This Took A WHOLE YEAR In Unreal Engine

[@x64kasra]

Stunning work Joshua

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Thanks

[@LFPAnimations]

Weirdly enough I like the 2nd render better than the final. The fog/smoke assets show through more, lighting is more pronounced and stylized, and you aren't getting all that noise in the street area. In the final I also noticed that some of the background buildings look very flat and lifted where they have more contrast in the second one. I work in the VFX industry and overall this is a great result.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Thanks for the feedback. I like the 2nd last render too, but watching back at full quality on my monitor I didn't think it held up as well against the octane path tracing. I would have stuck with that earlier arrangement but it was a very poorly optimised scene at the time so octane couldn't handle it. I have kept working on it behind the scenes, testing ideas and techniques out for the film.

[@fokoff_inc]

Yes, very cool, especially at 15:20, when I added Ae. I'm also learning how to make scenes more realistic, thanks for the video

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Stick with my vids because that's a bit of an older one now. Really glad you enjoyed it and found it helpful.

[@Blaccastro]

Well done man that final shot was great

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Thanks! Looking forward to doing more.

[@alexmurias295]

Amazing video! Really happy to put my small grain of sand on this project! Keep up the good job!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

A much larger contribution mate. Youre at least a boulder.

[@tank5740]

Your dedication is inspiring.

[@blackboxmind3117]

Hey Josh! Awesome to see the progression and journey you went on to get to the final result! 😄

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Thanks so much. Its a long but rewarding process. lots of problem solving.

[@SomniusCRO]

This was very well put! I am going through the same process right now, working on a project to learn what can be done in Unreal. I'm doing a short film as an album trailer, but I am spending more time with character animations. Got pretty far with home motion capture and developing a workflow to have good cloth sims on the character. I do everyting with Lumen. Anyway, it was nice to see your process and learn a thing or two. Good luck moving forward!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Thanks man. Good luck to you too. Mocap is all too fiddly for me so Im always impressed when others make it work.

[@marcfruchtman9473]

To give some critique to the shot at 5:15, I think it is actually pretty good. Yes, after you mention it, I do see the repetition. If I could suggest, don't use the same color for each window. Most real world lighting fixtures will have bulbs from different companies, running at different watts in different locations in their rooms, so I would use a randomizer of some sort. The other thing I would do is make the traffic more realistic, you won't see all the traffic moving at exactly the same pace, with no vehicle changing lanes. Of course add more variety to the vehicles, but there's this odd vehicle lighting, where the vehicles moving away tend to make their rear lights more light front lights... which is odd. Nevertheless, I think it is quite good overall.

[@marcfruchtman9473]

The final shot, is really good. Probably just remember that car physics should "feel heavier"...

[@JoshuaMKerr]

So how close to my Blade Runner goal did I get? Pop a comment here and let me know what you think, what would you change?

[@turningcog]

Wonder if we can use a bit of noise math on the points that would be corners of windows to get that warble you see on glass clad skyscrapers because there are small deviations in constrution

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Probably. Im not strong on expressions but could see this being done easily with a normal map.

[@turningcog]

i talked to a few other guys about this and one dude thought a texture would achieve the same result . it was pretty convincing for just a few nodes in substance . my plan is to try it with the physical geometry, thank you for the inspiration

[@dpredie]

Go Josh!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Yeah Man!

[@andrewglazebrook1585]

Looks great, it would be awesome to see a figure moving in one or two of those closer windows somehow, that always draws the eye and also either room lights turning on or off across one or thwo places. Also anything with cranes add flashing lights, also on the top of taller buildings. Steam from a few rooftop vents etc... but it's certainly getting there !!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

These are great suggestions mate! Flashing lights and steam shouldn't be a problem.

[@CanalBigMaqui]

I began your channel and I found this really amazing tutorial!. Really good stuff you got here bro. I'm coming from Element3d in AE, so I want to improve myself using UE, so thank you for doing this videos!. Would you mind doing a tutorial about animating models inside UE?, like the car at the end?. Cheers!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Good idea. Ive been focussing elsewhere on other areas of unreal and haven't delved too far into animation but will give some tutorials on this some thought.

[@JasonAdank]

Your final shot looks really good, nice work man! There's a lot of sizzle going on on the roadway surface, however I think you could play this to your advantage by adding rain to your shot in post. Maybe with particulate for After Effects. The sizzle would then read as raindrops, and a rainy scene would fit in well the lighting mood overall. Food for thought anyways :) Keep up the great journey.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Definitely been considering rain as a solution to that, good shout. Alternatively I can render with more samples and possibly raise resolution.

[@shivas4831]

I can see the future of VFX.... 😍

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Some interesting things happening for sure.

[@raulcardenas58]

Wow! good job, thanks for you explication,

[@JoshuaMKerr]

You are welcome!

[@dpredie]

Im so excited for this project of yours! very cool journey. Maybe when UE5 goes out of beta and there is upgrade path from 4 you’ll be able to merge the 2.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

I absolutely think thats a possibility. If they fix the UE5 pathtracer so that it has real pathtraced DOF then I'd love to use that. Plus it's fast!

[@chrissimmons906]

Nice job!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Cheers!

[@desimp3]

You are working great

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Thanks

[@AlessandroSchiassi]

The final render is great but you need to denoise it a bit, especially on the road. My favorite plugin to do that is Neat Video for AE. I also had no idea you could use Octane in UE!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Hi Alessandro. Youre right about that. I have neat video but haven't found it very effective about this kind of noise...not sure why just yet. Ill be doing a more intensive 4k render with a few more samples when I integrate it into my short.

[@SokheanJonathanOuk]

This is an awesome video of your progress as well as demo of the fruits of labor! Deff enjoy seeing the 2nd and final render. As a cinematographer, I see so much possibilities with UE. I'm curious to what your camera settings are for those two renders. Did you have something like F4 on a 24mm?

[@JoshuaMKerr]

The effort is certainly paying off. It was 24mm for certain and I think F2.8. I thought that would be more realistic for a 'night shoot'

[@SokheanJonathanOuk]

@@JoshuaMKerr It would deff make sense for those camera settings. Always need tinkering when I'm working in UE. Especially with trying to dull the 3D look out of my scenes. (I'm still learning and not quite proficient yet) Seeing your work is really one to inspire that I will get to that level too.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Absolutely. I think a lot of the good results I'm getting are down to lighting, atmospherics like fog and the path tracing (with some cool texturing, which I'll cover in the future). Feel free to shoot over any questions.

[@collectiveunconscious3d]

Could you tell us about the different render times and on which GPU your rendering. The last one looks really good but I bet it took a lot longer as well sadly. Never mind I saw you did a video on, greaaaat, thanks a lot

[@JoshuaMKerr]

No worries :)

[@cars103]

Great Content Joshua!! All the buildings in the city- where are them from? Any UE free Scene? Don't you have a Tut on how you built the city? I want to make a night scene too in UE which I am just starting with. cheers

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Hey there! Glad you like it. A good bunch of the buildings are from epic marketplace content packs like Brushify buildings and a couple from a free Kitbash packs. I have modified the materials a bunch though so theyre a bit less 'stock'. I don't have a tutorial just yet but might do some videos down the line on this.

[@mahmoudtaher9884]

joshua ihop you remimber me any way ...im also afilm maker and you hav replyed to my coment in your film ...fly ...any way im worcking to with unreal engien and blender to tell mush beter story ...and trust me no body care about repited windows in this amazing shot or fire stairs ...just keep going and be very hapy with any finshed render to save more time ...what imean is with alot of expirince you will descover that the most importing thing is to keep going with the story good luck

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Cheers Mahmoud. Really good to hear from you. I know I went a bit too far but its most important that I feel personally happy with it. I will always notice the flaws. But yes...on with the story

[@aashay]

Really looking forward to this series. One question, How would you do character animation? Or do you plan on using live action plate inside? Cause that would be awesome to learn :)

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Im all about live action plates. I have a few videos on using pre-keyed planes in unreal. Worth a look if youre into it.

[@aashay]

@@JoshuaMKerr I have been watching all your videos. 😊 Would love to see some live action integration with complex camera movement.. To track 3D camera data to bring in unreal.. 🙏🏽💥

[@JoshuaMKerr]

@@aashay Definitely on the list. I think it's an important topic. I'll probably going from blender to unreal in that tutorial.

[@aashay]

@@JoshuaMKerr Yes.. Would love to see Blender to Unreal and also the difference between this method and Ian Hubert's technique. Since you ended up using Octane anyways..

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Im not sure that it would differ that much asside from sending the tracking data to unreal rather than staying in blender. What matters most to me is that the process is easy so we can focus on the storytelling and less on the technical.

[@myasinesin]

What is the render time per frame with Octane?

[@JoshuaMKerr]

It depends on your hardware and your render settings. For instance a 4k render will take longer than a 1080p render. And different scenes might need varying amounts of samples to get a good result. Sorry but not that straightforward

[@ahmedshakib3883]

What does it feel like to start a project from scratch again , I normally block things out in stages so that changes are not to many , I have never had to restart a project from the ground up it must be frightening at the same time annoying.Peace.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

I'm a writer/director first and foremost so I just approached it like I do any redraft, (scrunches paper and throws into bin). It's also a learning experience and repetition helps me to internalise techniques.

[@ahmedshakib3883]

@@JoshuaMKerr Has there ever been a situation where you were more per-occupied with the software(Technical side) and realized you have to step back and look at through the lens of an artist?. Thanks for the reply.Peace.

[@PortaProductions]

does the cat help with render times?

[@JoshuaMKerr]

I've never tried without the cat :)

[@JamesWjRose]

Impressive level of detail. I am working on a VR game in Unity and came across a City asset that is helpful to me: Cscape. I don't know if this is helpful for Unreal so... In any case, thanks for the video, helps me too

[@coreyricks]

In the final shot the car's movement pulls me out of it. A car doesn't normally go from going forward to all of a sudden reverse and seems a bit odd. Maybe if it just came to a complete stop instead. Other than that it looks great.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Yes I have a bit more control of the car now but if it rolls back like that again I'd probably just cut away quicker

[@fawadfarooq]

Perfecto 👍

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Thank you.

[@fawadfarooq]

@@JoshuaMKerr would you plz do some more break down like texturing ,modeling and lighting setup.?

[@JoshuaMKerr]

I will definitely go through some texturing and lighting. The models Im using are all epic marketplace assets. I have almost no modelling skills.

[@Xavwanderboy]

Big up to you to have started again in UE4 after 80+ versions. Hope you could export most of the things and earn time. Last render really pops out. I would say one thing makes buildings a bit of is they are all square. Volume geometry along facades and edges would have added realism. Big up Josh!

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Awesome comment mate Yeah a bit less boxy geo would be good. It was a big learning curve but I feel much better having dove deep into the engine...over and over haha

[@cineffect]

Would it not have been faster and easier to do this as a practical effect? Nowadays one can 3D pre-print shapes and refine them.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Faster and easier defeats the point of learning new software and virtual production. This effect would now be insanely quick for me to make compared to my initial learning curve.

[@cineffect]

@@JoshuaMKerr I understand, I actually like both, practical and virtual effects, both are fun and satisfying.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Same, if you haven't seen it yet I think you'll enjoy my short film Fly Home. It's as practical as films get.

[@cineffect]

@@JoshuaMKerr Thank you, will definitely have a look!

[@orenders]

can yuo shot this again, but this time make it looks like Film, as you told before - "it looks like game but we film movie here"

[@JoshuaMKerr]

I'm quite happy with the end result on this video.

[@orenders]

@@JoshuaMKerr I mean render, not KZbin video. Renders looks very bad. Like game.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

I'd do a better job now but still like the final render.

[@onlinerzizi240]

First, huge respect for what you do. Let me give you my honest opinion on the shot, and why i don't enjoy it at the end. I think you missed the most important thing when you try to do something realistic. The background of the scene is really great, adding some people on the street wich feels very empty would help. Adding more stationnary cars too would help too to sell the "it's real" effect. On the same subject, wich isn't related to rendering with Octane or whathever... Your foregrounds elements aren't detailed enough to sell the "it's true" effect. The lights on the left buildings are way too bright, and the right building feels empty. The front building is a total mess in regard to that. You'r lucky because it's not really hard to fix that. You should work more on the closest subject of the camera first, the more far the stuff is the less work you should put into it. You need to project some kind of shadows people in the building (i'm not a boss on UE so don't know how you would do it). Ian hubert is very inspiring for that. Adding some animated stuff, paper, birds or whathever, something organic will just uppgrade your render more than the technical side. If you like volumetrics, just add some of it. Not trying to be harsh but it's a common mistake i made myself when i first dig into that. I was wanting to recreate life and get that real look whereas you' real objective is to trick the viewer into thinking it's real. You'r render will look much more realistic if you think like that. I still get why you did that and the knowledge you earn is still priceless. But trust me, the amount of work you had will not be worth the result.

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Hi there! I want to thank you for your honest and detailed feedback. It's all a learning experience and hearing people's sincere thoughts is a surefire way to find areas to improve. While I've been working as a professional filmmaker for years, unreal and 3d is very new to me so I am certain to be taking some less efficient routes, especially when I don't have a deadline for a project. Meanwhile this is some good advice and I'll be taking it to heart. Thanks again.

[@onlinerzizi240]

@@JoshuaMKerr No problem mate it's a pleasure

[@cathychoi6959]

you are talking about a cheap cartoon dude

[@cathychoi6959]

@@JoshuaMKerr you have done those people they can only dream of, they never knew UE, Octane, or cinema 4D, Maya, or even AE, or whatever, but they are very good at judgmental or gaslighting lol

[@JoshuaMKerr]

@@cathychoi6959 I love learning and passing on knowledge. Hopefully it can be a bit inspiring and allow people to see what is possible with very little.

[@heshamsaif5587]

I hope if you’re starting making tutorials for beginners to learn and keep going 🫶🏻

[@JoshuaMKerr]

Definitely part of the plan