Create photoreal cinematics in UE4: Rebirth tutorial

This in-depth tutorial goes through the entire production process for ‘Rebirth’, a cinematic produced by Quixel using Unreal Engine 4. Beyond its visual process, Rebirth serves as a benchmark and kickstarter for virtual production workflows.
Read more about the project on Medium: bit.ly/rebirthmedium
Watch Rebirth: • Rebirth: Introducing p...
Explore the Megascans assets used in Rebirth: bit.ly/2oTbMlR
Music: “Away”, by Meydän, is licensed under CC by 4.0
More from Joe Garth at: www.artstation.com/joegarth
1. Asset set-up 03:05
2. Composition 07:12
3. Lighting 15:27
4. Atmospherics 21:19
5. Post-processing 25:06
6. Color grading 32:08
7. Virtual cameras 36:55
8. Final output 38:32

[@juanpaulomardonez9151]

This was not a tutorial, it was a masterclass! Perfect narration, perfect voice, perfect pacing, perfect depth and details. I’m watching this at least 100 times more.

[@cgooch_]

Juan Paulo Mardonez same here and glad to see you chiming in here on KZbin as well. Keep up the good work yourself! I look forward to your next “sketch” ;)

[@-Sunny--]

I demand you, on behalf of the people from the internet, to regularly start doing tutorials!

[@glanced9684]

Basic to advanced, pls brother 🙏

[@piotrekt186]

kzbin.info/door/S4q2Nx8eZ0hAU-tDfP3b8w

[@bernardosei9]

PREACH

[@dm.b7560]

I you don't, we will find you and force you too..... great videos man, subscribed.

[@HavokSage]

@@dm.b7560 hahah, don't worry there's no need. Check my channel! I usually post a lot.

[@k.k8791]

1. Asset set-up 03:05 2. Composition 07:12 3. Lighting 15:27 4. Atmospherics 21:19 5. Post-processing 25:06 6. Color grading 32:08 7. Virtual cameras 36:55 8. Final output 38:32

[@commercio3564]

God bless you.

[@dawsonboyle99]

God Bless

[@thana3270]

Thats in description lol

[@dawsonboyle99]

DISTEEXE you can’t click it though

[@thana3270]

@@dawsonboyle99 oh yeah

[@InnerAnimate]

oh man that's what i needed , better to say that's we all needed , thanks Quixel.

[@Gwubby]

except for the fact that you have to subscribe to them for a "free" model

[@pcbingemaster]

@@Gwubby capitalism baby

[@raventhc8847]

@@Gwubby With the quality of their software, it's still more than worth it even without free assets.

[@Apuat]

I’m speechless. I feel like 90% of the time when you see something as amazing as the project you put together you never see a comprehensive behind-the-scenes tutorial that really shows you what they’ve done in any useable fashion. But the techniques you shown here can be used for a lifetime. I’ve been waiting for over a year for the right project and and tutorial to come along to inspire me to finally make the leap from some other 3D apps I’ve used to Unreal as my main staging platform, using Quixel surfaces. This is definitely it. Thank you so much Joe. You changed my life as a Filmmaker.

[@PeterLeban]

Are you kidding me? Yesterday a fantastic stream about how Wiktor created that desert scene in UE4 and today this? You're fantastic!

[@KeiraArts]

Could you share a link to the stream? =)

[@speedoflink]

KeiraArts It's on this channel

[@masterraceofeverything4504]

That’s dust 2

[@abcqer555]

I am shocked at the production quality and the content quality of this video. Not only are you explaining how you created one of the most impressive pieces of UE4 content, but all the theory and process that went on behind the scenes. Studying this video feels like the equivalent of many full courses. Bravo x 100

[@chesun7493]

This is the most informative UE4 tutorial I've seen this year. True masterpiece! Thank you.

[@hellohogo]

My god, this will never get old to me. Such a fantastic video on EVERY level.

This is the best of Quixel, sharing knowledge for free so we all can grow together, thank you guys.

[@crabbite3093]

4 years old and still insane quality!

[@user-cw3nb8rc9e]

Joe's voice is so calm and professional, convincing.

[@hvrmnd]

I watched this tutorial 3 years ago, and I had goosebumps and teary eyes, as I always wanted to build stuff like this but just didn't know if we could ever. I did not have a pc back then to cope with this, but now I have and have been using Quixel very often. I'm so thankful to the team to bring such innovations for us to use, and that too for free! It's an optimal way forward for increasing and encouraging creativity.

[@rinhd1977]

I'm amazed by the work you are doing. It takes a lot of dedication to make something perfect.

[@TheXboxSux]

It's nice to see a human that has the highest interest of other humans in mind when sharing knowledge. Joe's a pretty cool dude.

[@filmweaver2013]

an entire company for that matter... epic games is doing so much for 3d industry in general, making it an even ground for everyone so it's the creativity and skill that matters

[@flutechannel]

OMG Tonemapper sharpen is an amazing console tip. This is what a masterclass should be thanks Joe!

[@3darchstuffs]

Omg. That was an amazing revision of the the whole process . Keep it up guys. Good luck.

[@haoouyang8257]

The most enjoyable production process that I have even seen, just likes art. Thanks Quixel !!! Please make more tutorials like this!!!

[@Dreamtheory618]

Not only the production quality in the Rebirth Video but the production value of this tutorial are bar none. Thank you for making such a amazing tutorial, being so well spoken, and very detailed. You and your team are very talented and should be super proud of yourselves!

[@ThatRyanManning]

Amazing! You teased us with the trailer and now delivered the behind the scenes. Truly amazing work!

[@joeyquillen5804]

Tools such as this are so compelling, it inspires me - someone who has almost zero experience in game making/coding - want to turn the game idea I've for years into a reality. Very impressive.

[@IgnaceAleya1]

Fantastic project! Really enjoyed watching this one

[@bhupalthirumala7776]

Hi Ignace iam ur big fan love from india

[@coltlitten319]

@@bhupalthirumala7776o

[@jaggerimmanuel5927]

instaBlaster...

[@RaviTomar__]

this wasnt a video...this was an experience... a surreal one

[@akosnemes6288]

This video inspired me in many ways. It is not just educational but it is the most polished UE4 tutorial video on youtube which is also beautiful to watch. Thank you Joe and Quixel :)

[@athatiger]

The quality of these videos are incredible.

[@yosh_io]

Please keep the tutorials coming! This and the CS level tut are amazing. You guys are on fire 🔥

[@svivan20]

Probably the most exciting and coolest tutorial on real time graphics and I´ve ever seen in my life! The singing off comentary at 44:34 gave goose bumps!

[@sonowa-unreal]

I watched this tutorial 4 times the past year, and with my own skills growing, each time I found something new and useful. Thanks!

[@Lanaur_]

You relieved me, I thought my workflow for environnements was bad but it's actually really close to yours. Thank you guys for showing your work, you made someone happy !

[@AlexiosLair]

Why do you think your workflow is bad?

[@Lanaur_]

@@AlexiosLair Probably because I was a bit too perfectionnist and making objects to intersect by placing them without having the geometries of the many objects to connect bothered me a little bit, especially when I could see some holes because of the placement and rotation (often not visible to the camera). But now this just confirmed me that it's just a matter of illusion, and it's as impressive to show as physicly accurate environnement (without huge empty spaces between the moutains in the background and the ground your filming for example). So yeah, I just thought that cheating this way wasn't a good thing just because it's not really how the real world works.

[@Lanaur_]

@@AlexiosLair But now I'm ok with it

[@PaulV3D]

Outstanding breakdown tutorial! I'll be using this in my projects for sure.

[@ggpz8975]

thank you. I am a concept art student. I started using your texture software a week ago. it does create some nataure material really fast saving a lot of my time. hope more people join and contribute the library

[@archlyn1]

I'm speechless! The quality of the production and of the tutorial is outstanding. Thank you so much for the information and the inspiration.

[@neeeeeck9005]

Realtime CG in Game engine, made with not that big budget, and not that big team, looks so much better than so many Marvel movies... Astonishing work.

[@aspin2624]

very fitting that this guy helped make crysis and now this

[@SerChade]

The moment you gave your introduction to this video, I instantly remembered your story. Back when I was still in school and struggling with if I should continue unto uni or not, when deep in my heart I knew I shouldn't. I read an article about you, around the time crysis 1 came out. Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your story back then; It, along with numerous others were the building blocks of my early twenties.

[@garrettbc4234]

Best tutorial I’ve ever seen. Straight to the point and still informative. You guys killed it. Need more like this please do more film projects

[@Hyagohhn]

This is awesome! Thank you Quixel and Joe!

[@ghostdesign-ue4604]

I was looking for month for such a video tutorial, many thx for explaining us post-processing, atmosphere... in depth in a professional way. You are great

[@noxlupi1]

This is also a tutorial on how to make a tutorial! Great pace, great music. It keeps you hypnotized and focused. Absolutely Ingenious!

[@emilevdb]

This is without any doubt the best tutorial I have ever seen in my entire life. Thank you so much!

[@teodorivanov7405]

This was beyond epic! A great marketing piece for Megascans combined with that priceless breakdown.

[@martinfatnesrenders1767]

Man this is soo good! I learnt so much even though it’s not a step by step tutorial! Thank you! Really hope to see more content like this!

[@sepehralipour657]

"This is Joe Garth from Qiuxel, signing off..." That last line was a perfect ending to this beautiful tut.!

[@avirtualdesigner6396]

Really fantastic, Everything looks perfect ... no other words to describe your compositions and animations

[@PolygonAcademy]

thanks so much, this a perfect example of content marketing done right! I dig the constant drip of info and interesting projects from quixel, you guys seem super agile and untethered by massive 2-3 year dev cycles, so you can adapt and be creative in both the macro and micro. love it.

[@AlexiosLair]

Will be great if you also start leveraging the Megascans assets and make tutorials with it :)

[@PolygonAcademy]

@@AlexiosLair wouldn't that be cool.......;) stay tuned!

[@LeonardoViale]

Amazing, great breakdown Joe! Looking forward to more of these amazing projects, specially now that UE4 is integrating all of the raytracing features, closing the gap even more when it comes to real time film quality production using game engines!

[@JanneWolterbeek]

Looooooove the way this tutorial has been made, the music makes it a cinematic joy to experience!!

[@Wolfdings]

Brilliant explanation with a very comfortable voice and awesome, atmospheric background music. This is cooler than ASMR

[@deathb4decaff]

Sheffield represent! Awesome to see how far you've come; amazing work man :)

[@lordvader602]

sheffield gang

[@mey]

An amazing tutorial. And thanks again for using my music (Away) for your project :)

[@HavokSage]

Hey dude! No thank you! your music is inspiring. we're making sure to add your credits to the description ASAP.

[@AlexiosLair]

So you are the composer for such a beautiful ambient? Instant subscription.

[@mey]

@@AlexiosLair I am :) thank you very much!

[@parikshitbelsare6914]

I keep coming back to this one and the other ones... They're simply great!!

[@fsava6324]

Loved the description, would be great to get in an in depth (paid) full tutorial on projects like this, great work Joe.

[@stefanofarci1150]

This is a brilliant piece of work. Thank you very very very much for sharing. Congrats to you guys for what you achieved. Fantastic!

[@rezo856]

This guy is one of the best cinematic artist. He was using cryengine long time ago and now he moved to unreal engine. Hell Yeah. Thanks very much for this detailed tutorial

[@Adevill20]

Absolutely amazing work. Love the detail you went into and thanks for the excellent tutorial.

[@HavokSage]

Clean version without music: www.unrealengine.com/en-US/onlinelearning-courses/creating-photoreal-cinematics-with-quixel

[@MrWalnek]

I don't even use UE4 but damn this tutorial is just so interesting and relaxing.

[@SaltyCoffeeCakes]

As someone who aspires to work in this industry, thank you so much for this informative and beautiful video :)

[@patrickmitchell3258]

Hope you accomplish your dreams!

[@jamesbali1300]

I don't use Real Engine, I have never even seen the UI before today, but your script and style of narration captivated me so much that not only did it have me watch the entire thing in one sitting, it got me to download Unreal Engine, right away! I can't emphasize enough how informative and insightful this one video is..Thank you so much Joe, for taking the time, and sharing your formidable knowledge and talent with the rest of us!

[@mallku25]

dude this tutorial is amazing, really appreciate all the effort of putting all this together

[@HeyaHoyah]

This is absolutely fantastic! Thanks KZbin for finally recommending something useful

[@theobod]

Woah, this turned out very poetic! Thank you Joe.

[@travislrogers]

This is such an epic project. Super inspiring! Thanks for taking the time to expose the process, it’s super helpful in trying to learn such mastery!

[@allan.mp3]

Man, you're not only a living legend, you're an example for the human kind.

[@jonplaud]

I am amazed. I tried getting into the VG business for years and thought I needed a degree. Thank you for this video.

[@PolygonAcademy]

its all about the portfolio. I am self taught as well. degrees can be useful to get work visas if you want to work abroad, but at the end of the day, you are being hired based on your portfolio and what it shows you can do ;)

[@kovalensue]

You guys are magicians... I can't comprehend what I've just seen :D Awesome job... well done

[@cremsh]

The end result is is just amazing. Thank you for teaching us some of your techniques.

[@johnline]

one of the most valuable ue4 tutorials, well done

[@k.k8791]

Man, you really can make your own world literally

[@arashi8876]

I love you and You got my respect Sir. Self Taught isnt easy , Need passion and need a Mood to achieve it. ♡

[@Talia.777]

Well said Mood and motivation are the most important things....😔😔😔

[@blackswan6386]

after, adobe, unity, element3d, cinema 4d i stoped here and now i can start doing motion grafix, as i wanted to. the workflow is made for me, and the results is astonishing ! thanks for i can learn from you !

[@henrijs1733]

this guy is a genius. what a masterclass of UE zero to hero cinematics.

[@pelte]

This is so incredible thank you so much for this breakdown !

[@estate0007]

Really deep meditative music - I feel a bit more enlightened after watching the video :-)

[@VitorGuerreiroVideos]

Thank you very much for this! Amazing reference here! Awesome how detailed you guys showed the setup! this is really helpful!

[@blackheartgaming6121]

i love how the level looks like it just rained i love it in real life after it rains absolutely beautiful

[@GaelReze]

Awesome tutorial. As a Cinematic & VFX Artist, I've learned a lot of cool tips and tricks thanks to this video ! Can't wait to see more tuts like this one ! :)

[@MD_Builds]

Utterly amazing... Loved the short film but this tutorial guide thing really makes me wish I was still doing CGI... I really need to get back into it. i miss it...

[@KUBE.archvis]

Thank you! This gave me goosebumps! Cant wait to try some of this.

[@shilbose128]

the post-process and color grading part was very useful! thanks :)

[@ConradSly]

Fantastic. Great tutorial and explanations of everything. I would love to see a breakdown of your landscape material some day :)

[@Dar1usz]

Your videos make me want to learn how to use UE4. Great job.

[@Dunk3ll1cht]

Same.... Ideas are flowing in :DDD

[@Oakbeast]

dive in the water inst so bad

[@mindstormsmax3046]

yeah

[@saifmlayeh8499]

i love the way how you show your product with a good free tutorial samrt idea

[@ilyaplutov]

I found this video in ads by youtube This is the best ads i ever seen Now i really want to become a 3d designer Thank you so much

[@pablocastelo7090]

This is an invaluable masterclass. Thank you very much.

[@waffentrager_auf_e100]

Me: look at my pc My pc: please no

[@UnknownHumanoid]

:)) Look at my screen! Please I'm just HD!

[@The9PointStar]

LOl, thats what i´m doing now, my pc is about to explode

[@kpbendeguz]

If you wanna achieve the same result with CPU based renderers your PC would just laugh in your face. For UE4 cinematics all you need is a decent graphics card with enough VRAM (you can do some really advanced stuff even with an 1070).

[@GrenneAnGel]

this made my day :D

[@SebastianLimek]

My pc is crap and performs quite well with this scene. UE4 is masterpiece in terms of perfomance, check by yourself

[@UltrawidePCGaming]

By far the best tutorial I've seen for UT4.

[@dantescanline]

by far the best tutorial covering all the needs of doing offline rendering in unreal for a traditional 3d team. I'd pay for in-depth tutorials on this subject!

[@achintyabhavaraju]

BEEN WAITING FOR THIS, THANK YOU!!!

[@fenristhewolfslair3993]

oh, and you do bloody good work, mate! top notch tutorial

[@HangryBunniesFromMars]

These guides are waaaaaaay more helpful than those 2 minute show reel stuff. Thank you

[@RadWulfXX]

Outstanding insights and tutorial! Terrific Video production as well.

[@JonathanWinbush]

Joe Garth is the man 👊🏾🤙🏾

[@The9PointStar]

This is pure gold

[@monles2352]

I'm so grateful for these tutorials...

[@DobromirManchev]

This is so amazing! I don't know why, i am just mesmerized by such videos... it's amazing to see how after clicking through a couple of dozen (lol) menus and settings things are created and are looking awesome. I am an IT engineer but i can't draw a straight line so i take reprieve in watching others create awesome things. I am also an amateur photographer, the whole second part of the video is very similar to a typical Lightroom workflow but i have to say, making such a scene seems to actually by way harder than taking a great picture IRL - You have all the composition, focus and post-processing things to worry about on TOP of actually making the scene in the first place. Quite mad Oo

[@wizzl8513]

You guys bring the next generation to gaming.

[@nimerbushnaq7850]

If this was in the cinema man i would definitely be there xD amazing video really neat !

[@TMD_Produktion]

That intro was soooooo epic! You are my new idol!!!

[@Energy0124HK]

This is the best and most professional tutorial of UE4! This is much better than the official tutorials of UE4, to be honest. I am super hyped while watching this video