Unreal Engine 5 Scenebuilding Crash Course

This series takes a 'waste no time approach' and dives straight into the content.

Part 1 is about getting started with Unreal Engine 5 // preparing for building scenes by collecting inspiration and free assets from various sources. For learning this process I recommend using Midjourney  to generate a scene target for yourself. MJ runs via Discord and uses a database of images via generative AI to create 2D images.

To engage with the process of scenebuilding I’ll provide a very brief intro to the essential functions of the engine  and recommend a variety of sources to acquire models including Quixel (which is built into the engine, but can also be access via their webpage), The Epic Launcher/ Epic Marketplace , Sketchfab, and Kitbash 3D.

'Chapters' in this video:

00:00 Introduction

00:17 Midjourney

01:36 Making a project

02:25 Unreal Interface Tour

08:55 Quixel Megascans

10:49 The Epic Launcher

13:38 Sketchfab Assets

15:43 Kitbash 3D Assets

16:27 Scenebuilding Prep

18:38 Material Prep

While this video series showcases the full process of a scenebuild, the intent is to help empower viewers to generate their own content with the tools, even moving beyond initial inspiration images. I highly recommend that you take ownership of your process rather than trying to replicate exactly what I or a generative ai produce.

Part 2 is about getting your virtual hands dirty in digital worldbuilding. This video showcases the bulk of the process. You may want to watch through first to see the flow before going through the motions yourself. The scene created in the video took me about 1.5 hours (with a little more time at the front to collect and import 3D assets) // I’ve sped up chunks of the process to make the video better for viewing.

'Chapters' in this video:

00:00 Getting Started

01:30 Greyboxing

11:29 Scenebuilding Begins

19:30 Quick Material Fix

21:20 Quick Performance Note

23:01 Custom Lighting Setup

26:52 Adding Plants

28:06 Foliage Brushes

32:32 Adding a Background

34:25 Decals

44:14 Customized Texturing

While this video series showcases the full process of a scenebuild, the intent is to help empower viewers to generate their own content with the tools, even moving beyond initial inspiration images. I highly recommend that you take ownership of your process rather than trying to replicate exactly what I or a generative ai produce.

Part 3 is about finalizing your shot and exporting high quality screenshots. This section will showcase some final adjustments to lighting and cameras as well as introduce the movie render queue.

'Chapters' in this video:

00:00 Introduction

00:32 Cable Actor

02:31 Colorized Foliage Additions

04:10 Decal Colorizing

08:08 Camera Adjustments

09:28 Final Lighting Adjustments

10:05 Decal Adjustments

11:26 Movie Render Queue Screenshots

While this video series showcases the full process of a scenebuild, the intent is to help empower viewers to generate their own content with the tools, even moving beyond initial inspiration images. I highly recommend that you take ownership of your process rather than trying to replicate exactly what I or a generative ai produce.

This timelapse shows a sped up version of the scene built (with guidance) in the tutorial set proper.

This timelapse was created as part of my prep for the scenebuilding crashcourse. These scenes were made as warmups // their creation has been sped up here - the second scene ultimately became the series thumbnail scene.

While this video series showcases the full process of a scenebuild, the intent is to help empower viewers to generate their own content with the tools, even moving beyond initial inspiration images. I highly recommend that you take ownership of your process rather than trying to replicate exactly what I or a generative ai produce.