The Walking Dead

I would like to share my final submission for Unreal Engine 5 at CGMA. The scene that I have created is inspired by OVERKILL'S THE WALKING DEAD: MAYA: https://vimeo.com/295120637?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=33599621

Completing this project within the 6-week timeframe proved to be quite the challenge, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. My goal was to gain a comprehensive understanding of scene production in Unreal 5. To achieve this, I created my own assets and customized external resources from Megascan and UE marketplace. Each week, I followed the standard industry workflow, tackling every aspect of production including modelling, sculpting, Uv's, texturing, LODs, nanite asset creation, master material, material instances, functions and switches, lumen lighting, reflections, collisions, camera setup, post-processing, and hires renders. One of my accomplishments was creating master materials and using material instances to have greater control over the blending of textures. Additionally, I experimented with Vertex painting, blending various materials to add cracks, dirt, water, and damage to the project.

Here is the progress over the past six weeks. I started with modular modelling and asset preparation and ended with the final rendering. To achieve the final image, I utilized post-processing volume.

I had a great time setting up the lighting for the scene. I referenced real-time midnight lighting and aimed for a particular color palette. I used a mix of emissive and added lights, with combination lights to accentuate specific elements.

To provide a sense of their size, all assets have been imported into an overview level. In order to finish the project, I organized and prioritized the assets to determine the number of models needed. The asset priorities were as follows:

1. Main environment assets

2. Hero asset

3. Principle assets

4. Secondary assets

5. Tertiary assets.

To texture my project, I used Substance Painter along with Rizom UV for nanite assets and Maya UV tool for other assets. I carefully examined the main reference and the scene to determine which assets required a higher texel density. I utilized Marmoset Toolbag to bake Normal maps and began texturing.

Once the scene was placed in Unreal, I developed a personalized master material in addition to material instances from scratch.

I utilized the Metahuman Creator to create a character and integrated it into Unreal Engine 5, making necessary alterations to the materials and pose to match a reference.

In the scene, I found the use of the axe to be impactful and I enjoyed working with it. Additionally, I attempted to render it in Arnold, and I am pleased with the result.

To ensure accuracy, I gathered numerous real-world references for this project. This allowed me to create each asset with great attention to detail.