Month: July 2025

Serra Lesson

The final render came out successfully in terms of animation and effects, with the ship movements, environmental particles, and overall composition translating well from the sequencer to the output. However, a clear discrepancy emerged between what was visible in the viewport and the final rendered result, particularly with the lighting and post-processing.

Despite setting up the post process volume and fog to enhance mood and depth, these visual elements appeared either muted or altered in the render. This suggests potential issues with render pipeline settings or post-process volume not being fully used by the Movie Render Queue.

The side-by-side comparison reveals a noticeable contrast between the viewport (left) and the final render (right). While motion blur was successfully implemented to convey speed and the chaos of the storm, the render appears to suffer from a significant loss of detail, particularly in the fog layers and overall colour depth.

This issue may stem from how post processing effects, colour grading, or fog parameters are being interpreted (or potentially overridden) during render export, especially when using formats like EXR. The presence of motion blur, though effective, could also be amplifying these losses in visual fidelity. It’s an area that warrants further investigation and experimentation, particularly when fine-tuning cinematic sequences.

Overall, this project was enjoyable, from developing the initial concept to assembling the environment in Gaea. The workflow allowed for creative exploration, blending procedural landscape generation with cinematic storytelling. Building the terrain in Gaea provided a unique foundation, especially with its node-based approach, which gave the project a sense of realism and depth that worked well once integrated into Unreal Engine 5.

Serra Lessons

In the final stages of production, rendering in Unreal Engine 5 was set up to ensure the animation could be presented with the highest possible visual fidelity. This involved configuring the Movie Render Queue for cinematic output, adjusting settings like anti-aliasing, output resolution, and sample counts to achieve a polished look. To elevate the visual tone further, atmospheric fog was introduced into the environment. This added depth and mood, enhancing the sense of scale across the vast landscape.

In tandem, the post-processing volume was adjusted to refine colour grading, contrast, exposure, and bloom effects. These adjustments helped unify the scene’s lighting and visual atmosphere, providing a more immersive and cohesive final presentation. Experimenting with these tools offered an opportunity to shape the emotional tone of the animation while adding subtle layers of cinematic quality.

Geroge Lesson

Working on body mechanics and facial animation has been a valuable part of developing a complete understanding of character performance. The process of finding strong reference material was both enjoyable and insightful, helping to break down how the body and face work together to create believable motion

Body mechanics allowed for experimentation with weight, balance, and timing, revealing progress over time and showing how much intention can be conveyed through well-planned movement. Facial animation, representing the acting component, proved to be one of the most intricate challenges.

Small details (particularly in the eyes and eyebrows) carry significant emotional weight and are crucial in making a character feel alive. These subtle expressions often do more storytelling than dialogue itself. While progress is evident, it’s clear that convincing character animation requires ongoing practice and attention to detail, particularly in facial performance, where the illusion of life is most fragile.