Category: Unreal Engine

This week I simulated the clothes to fit the animation. I also imported the animated character and garments into unreal engine and set it up in the level sequence so it can play. I also started adding cameras and framing and animating my different shots.

To make my work a little bit easier I opted to use one model instead of four different ones. I decided to customize a Genesis 8 model from Daz Studio. As for animation my plan was to have a catwalk cycle in the first scene and a slow dance in the last scene, while the other two scenes would be mainly poses and minor movements. To save time and because the animations were very complex, I imported already animated armatures for the walk cycle and dance, from mixamo’s animation library. The other minor movements and poses were done by me in Blender.

After animating the character in blender, i exported them to unreal engine. Unfortunately unreal does not support the material type that daz studio exports its characters with. So I had to improvise, and I decided to give the character a chrome texture, because I love chrome.

This week we covered rendering and post processing in unreal engine. We learnt how LUTs can be used to apply a particular color grade to a scene. We also looked into rendering and render settings. We learnt about good rendering practices and the various settings that are both efficient and give the best looking results

Project Update: I asked my cousin, who writes, to help me write a poem that would be narrated during the show. He wrote the poem based on the vision I had which I shared with him. He also sent me a recording of him narrating it which was really helpful because it gave me an idea of what the scenes would look like, what kind of camera motion I should plan for and how long the scenes should run

This week I started planning out what my environments would look like. I wanted each scene to represent a season. This was also the direction I used when I was picking what clothes to recreate. I decided to go to Pinterest and see if I could find environments similar to what I had in mind, and I did.

This week we discussed lighting in unreal engine. We looked at the different types of light in unreal and their various use cases.

Project Update: This week I worked on making the clothes in Marvelous Designer

This week we looked into control rigs in unreal engine. This topic was very complicated and confusing, if I am being honest but Serra did her best to explain it to a level I could understand. We looked into making basic rigs in unreal engine. We also looked into a quick shortcut to create overlapping and secondary action without actually having to animate it.

Project Update: This week I started planning what the outfits displayed in the show would look like. One of the suggestion Serra gave me last week to ease the workflow, was to not spend time designing the clothes. She said it is better to either collaborate with someone who would make design or find simple outfits to recreate in Marvelous Designer. I decided to go to Pinterest and find some outfits that fit the vibe I am going for.

This week we had one on one feedback for our progress on the design project. I had an opportunity to discuss with Serra again, but this time with a more solid idea. I shared my a mood board of what I want the scenes to look like and what vibe I want the animation to have. I also told her my plan of wanting the show to be narrated, inspired by clips of KidSuper SS26 show I saw, where the showed revolved around a children’s book

She said she liked the idea but shared her concern about how feasible it would be to finish the project I had in mind, in the given timeframe. She also gave me suggestions on how I can make my workflow easier and quicker. Finally she told me to check out Bureau Betak, which was really helpful as it gave me inspiration on set designs.

Today we discussed materials in unreal engine. We took a look into the node based system that allows the engine to render materials and texture. We discussed material instances and the various benefits of using them in our projects. We also got some hands on experience downloading various textures from Fab marketplace and integrating them into our projects.

Design Project Update: After my discussion with Serra last week, I was able to put my thoughts together and come up with a concrete idea. My plan was to create a 3D Fashion show that would create a cinematic experience as opposed seeing models walk the runway. I wanted to do it differently so I had an idea to have the models in different environments. This idea came from my conversation with Serra last week, when we both recalled the Balenciaga SS23 fashion week show, where they had their models walk on mud piles.

Today we mainly looked at the sequencer in unreal engine. We got different scenes from fab marketplace and used the sequencer to create many cinematic shots. We learnt about the camera in unreal engine, how it can be animated and how to change various settings such as focal length, focus distance and aperture to get a desired look. We also learnt how to compile different shots, utilizing cuts to make a scene.

I also had the opportunity to discuss an idea I had for the design project with Serra. She told me she liked the idea, as it is in an area that she is personally interested in. She also gave me various suggestions on different approaches I could take to get the best results