Making a 48 Hour Film Project in Unreal Engine 5 | Behind The Scenes of Big Hurt

I'm Cory Williams and I made a short film in 48 hours SOLO using Unreal Engine 5 for the OKC 48 Hour Film Project Challenge in October 2023. What started as simple behind the scenes video turned into a full-on tutorial / documentary of creating something I'm very proud of and I hope this brings you some quality inspiration.
My intention for sharing my animation process is to educate other story tellers about this new technology which has become much more affordable and easier to learn. At first, it may seem a bit scary looking to people who have never worked in 3D animation before, but I assure you, that feeling doesn't last long. I've only been working with 3D animation since fall of 2019, and it wasn't until 2020 that I even started to learn Unreal Engine. I hope this inspires you to try new things and to expand your mind as a storyteller. Enjoy!
SOFTWARE USED:
Reallusion's Character Creator 4 (CC4)
Reallusion's iClone 8 (iC8) with Motion Live and AccuLips
Xsens Animate Pro
Blender
Photoshop
TOOLS USED:
Movella Xsens MVN Link Motion Capture Suit
Manus Quantum Meta Gloves
iPhone 14 Pro
Origin PC with Nvidia Geforce RTX 4090
Alienware Laptop
Ikea chair for overly dramatic tragedy scene
#unrealengine #48hfp #unrealengine5

[@binyaminbass]

I use same suit and gloves as you. I have the same problem with the thumbs when I retarget in Blender, but not in iClone, which is the main reason i use iClone. The way I retarget is to drag the fbx (exported from xsens) into iClone and drop it onto the character. Then a window pops up and I open the drop menu and select Xsens. Simple as that and the thumbs are perfect. Let me know if that works for you.

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Wait, that's a thing? How did I miss that? Thanks for the tip! I've been doing this manually for years. I don't know how I missed that step.

[@24vencedores11]

What I want is creating stories. And this workflow is really amazing.

[@tooopinions752]

I am on my storytelling journey, thank you for the inspiration!

[@WillyCash69]

Adding Chapters would be a godsend, so I can come back to specific sections that I've learned from!

[@azling_]

Cory Williams, you have been inspiring me since day 1, I have followed you through the years and somehow once again, years later, I am inspired by you again! I can never thank you enough for all you have done for me in my life, and this inspiration will continue to live on! Again, Thank you!

[@fragileglass9622]

The radio play concept is genius. It is the first process I tackle before anything visual. I tend to build sound effects, run through my royalty free soundtrack archive to find music that fits my ideas , roughly edit to give the emotions. I work with that playing in the background the entire time. It really helps keep the momentum. It is rare that I ever have to change the sound design at the end.

[@better.better]

these challenges are so great for "working" your creativity. I used to participate in a weekly SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera, ie no post-processing) challenge that was similar in that there would be a weekly theme. participating photographers would have all week to submit one photo. the next week the new challenge started and voting would begin on the previous week submissions. there wasn't any money or prizes, it was purely to keep the juices flowing

[@user-bw4wi8ox7b]

مرحبا بك يا صديقتي أنا صديقي جديده في انتظارك احلى لايك

[@chelo111]

hella clean broddy

[@Birdman_Animation_Studio]

Nice work man, I'm from Tulsa too learning unreal, glad I'm not the only one 😅

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Awesome! I was thinking about leading a workshop here locally actually. Hit me up on LinkedIn and keep in touch!

[@BartBarlow]

Wow brilliant Cory raises the bar for documentary styled Virtual Production!

[@unheilbargut]

What a wonderful video and impressive work! In the moment, I work on my own short film, but I totally lack the sophisticated hardware, that you used, to animate and am severely disabled and just can‘t perform the acting, but since I got all the time in the world, it might also work out ok. We live in great times, that we can do so much amazing art from our little studios or homes (or as me, confined in my medical bed). 😅 After this video I will binge through the rest of your channel. Thank you!!! Greetings from a new subscriber from Germany! Chris

[@lifetrekerking]

Hella work dude 🤙 Inspiring 4 me too!

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Hella work is right! lol Thanks!

[@lauracolleen]

Dude, this is so cool to see! I love these kinds of in-depth videos where you can see the full process of how something is made. Thank you for sharing your whole creating process. I hope you, Kristen and the kids have been doing well

[@user-bw4wi8ox7b]

مرحبا بك يا صديقتي أنا صديقي جديده في انتظارك احلى لايك

[@private9402]

what an insane accomplishment, thank you for sharing your process ser

[@torencastle9180]

Absolutely fantastic!! Completly enjoyed and very grateful you shared the process!! Looking forward to seeing the short and best of luck to you!!

[@ai-xv6ds]

Just watched the whole thing! So cool seeing the process and I learned a lot. All the best, Cory 🎉

[@dantekimble2329]

It’s cool that your in Oklahoma to ❤

[@blurtam188]

Brilliant!!

[@RollitDice]

Solid work , keep up the uploads

[@stevefilmUE5]

This is amazing!!! Well done. You've inspired me to have a go at the 48-hour challenge. Keep up the great work. Look forward to seeing the short film. 🎉

[@alkanberkan]

Perfect! Thank you!

[@alkanberkan]

plus i want too 'animator' tshirts haha so cool

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

You're very welcome.

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

I found it on some cheap T-shirt store online. I can't remember the name of it though. Just google "animator shirt" or something.

[@CdeeqFilmmaker]

very cool!!!

[@apixel.content]

good luck! I been watching your journey grow since Taiyaki Studios

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Thanks! I hope you've been able to take good stuff from the things I've shared.

[@apixel.content]

@@DaydreamStudiosHub definitely learn a lot of things you share through all your social :)

[@24vencedores11]

Congratulations 🎉👏👏

[@samgreenfield3641]

This video was amazing look inside the work but its really hard to find content that really teacher's you how in depth unreal hope you making content on how in the future and anyone you know that has a course paid or free would be great

[@fritos1445]

This is really cool! I'm learning to code now and this would be an awesome thing to learn after. Always love learning new things!

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Enjoy the process and just look at ever failure as a learning opportunity. Trust me, you'll fail A LOT in the beginning but it hurts a lot less than riding a bike for the first time and going straight into a rose bush (that happened to me and I'm literally scarred by that). Eventually, you'll fly through this stuff! Google and KZbin are your friends! Learn to find answers online and don't be to proud to look!

[@Megasteakman]

Nice, thanks for sharing! It's funny our processes for making 48 hour films in Unreal Engine are very different! I treat things more like a live action shoot where we capture EVERYTHING at once inside the Engine, and I spend most of my time building sequences out and blending takes together. I've done three of these, and I always start filming BTS and then stop because I get too overwhelmed because it's basically hell. Amazing job accomplishing that all by yourself, and can't wait to see the film!

[@kimble02]

Interesting workflow. Would love to hear more. I have a totally different workflow but have only been able to finish half my films on time. 😢 I did the same with get all the audio out and use that as a guide.

[@Megasteakman]

@@kimble02 I have been developing my own motion capture system that's also kind of a film making tool kit written for speed, but I think keeping everything in engine really helps me. Did a bit of a post mortem on my last 48 hour film but I haven't had time to put it up on my channel yet. These things take time though, hope your projects are going well!

[@PeapodCenters]

Nice.

[@kimble02]

Very cool! I’ve been doing the same since 2016. But only made the jump to Unreal in the pandemic as well. I’m 50/50. I’ve only got half my films in on time witb unreal. Most of my iclone films aside from 1, I’ve gotten in on time. Unreal sometimes just gives you an error and you’re just plain stuck! It’s gotten a lot better though. But I missed the 7:30 deadline jsit a few weeks ago. Got it in by midnight so we were screened but Unreal got me. Weird camera bug I never solved. Took 4 hrs to find a workaround. Everything else was great up to that point though.

[@sharkfinz6]

i want that studio as my apartment !!

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

It would make a pretty sweet apartment.

[@sherylAA]

This entire process is intriguing. I really want to see the finished short film now, when and where can I??

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Tonight is the screening. So maybe after tonight if it makes sense.

[@tanyasubaBg]

Hello Cory, I've been following your work for a long time, and I really like it. I also use iClone and CC4, and I would love to learn Unreal.Actually, my main issue is that I don't have an Nvidia card but an AMD one, so it doesn't run as smoothly. Anyway,your work is truly inspiring.

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Nvidia does work the best with this stuff. Hopefully prices will come down soon so more people will have access to this. Best Buy sells laptops that have good cards in them though, so I guess prices are getting there.

[@tanyasubaBg]

@@DaydreamStudiosHub I also hope for that

[@smoregurl]

This was so interesting!!!! Now I wanna see it !!!! Will u upload it to KZbin eventually ? Or will it be available to watch anywhere?

[@DaydreamStudiosHub]

Yes, it’ll be on this channel soon. I’m waiting until after the screening.

[@ShehzadAlam-ld1vu]

what is film name ,please . I am sea your film