How I Create Cinematic Videos In Unreal Engine 5 - Full Breakdown

In this video I'll be breaking down, step by step, exactly how I created this cinematic video in Unreal Engine 5. I'll be explaining every step of the process and my workflow. This includes modelling, lighting, rendering, colour grading, everything! If you have any questions about anything, plop them down in the comment section and I'll answer every single one!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:17 Block out
00:58 Gathering assets
01:12 Editing asset materials
01:28 Filling in the blockout
01:50 Animating the camera
02:50 Modelling the chain in Blender
03:18 Texturing the chain in Substance Painter
03:35 Adding the chain model into the scene
04:11 Lighting the scene
04:47 Adding a floating ember effect with Niagara
05:17 Adding characters to the scene
06:00 Adding fog cards with EasyFog
06:23 Colour grading in Davinci Resolve
Check out this project on ArtStation!
www.artstation.com/artwork/Ry...
Easy Fog:
www.unrealengine.com/marketpl...
Ancient Golem Model:
www.unrealengine.com/marketpl...
Mixamo Character:
www.mixamo.com/#/?page=1&quer...
---------Follow Me!---------
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/ rwagget
Behance:
www.behance.net/ryanwagget
Twitter:
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My Website:
www.ryanwagget.com
*Some of the links and other products that appear on this video are from companies which Ryan Wagget will earn an affiliate commission or referral bonus. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

[@kickheavy8982]

You're at 1,000 subscribers which means you can now accept super thanks. Please turn on your super thanks so I can show my appreciation monetarily for this fire a$$ breakdown sir. I've been learning Unreal for the past 3 months. I'm finally getting to the point where things are starting to click and then, outta nowhere, this clutch a$$ video hits my timeline. Let's GOOOOO

[@RyanWagget]

Hahaha thank you! I really appreciate the support. I’m glad you found the video helpful!

[@kickheavy8982]

@@RyanWagget thank YOU! Turn on your super thanks bro lets goooo haha

[@RyanWagget]

Haha thanks man. You can keep the molla and buy something nice with it💪

[@thetitant_t]

I was like what can i really learn in 7 minutes, but now I'm fan of fast breakdown like this. It helps you get the bigger picture. Thanks man

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I always the feedback! I’m glad you found it useful!

[@doomgb4994]

There’s lotta techs covered in this vid especially camera shake, Niagara, color grading, lighting, fog, composition, these drew my attention. It’s definitely worth watching for many times to get the idea of them. Thanks for sharing bro!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I appreciate the compliment!!

[@Syphari]

Best tutorial on this process I've seen in a long time man, you have a knack for educational material in a succinct manner. Keep it up!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words! Thats really nice of you to say!

[@Career-gd5vc]

You're a hidden gem I just found . I started learning Unreal and can't wait to achieve results similar to this .

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you very much! Good luck with the Unreal journey! Honestly I’m not even close to being a pro or anything so results similar to this project are closer than you think!

[@upcomingvillain]

That was so cool man. The pacing of this video is perfect! I know just enough about UE to be able to follow along and nothing about this tut drug on like so many. Subbed!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the kind words!

[@BATCH3]

Amazing! You did mention it was the whole workflow and you have really shown it all. Thank you!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words!

[@sierradesigns2012]

Insane! Great work 🎉

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you so much!!

[@TheTweetyx]

This looks so cool. Great job with this one 👌

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

[@helios5293]

Great breakdown, I was lucky enough to stumble into this from my workplace. absolutely hooked on making unreal sequences now.

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you! And haha that’s awesome to hear, i’m glad you got something from it! Good luck!!

[@Verminaut]

Loved the video! A great viewing this morning as a student animator lookin for a bit of inspiration to get a project goin'

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I really appreciate that! Good luck with your project!!

[@neilhilken]

Looks great, thanks for the breakdown!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!!

[@YahiyaJasem]

Great video sir! Good luck with your channel ❤

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words!!

[@edgardolopez6908]

Thank you for this breakdown!

[@RyanWagget]

I’m glad you found it useful!!

[@Alucard_Seven]

This has motivated me to get back into cinematics with unreal engine.

[@RyanWagget]

That’s awesome, I’m glad to hear it! Good luck!!

[@thedevo01]

Really cool work, keep making videos!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you so much! Already working on the next one!💪💪

[@VRDivision]

Great video sir 🔥

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!!

[@GameVoyage-le9nu]

Thank you Honestly, I learned a lot about workflow that I didn't know about from this video. I hope to come back with another great video like this one. ❤❤❤❤

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words! I’m glad you took something away from it. And yeah, I’m working on a new one already!

[@GameVoyage-le9nu]

@@RyanWagget nice. have a good day

[@Ooommar]

Everything is very cool! You inspired me, thank you, bro

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you so much! I’m glad it inspired you!!

[@Flybird504]

This looks amazing! I think it would be awesome if you reuploaded this exact cutscene with sound effect, music etc.

[@RyanWagget]

I did! (Kinda). I uploaded a KZbin Short with some music but its not custom or anything. Thank you so much for the compliment!

[@robertdouble559]

Pretty cool. Next step. Have the Gollum writhing around, trying to break his chains with the chains dynamically reacting to his movements.

[@RyanWagget]

Haha that sounds pretty advanced but tbh i’m up for the challenge

[@RenderRite]

Nice Video! 😁

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!!

[@galinmonev]

Great tips, thanks

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you! I’m glad you found it useful!

[@Gael.imagines]

Very good 🔥🔥🔥

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!

[@apollo12002]

That was interesting, especially liked the blocking out method for the cave, one thing I will say when in blender you could of lowered the subdivision level of the torus, added a edge seam and uvstacked the chain to save space.

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you! And ohh thats a good idea. I didn’t even think of doing that tbh. Thank you, I appreciate the advice!

[@kangdw0106]

Thanks for the share of your knowledge, learned a lot from this video. hoping to see more ue5 videos from you. are you planning any?

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I’m glad you learnt something! And yes! Working on another one right now!

[@Gester143]

i feel like i just came across a hidden gem

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words!

[@Flybird504]

same !

[@nextos]

Great video thanks

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you! I’m glad you liked it!

[@ypsilantiavanti5603]

Amazing

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!!

[@jderinor530]

this is great

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you very much!

[@HussinKhan]

Subbed! Looking forward

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, man! I appreciate the support!

[@PainnGames]

Subbed! More Unreal Engine 5 content please!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I appreciate the support! Already working on the next one!💪

[@ExoticCrickett]

this is quality content letsgooooooooooooo

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I really appreciate that!

[@ExoticCrickett]

@@RyanWagget also i dont know if its much to ask or if its hard for you but, if you could do beginner tutorial with similar looking scenes while also providing assets such as middle model that would do insane on KZbin. Because basically there is not even one in depth tutorial without being super mid. There is only William Faucher doing great content like this but he’s just braking it down. Hope u understand what I’m saying 😄

[@Gael.imagines]

Earned my sub

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I’m glad to hear you liked the video!

[@onlineprod6138]

10/10 7 Minutes Tutorial, but u feel yourself like u are a master of ue5

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I appreciate the solid rating haha. I definitely don’t think i’m a UE5 master tho, far from it haha

[@rakha9119]

I'm actually surprised that you dont have at least 100k subscribers and 200k views on this video. Keep up the good work! I have a question though since im fairly new to 3D world. Why do you use Unreal instead of doing most of the work in Blender? What does Unreal have that Blender lacks for non-game dev purposes?

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you, I really appreciate the compliment! Maybe 100k subs and 200k views will be a possibility one day haha. So I used UE5 for this project bc I want to learn that software specifically as its an industry standard for gamedev and it’s becoming mainstream for film. Other than that, I think the main advantages it has over Blender is the real time rendering and the asset library. Like all of these rocks I brought in with Quixel Megascans, the ancient golem model I downloaded, etc were all made for Unreal Engine. That being said, sometimes I just use Blender for the whole project haha. I think it depends on what you want to learn and the project’s needs!

[@samwichprinting2160]

Hey loved it really great work can you also in future maybe make tutorials from start to finish and can you also show your reference board (because as a beginner i don't understand how to choose from billions of images to put on my board) GREAT WORK.

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!! And yes absolutely I will! Actually the only reason I didn’t add my references is bc I actually lost my PureRef file haha. Would you find a video about how to make a reference board useful as well? If so, I can totally make one!

[@NiallWoods347]

New Unreal videos with high quality content. Yes please, welcome aboard.

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you! Happy to come aboard 🫡 your work looks awesome, just subbed!

[@NiallWoods347]

@@RyanWagget Thank you, likewise. Your Blender thumbnails are top-notch!

[@aliosanlou4425]

In blender there is a tab called animation , u can use it to see the free viewport and camera view at the same time , so u can change world settings and see how it looks from the camera perspective at the same time

[@RyanWagget]

Yes, I use this feature all of the time! Unfortunately they kinda have this in Unreal Engine but its not quite the same. Thank you, I appreciate the advice!

[@saulmaya7922]

goaaat

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!!

[@animeknowledge5048]

Remember me when you are famous, jokes aside amazing video!

[@RyanWagget]

Haha thank you, I appreciate that!

[@mikecastro4269]

Amazing. Let me ask you something. What kind of project you choose in Unreal to create this?

[@RyanWagget]

I believe I chose Film! Is that what you’re asking? Like when you pick a “type” of project when you first make a new level?

[@mikecastro4269]

@@RyanWagget yes! Sorry for my bad english, it's just what i wanted to know. Thx!!!

[@spence2345]

Hey what are your PC specs to do this quality of render? Mainly whats your CPU & GPU? Could I do this with a RTX 4070 12g vram?

[@RyanWagget]

Hey! My CPU is 11th Gen Intel(R) Core i7-11700. My GPU is Intel(R) UHD Graphics 750. With these specs, UE5 runs fine! I think your PC should be able to run this! Also Unreal Engine is 100% free so you could always try it out just to check!

[@timmayvns]

How do you get rid of the flashing on the surface in your final scene ? when the camera panned forward the floor and rocks were flashing, im having the same issue

[@RyanWagget]

Hmm I’m unsure which part you’re referring to. Which part of the video was the flashing occurring?

[@timmayvns]

I’m not sure how to explain it . If you draw a straight line going left from the characters head and one from the giants wrist cuffs going straight down , where they meet, and the other edges like it with the small mountain ridges so to speak if you were to imagine them as mini mountains . But ! When I watch it on a phone it doesn’t seem to have it as bad at all . Maybe I have my brightness too high or it’s my pc I dunno lol .

[@RyanWagget]

Hmm I’m still having a hard time seeing it haha. BUT i do think usually flashing is a lighting issue or an issue with two assets being placed in the exact same spot. Otherwise, I am unsure🤔

[@zachary3603]

How did you manage to get no banding on a youtube upload with such light+dark portions? I'm doing the Aces 1.2 -> EXR -> Divinci and it still has awful banding.

[@RyanWagget]

Hmm I’m not entirely sure as that wasn’t a problem that came up for me tbh but I’ll often add grain to my render to reduce any banding I might have. Fwiw, my process was exporting from UE5 as a PNG sequence, colour grading in Davinci Resolve, then I exported it with Adobe Media Encoder. When I put it into the KZbin video with Premiere Pro, I exported it using a custom LUT. Does this help at all? I wonder if it was the LUT I used. I could totally make a video on it if you think that’d be useful!

[@Dj_Barlethh]

Can you create a meta human with a face imported from Blender to put it to the meta human ?

[@RyanWagget]

Yes you can!

[@JVWanderer]

I gotta know. How Are you blocking out your scene with the camera still where it is at?

[@RyanWagget]

If you right click the camera in the outliner, under the “Transform” option, you’ll see an option to “Lock Actor Movement”. If you select that, it’ll be stuck in place! Does that answer your question?

[@anggapermana9995]

what are your computer specifications?

[@RyanWagget]

Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11700 RAM: 32gb Intel UHD Graphics 750 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

[@MegaSHKED]

wwoooouh!!!

[@RyanWagget]

Thank you!!

[@sawyernalu2]

Great video, but please show the finished result at the end of the video!!!

[@RyanWagget]

I showed it at the very beginning! But i’ll show it at the end as well from now on. Thank you, I appreciate the feedback!

[@mkuban7227]

it will be amazing if u upload full lenght video how u create scenes (not breakdown) realtime

[@RyanWagget]

Oh okay, interesting! Like a speed art type of video? Or would you want the full 4 hour un-edited version?

[@mkuban7227]

@@RyanWagget yeeh, a whole 4 hours of unedited video will be awesome, we would certainly learn the most from it

[@RyanWagget]

Okay, I’ll definitely consider uploading something like that!

[@skippyzk]

I would pin the camera

[@RyanWagget]

Pin the camera? Like don’t animate it and keep it static?

[@namy5618]

Can i know your PC specs?

[@RyanWagget]

Yep! Here they are: Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11700 RAM: 32gb Intel UHD Graphics 750 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

[@sonicmax3706]

great years of hard work to soon be replaced by a robot great work see you at the unemployment office

[@DenzelCanvasSupport]

you dont own the rights to any ai art generated retard. read the clauses. the ai company does. which means youd have to buy it off them, or be sued for your life savings if big projects. so just because youre generating shit doesnt mean you own it. and considering how greedy tech companies are we wont have access to these programs locally on our computers anytime soon also youre gonna need an extremely expensive PC due to Nvidias overpriced chips to generate anything thats truly yours.

[@timmayvns]

also , real cameras have Anti shake tech. Why would you choose to add this to a scene ? unless your trying to emulate someone actually holding it ? . this isnt a dig btw , im genuineley curious and trying to understand this

[@sanjimanga8923]

Usually adds a sense of realism to cgi related shots like this one. Mainly depending on the scene it’s in. If your on the ground not establishing the area you are in I feel as tho creatively a shaky cam can enhance the realism of the scene itself. Whereas if you are in space or the sky for example you would want to use little to no camera shake at all bc it wouldn’t make sense. Hopefully this can kind of help I’m not him just speaking from a film experience

[@RyanWagget]

Yeah, they’re exactly right! Its just to give the effect of someone holding the camera. You see that a lot in film/tv and I thought it’d be a cool little detail to add. Definitely not something that HAS to be added though

[@timmayvns]

@@RyanWagget Ahh , This is useful indeed. Thankyou for replying 😀

[@timmayvns]

@@sanjimanga8923Thankyou , yes it helps a great deal . I’m very interested in learning more about this.

[@RyanWagget]

I’m glad I could help!

[@Tipower880]

everything fun and games until you open the editor and try by yourself

[@RyanWagget]

LOL no you can do it!!

[@brian7android985]

Does nobody care about overdraw anymore? [Genuine quesion]

[@RyanWagget]

Honestly I don’t even know what overdraw is haha. What is that?

[@michailkolovos1299]

​@@RyanWaggetOverdraw occurs when multiple layers of pixels are drawn on top of each other. This often happens with multiple transparent layers, such as fog, glass, etc. Or if you just have bad asset culling, It's a performance issue that may not be a concern unless you start running out of VRAM or are developing a game.

[@RyanWagget]

Ohh I see. Well to answer the question, maybe people do but I personally did not during this project haha

[@guillaume_tca]

PNG Sequence.... really dude. 🤮

[@RyanWagget]

Why 🤮? Is PNG sequence bad?

[@guillaume_tca]

@@RyanWagget limited color range and value. Highly recommend you to look at Color OCIO and implement AcesCG to more natural colors interpretation for your scenes. EXR have more advantages.