Miel Vandepitte 2023

Miel Vandepitte 2023 Round-Up

Post Processing Adventures In Unreal Engine

While far from perfect, the "Sci-Fi snooker Room" is the project that encapsulates most what I love about 3D.  Halfway through designing and building this level, I took an unexpected interest in post-processing materials in Unreal Engine 4.27. This opened a whole new world for me.

I've been active in the comics world for much longer than the 3D world, and immediately got exited to apply those sensibilities in a game engine. All the materials used for this project were, along with the design and the assets, completely created by me - although inspired by dozens of tutorials and other projects.

All these shots were rendered in-engine. Each entry in this list shows a versions of the level with and without post-processing. It seemed important to light and compose the environment in a way that wasn't completely relying on the line-shader gimmick, so that's why I'm showing both versions, and a version below with the individual materials that were layered to create the final look.

For a more detailed look around the level: click below!

Unreal Engine Concept Art

From what I've been told, Unreal Engine's main purpose isn't to assist you in making illustrations or concept art. It sure comes in handy though. 

This series of environment studies was created in no time at all, using Maya, Unreal, and some post-production in Photoshop. Involving UE5 in the process helped me to create different lighting iterations quicker than I would have been able to by painting them.

It Was Meant To Be (done like this) 

For this project, I tried to behave like a proper boy and use Unreal Engine 5 to create a good old realistic environment. This is the way!

Becoming A Wizard

Houdini is one of those programs I'd love to invest more time in. This year, I created only one project in Houdini, which was a tiny stylized house generator. It can be used to generate interestingly shaped houses in Unreal Engine.
Click the breakdown video to see a glimmer of it's full potential!

Tackling Blender

This project marked my first and so far only time using blender. Even though I prefer Maya for modelling, Blender's compositing tool is really special. It allowed me to basically mimic the post-processing effects I had created for the earlier Unreal Engine project, and even expand on it by creating an awesome cross-hatching effect. 

Despite it's simplicity, this is one of my favourite pieces ever.

Roundup...

I spent the final four months of 2022 working on a VR-project for a client, as part of my education at Digital Arts and Entertainment (Howest). Currently I'm working on another group project, and preparing for my internship next year. I hope that I can keep doing interesting group projects like I have been -  hopefully even on a more professional level. I also hoop to keep finding time and opportunities for fun experiments with post-processing materials, and other things that capture my imagination.

Thank you wholeheartedly for taking the time! Have a nice summer!