Week 7 – Creating a scene in Unreal Engine 5.0.3

Since my Personal Project is expected to be quite extensive, I will be utilising Unreal Engine 5.0.3, which is compatible with the university’s PCs.

I made the project easier to use by setting it up in the Game mode and using Blueprints for custom effects. To maintain organisation, I created a main Level and a separate side Level (in another project too) for testing assets and effects without increasing the final project size. I am aware that deleting asset folders from the content browser does not remove all related information from the project file, which could lead to issues later on. Next, I followed the standard procedure of setting up important lighting elements such as Landscape, Directional Light, SkyLight, SkyAtmosphere, ExponentialHeightFog, and PostProcessVolume.

First, I began working on the landscape by adjusting the size of the plane and using sculpting tools. However, the strong modelling effects were not to my liking, so I opted for soft brushes with low strength. I also wanted to experiment with water reflections in the scene, so I tried creating an ocean and river. Unfortunately, the available plug-ins caused the scene to crash and distorted the landscape. Furthermore, the wave effect and the colour of the water did not match the moodboards I had curated. To have more control over the scene’s art direction, I decided to focus on the foliage and ground texture and eliminate the water sources. To reduce the file size, I resized the landscape because I only needed a smaller map for the close-up shots.

I have selected the Megascans Modular Palace Interior Collection for the interior of my project. It is inspired by the Bożków Palace in Poland and offers a variety of textures, including wood panels, glass doors, stairs, architectural details, ceiling panels, and tapestries. This will enable me to experiment with how light interacts with different surfaces. I believe that the dark wood panels will help me create a cinematic dimmed scene, even with bright light outside. To save time, I have decided to combine the interior lighting scene and the outside lighting scene into one Level. Although I would prefer to create separate levels or projects for each scene, I do not think I will have enough time to do so. However, I acknowledge that this would provide me with greater control over the lighting in the project, and I may revisit this decision after submission and divide it into multiple levels.

Behind the Scans: Bożków Palace, Poland by Quixel (2020)

I had a lot of fun setting up the interior. My main focus was on combining different textures and creating interesting shapes by breaking walls with columns and adding architectural details. For the lighting, I decided to use only three main sources – an open door, a window, and a ceiling window – to achieve a cinematic effect. I need enough indirect light to be able to see the render clearly, but if it is too much. I may adjust it in the future.

Once the project was set up, I proceeded to test various settings, assets, and landscapes.