying trees, birds, leaves). There can also be sort of eary music that increases the suspense as the objects of the bunker uncover themselves. The objects and bunker themselves will be photoscanned so they are the real things and not made
For my initial ideas for the major project I have decided that I want to carry on with using unreal engine but this time I would like to start incorporating some 3d scanning as the hero objects in the scene. I have began to think about the initial ideas surrounding the project as it will be a 3d environment made in unreal engine 5 and the hero object will be scanned.
I have found this video above on Youtube and it is one that I will take inspiration from, as the video highlights parts of what I want to do in my final project. Such as 3d scanning a hero object and then highlighting this in Unreal.
This video highlights the process of reality capture to unreal engine and this is useful for me when learning reality capture.
Unreal Engine Forest Examples
Major Project Pitch (Powerpoint)
Pre Viz Development
To make the terrain for my previz level I have used a software called Gaea, this software is great for generating terrain and also creating mountains. Above is the terrain that I have started to create.
To bring the terrain into Unreal I have exported the height map from Gaea and then imported this into Unreals environment tool.
Major Project Assets
To make my forest environment I have found an asset pack on the Unreal Marketplace that suits my theme perfectly. I also plan to incorporate many more assets that I come across as I build my environment via the megascans but for know this asset pack is perfect.
Assets Tiled Out
I have begun to layout the forest using the assets as seen above and below using the painter tool.
Previz Camera Movement
One of the most important aspects of the previz is to make sure the camera movement is right and in the video above I have begun to experiment with how I would like the camera movement to be. However upon further feedback from my peers I have decided to change the camera movement that is seen in the video.
Creating the Enviroment Part 1 Forest Floor
To create the environment of the forest I am going to break it down into different parts for each week so I can focus more on each aspect of the forest. In this week’s development, I have focused on creating the forest floor, making sure there are lots of detail. I have also had a look at fixing my camera movement however this is something that I will dedicate a week or two for the final shot.
Refining the Camera Sequence
Following feedback from my previous previz, I have decided that I would change the camera sequence around to have individual camera shots that highlights the forest in a cinematic way that leads up to the final reveal of the bunkers. I will also highlight two objects before the final reveal. The camera movement below is still WIP and will be refined much further.
Creating the Environment Part 2 Final Environment
Now that I have finished the forest floor the next stage of my development is to place the trees, foliage, rocks, and debris into the scene to create my final environment. The lighting of the final environment is still an area that will think about and tweak as I am not sure wether it should be sunny or foggy.
Refining the Camera Sequence Part 2
Following more feedback from my previous camera movements, I have continued to change the movements to make sure I include more panning and zooming rather than just having rotation within the camera below are two videos showing of the changed camera movements that include the finished forest enviroment.
Forest Day Scene Playblast
Forest Fog Scene Playblast
Starting the Scan Process and Scanning Objects
The next part of my development process was to start to understand 3D scanning and also to start scanning objects as these will be placed in my environment where the blocks are in the previz. For this week I have gone out to forests around my area and just started to scan anything that I think would fit into my forest since I am also now going for a Chernobyl-type of the forest as the bunker will be an old nuclear one. The app that I used to 3D scan was Polycom.
Since my first couple scans have worked out well I have also begun to rethink how I would like my final shots and objects to be. I now plan to have a scanned bunker in the hill side of the hill where there will also be bunker air vents that come out from the ground where the bunkers is in the previz. The objects leading up to the final bunker will still be old relics of what would be placed inside the bunker.
Bunker in Hillside
Bunker Airvents
Further 3D Scanning
This week I have done further scanning around a local aerodrome. Below are scans of bunkers, a wall, and a sign, I am happy with the bunker scans however I think the sign and the wall will have to be rescanned. This will not be a problem as the aerodrome is close to me.
I have now completed all of my scanning and I am now importing these scans into my unreal scene, as seen in the images below I have molded the scans into the environment using Unreals landscape tool. The next stages of my devlopment will be to continue to add my scans into my environment to create the story and narrative.
Creating the Sequence and Cameras
Following importing the scans into my Unreal scene I now have to continue to work on creating the narrative with the cameras and sequencers. During the development of my project, I have played around with the cameras a lot and also the length of the final video. Below are the video interactions of my camera movement during the development of my project.
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Version 4
Version 5
Recreating the Final Bunker Reveal
Following feedback from my enviroment and videos that I have created it was noted that the final bunker complex reveal at the end of my sequence felt a bit lack luster and not dramatic enough, which I also agreed with. With that being said I set to work on recreating that final reveal to create something more interesting. I orignial played around with the first interation that is seen in the end of version 5’s video above but then I thought of the idea of turning the final bunker complex into a storage facitly in which I can model oil drums and also ammo crates that could be used in the final shot. Below are the images of the new and final shot.
Creating my 3D assets
The red barrels seen in the final reveal above was created in Maya and textured in Substance Painter. I have also created a green worn ammo create that is also seen in the final reveal using the same methods as the red barrel. Below are wireframes and viewport views of the models.
