This week, I explored the Unreal Engine 5 Sequencer, learning how to apply traditional film-making techniques to Unreal. I focused on the key differences between regular film production and how things work in Unreal.
Film Techniques:
- Master Scene (Master Shot): This means filming an entire scene in one continuous shot from a wide angle. It shows all the actors and the set, helping establish the action and relationships between characters.
- Coverage Cameras: After the master shot, additional shots are taken from different angles, like close-ups or over-the-shoulder shots. These highlight emotions and details and help create a smooth final scene during editing.
- Linear vs. Non-Linear Storytelling:
- Linear: The story goes in a straight line from beginning to end.
- Non-Linear: The story can jump around in time, using flashbacks or different sequences for a more interesting narrative.
- Triple Take Technique: This involves filming three different versions of a shot, with slight changes in performance or camera angles. It gives editors more options to choose from later.
- Overlapping Action: This technique makes movements feel more natural by staggering actions. For example, when a character turns, their body parts move at slightly different times.
- Hitting Marks: Actors have specific spots where they need to stand or move during a scene to get the best camera angles and lighting.
- Film Production Roles:
- Gaffer: The person in charge of lighting.
- Grips: Technicians who set up equipment.
- Production Manager: Manages schedules and budgets.
- Director of Photography (DP): Decides how the film looks, including camera angles and lighting.
Unreal Engine Techniques:
- Sequence-Based Linear Workflow:
- One Level Sequence: Organizes a scene as a single timeline, moving from start to finish without changes.
- Multi-Camera Setup: Uses multiple cameras to capture different angles of the scene at once.
- Single Camera Cuts Track: Films each shot separately and then combines them in editing.
- Shot-Based Non-Linear Workflow:
- Nested Level Sequences: Smaller parts of a project that can be worked on separately and then combined later.
- Take System: Helps manage different versions of a shot, making it easier to find the best one.
- Sub-Scene Tracks: Allows editing specific parts of a scene, like sound or animation, without changing everything.
- Collaborative Workflow:
- Sub-Levels: Sections of a project that different artists can work on independently.
- Sub-Scene Tracks: Focus on specific elements, letting artists work on their parts without affecting others.
- Visibility Tracks: Control what elements are visible during editing, allowing focus on certain aspects.
Workflow Comparison:
- Linear Workflow: A simple process where everything is done in order, commonly used in traditional filmmaking.
- Non-Linear Workflow: More flexible, allowing edits to be rearranged or done out of order. This is helpful for animation and VFX projects, enabling multiple artists to work together.
Both workflows are important for big projects, especially when teams need to work together on some parts of the project.
After exploring the differences between traditional film production and Unreal Engine, we started working with the Sequencer. I learned that the Sequencer is Unreal Engine’s Non-Linear Editing Tool, which includes:
- Ground-up Shot Creation: This feature lets creators build individual shots from scratch in Unreal, giving full control over camera angles, lighting, and scene layout.
- Pre-visualisation: A tool to create rough versions of scenes before full production. It helps visualise how the final scene will look and assists in planning.
- Full Film Creation: Unreal Engine can be used to create entire films, from pre-production to final rendering, providing a virtual environment for production.
- Game Cinematic Creation: The Sequencer is also used to create cinematic sequences for games, helping to develop narrative-driven cutscenes or trailers with high-quality visuals.
This versatility makes Unreal Engine valuable for both the film and game industries.
I learned that in traditional film, the narrative is usually structured into sequences, often following a three-act format. In contrast, Unreal Engine organises the story using a Level Sequence, which builds the entire narrative using Nested Level Sequences.
We also covered two new terms: Possessable and Spawnable Actors. Possessable actors are like zombies that appear in the scene but aren’t needed, while Spawnable actors are essential elements that we want to keep in our scene. Spawnable actors need to be called to appear, while possessable actors are always visible.
Afterward, we worked on a sample project called DMX Previs Sample. In this project, we learned how to create new cameras in the scene and animate their movements. This experience helped me understand the Sequencer better and how to add cameras and other objects to keyframe and animate them.
We moved on to create Spawnable Actors by adding an actor to the Sequencer. To do this, I right-clicked on the object I wanted to convert and selected Create Spawnable. This process ensures that the object is always accessible in the Sequencer when we need to render the scene.
We created a Level Sequence and opened the Sequencer to add a camera to the DMX Previs Sample scene. After adding the camera, I adjusted the focus property from frame 1 to frame 100 and key framed it to create a simple animation.
We concluded the lecture by experimenting with camera settings and movements to develop different camera animations. I added shots using the camera cut feature, which helped me enhance my understanding of cameras in Unreal Engine while learning to use the Sequencer effectively.