Creating an Arctic Environment in Unreal Engine 5

In this video I go through the process of not only creating an arctic environment, but also how I 3D scanned something made entirely of glass.
I show you my process for photogrammetry, texturing, and creating an entire environment in under an hour.
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Photogrammetry / 3D Scanning Tutorials:
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Texture Reprojection: • Texture Reprojection i...
Capturing Lofoten in UE5: • Capturing Lofoten in U...
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - Inukshuk/Reference
01:11 - Into Unreal Engine 5
02:02 - Background Mountains
03:16 - Water Material (Free)
04:26 - How to 3d Scan Glass?
08:23 - Texturing in Substance Painter
10:03 - Polishing the Environment
11:19 - Tree models
12:27 - EasyFog (Available on Epic Marketplace!)
12:57 - Lighting Tweaks
14:09 - Rendering & Color Grading
--------Cameras and Gear Used To Film This Video ------
DISCLAIMER: This video/description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this.
Thank you for the support!
Necessary gear for Cross-Polarized Photogrammetry:
Turntable:
Syrp Genie Mini II: geni.us/LhzA
Syrp Turntable: geni.us/j3UQf
Scanning Spray:
aesub.com/en/products/
Flashes:
Godox AR400 Ring Flash: geni.us/83IB0V
Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL Duo: geni.us/ElinchromELB500
Polarizing Filters:
Tiffen Circular Polarizing Filter: geni.us/XB38L
Nikon Circular Polarizing Filter: geni.us/acILA1z
Ring Flash Polarizer: geni.us/FlashPolarize
Transmitters and Other:
ColorChecker Passport Photo II: geni.us/tUEDhx
Godox XT-16 Transmitter/Receiver Kit: geni.us/7icY2
Flash Sync Cable: geni.us/DlZ63
My Streaming / Recording Setup (How this Video was Recorded)
Nikon Z6II : geni.us/OPxBG
Nikon 28-75mm f/2.8 : geni.us/d47dj
RØDE NTG-3B Shotgun Microphone: geni.us/JKnnPpS
Aputure MC Pocket LED: geni.us/uVZNl
Godox LEDP 260c LED Panel: geni.us/OgidwX
Godox Parabolic Softbox : geni.us/oHZ2b9
Godox SL-60W Studio Light: geni.us/68wx

[@NicoLinde]

Using simple cones as trees and lowpoly spheres as lights in the background are probably one of the most useful tricks I've ever seen! Would have NEVER thought of that myself! Also thank you for sharing your water shader!

[@mujialiao6088]

Love that you used cones and spheres for the tiny details in the far bg, totally makes sense and your videos are always a treat to watch. :)

[@thilinarupasinghe7968]

also, far away city building lights, what a great Tip

[@simonflash_edit]

William, your knowledge enriches this community. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@michaelholzbauer679]

Wake up! A new William Faucher video just dropped.

[@mandalroin]

😊

[@theinfamous4231]

Thanks

[@426F6F]

I'm awake! 😳

[@Anthony-Antx]

And this is why you are the best unreal environment artist making content on KZbin. No over the top details, simple workflow but exceptional results! Love your work as always William!

[@raymeijer3379]

Your channel is a goldmine for good no-nonsense UE info! Thank you!

[@renaultmckinnon]

Can't express how grateful I am to you for consistently putting out such great educational content!

[@BLych]

I love communities like this. Top notch quality and great production! I need to see more of this!

[@paulareb2074]

Genius as always! I`m an overthinker and watching how you put together such an amazing scene in a short period of time helps a lot with my sick mind. I definitely have to try it! Thank you sooooo much for sharing.

[@JRleaf86]

That's really awesome, especially the scene with the northern lights. Also that's a really smart way to scan transparent objects!

[@monsterinsane2228]

simple, affective, beautiful! thank you a lot for making this!

[@JacksonHayes]

This is so sick, loved the simple geo tricks for background detailing!

[@arcsinjesse]

the scene with the northern lights looks so amazing! Great job as always!

[@karlbovski1656]

Great breakdown as always!! Can't wait for the next tutorial. A refresher about UE5, Post-processing, camera tricks + color grading in Davinci is what I need rn!! Thank you for your work!

[@zeroy]

Great as always and nice tips with the tree cone and city glowy spheres!

[@anapple.4338]

You helped improved my ue renders so much, I love you content.

[@vehtor]

you're real genius. Thanks for these tutorials, you're helping a lot of people

[@PeterEngelmann401]

Thank you so much for another fantastic inspiring tutorial. And thanks for Easy Fog - it's a blessing.

[@vitorborsato3d]

It's because of your videos that I love working with Unreal today. Thanks for all the knowledge shared.

[@JonJagsNee]

William coming in with the golden Unreal content once again, thank you

[@MartinAaberge]

Yey! Been waiting for this :) loved how the Syrp setup made life so much easier :)

[@x_yzk]

Must be so cool just create your ultimate chill place like this

[@PhilippeMesnildrey]

You beast! Amazing video (and result) as always, thanks for sharing

[@slothsarecool]

Looks awesome man, you’re getting really good at this stuff! I can’t wait until nanite and lumen work well in VR

[@head2g0]

Love your work man. Thanks for sharing.

[@VenatusVox]

William, you spoil us! Keep up the great work.

[@Mahdi.Kareem]

as always a great upload by the great william

[@gabrielefiorenza9581]

Great Video as always! Can't wait to watch procedural generation tools tutorials 🤩

[@federicosibella1094]

It's not your technical skills, obviously impressive, but your love for impactful lighting that makes you an outstanding artist!

[@MarcelloAlongi]

as always...great video William!!!

[@cd_core]

loved this one man - many helpful tips and direction.

[@VidozMusic]

This is just so soothing to watch. Awesome job!

[@WilliamFaucher]

Thank you!

[@jonathancahill5117]

Hi William. Thank you for all the amazing videos and contributions to the industry. I've just started out with UE, and my main focus is archviz primarily. I'm using UDF as well, and it would be great to see tutorials on UDF as there seems to be none.

[@dvnxxl222]

Awesome as always William! Exited about the 5.2 procedural tools tutorial!

[@kevincrinklaw7422]

Superb!! I REALLY like that you repurposed some of your work (watched those as well haha!) The aurora borealis shots ended up absolutely breathtaking! Strange, how well "lit" a dark scene can be. Sub'd and thanks!

[@lexastron]

Awesome tips! Thanks, William 😊

[@Perry-wy2fc]

Wow 🤩.! As always I love your tutorials… very impressive 😅

[@KenneXS]

These ppl R gifted genius worked hard to be so creative Keep it up

[@gamersroof9674]

As always, Really nice result! Waiting for your color grading tutorial :)

[@davidnappyhoose204]

Great video! As always, helpful hints.

[@visualdojo2469]

Thank you! That's inspiring tutorial!

[@daniel_thorson]

Awesome video, William!!

[@saemranian]

The perfect solution to photoscan the Reflective objects!!!

[@natishmaac]

You are One of the best of THE BEST..

[@Enzait]

Great stuff as always!

[@almaz7054]

My favourite KZbinr made an another fantastic video. Thx William👍🔥👍

[@afti03]

You're such a pro!

[@3dchick]

Yay on new color grade video coming out. I've had questions, with all the updates. 😊

[@yeet8490]

This is awesome

[@j-o-e-141]

Amazing work!

[@ZeeroCool1979]

Just amazing again! Thanks!

[@RakibulHasanShohel]

The Cone part was Epic

[@riazulrahil]

Fantastic, as usual.

[@AllanGildea]

Beautiful. Thank you.

[@SchmidtP89]

This is awesome! Thanks for doing this :)

[@ben_nickshiv]

Great work 👏 Thanks for sharing 👍

[@learnshare382]

Happy Rendering William👍

[@oviantales805]

Thanks a lot for your work ! it helps so much !

[@darthvulture]

thanks this was as always a great tutorial, UDS is certainly something i need to get a hold off. I am using unreal to have live dj streams in unique locations like this but i always want to improve and hopefully get to this level one day :)

[@senjara5918]

Great! The con trick is extremely useful, thank you !

[@WilliamFaucher]

You're very welcome! Sometimes simpler is better!

[@cymarin3d511]

Thanks so much, this was very inspiring 🙂

[@3dchick]

Wonderful new video, with great added cultural history - - very cool!

[@jbach]

Great insights as always! Would love to see a in depth walk thru of your Gaea workflow.

[@Starlingstudio]

Awsome thank you

[@alexkadrileyev]

to use cone instead of trees for the distant background landscape is a brilliant idea, mate👏

[@KULTRALTD]

Awesome! Thank you, William! ;)

[@rangounchained2892]

scanning spray!? Epic

[@zeekjones1]

That Distant LoD tree cone is an unironically great tool.

[@user-vn7gv8sf8e]

The cone part was so funny for me because I had the same idea :D I am using UE5 for two weeks, just created my first Landscape and the looking of the trees in the Arboreal-Node in Gaea remembered me of cones, so I thaught "Would be funny to make the illusion of trees with cones, but no way that would function lol" - and here you are haha, what a legend.

[@romanbruni]

impressive ! created an arctic environment started from photo (alaska) reference and then memory (norway) suddenly added cones and spheres to suggest trees and city... all these got me through a perception dilemma, that I've put in my notebook: final video shows a realistic impression of an imaginary place. 😎 cheers from Rio !

[@3dtrip870]

Thanks for sharing the scan spray! I have some stuff like this, but it doesn't disappear on its own. This will help me be less apprehensive about spraying items. Again, Thanks!

[@ZephrusPrime]

Inspired!

[@MrGoldman100]

Would love to see a video on your workflow in Gaea and how to get the mountains textured and looking nice in Unreal

[@gonzalocanepa520]

Welcome back :)

[@thunderender746]

Subscribed! Keep going!

[@4manvfx27]

13:39 that is so smart..Holy shit, I will now use this detailing trick in almost every project, Thanks William!

[@adrianm6953]

nice! Thank you

[@diegogomez6634]

Thanks a lot!

[@laf0106]

Liked to watch tomorrow. Good night

[@netrarajpun]

I was waiting for this video the moment I saw your tweet.

[@vishalkaushik6484]

really amazing video with lots of good information, can you please make a video on the best setting for the ultra dynamic sky you use

[@hotsauce7124]

That weather system for snow is very interesting. I wonder if it can do a blizzard with streaky snow bits.

[@connorwagstaff2348]

This is so cool 😅

[@AhmedMahmoud-zz6wv]

Thank you so much for your tasty tips, you are really inspiring....♥

[@haowu-if1ic]

OMG!!! I love it Cool Men

[@SmokyMountainsHauling]

that northern lights version looks awesome

[@jaybee7431]

This was amazing! The only nitpick I have is the size and scale of the inukshuk. Most inukshuk you'll find are generally a bit bigger or the same size as the Inuit people who built them. Probably 6 feet max. The reason for this is that inukshuk are commonly used as a hunting decoy/utility by the Inuits. They mark every inukshuk with scents by peeing on them, or smearing animal blood or guys. This actually attracts things like polar bears and foxes to them. They may even leave bait at the inukshuk. Picture a line of spaced apart inukshuk over hundreds of meters. The animals they are hunting keep following the inukshuk from one to the next, and so on. After say four inukshuk, an Inuit hunter hides behind inukshuk number 5. The unsuspecting game approach unaware of the impending danger,( the Inuit hunter) and gets ambushed,/killed. This was how traditional Inuit hunters take down a polar bear. This was a very educational video!Thank you for sharing!

[@KhayalJalilov]

Mademyday ( Tone of time modeling... A cone 😂) , great approach and as always amazing video , thank you William !

[@amankumarsingh2903]

bruh, cones really gonna help!

[@cgimadesimple]

great video :)

[@MsDevilMaria]

Praise the cone!

[@CoreGamingProject]

Realy cant' wait your next tutorial... That's change everything on the image.

[@raptorkoko]

Aurora Borealis scenery👌

[@acadia5898]

as a guy from Greenland, this is great! the amount of details you have put is incredible. the only detail i would remove is trees. there is usually almost no trees or no trees at all in arctic enviroment. branches are different though. incredible work

[@acadia5898]

atleast in the more tundra enviroment, that is. also, i love the detail of the sun being low and not giving off too much light

[@HenDoGames.]

Great video, didn’t watch yet, but i know😌😂

[@Kombatant777]

I am looking forward to new videos, especially concerning colorgrading

[@SHIFTStudios]

It would be really interesting to see your take on getting a car model using photogrammetry vs doing it manually in Blender using actual car blueprints.

[@LarsStrandenArt]

came for the handsome face, stayed for the amazing content and gorgeous end result

[@whereismyweb5513]

Nice,

[@samarthgohel3624]

please tell me, how did you create that aurora (northern skylight)