Copied from my reddit post I’m starting to work on larger and larger animation projects, learning more and more tools along the way! Everything is animated in Unreal Engine 5, making heavy use of...
I’m starting to work on larger and larger animation projects, learning more and more tools along the way! Everything is animated in Unreal Engine 5, making heavy use of Quixel nanite meshes and procedural blueprints [1]. Kaladin and Syl were generated using Metahuman Creator, and clothed using Marvelous Designer.
The shot sequence popped into my head one day as I was working on some other things and I immediately blocked it out and loved it. I got really lucky and stumbled across some music that matched up almost perfectly to how I had done a rough edit, and it was a joy to bring it all into line. I take a lot of delight in having matched up parts of the animation with the rhythms in this particular piece of music [2].
This animation isn’t meant to depict any specific event, though the character is supposed to be Kaladin. And you’ll see Syl flitting around in the scene as well [3].
There are a few discrepancies with the canon, some intentional and some not. I’m open to any comments you may have, but before you spend too much time digging through source material to figure out when exactly Kaladin’s eyes start changing color (it’s the 3rd Ideal btw) just ask yourself “did he do it that way because it looked cool?”
There were a lot of challenges in getting this sequence to look “right” (or at least, right enough).
The first is I am very rusty at character animation, and a lot of Kaladin’s movements are very stilted. Practice practice practice [4].
Second is the Shattered Plains. Getting that environment to look even close to “right” was a huge challenge, as the sheer chasm walls aren’t something that a standard terrain map will come even close to handling correctly.
Metahuman Creator has only 2 outfits, so I had to learn how to make clothes! This was actually fun, but took awhile. Fortunately in this sequence he’s wearing some simple bridgmean leathers [5]
Stormlight is hard. I’m still not really happy with how Stormlight leaks/streams off of Kaladin, but it does at least look cool. Still experimenting with Niagara particles/fluid simulations to improve this.
This and my other YouTube animations are things I do in my spare time, I have a full time job and am doing quite well. If you feel like supporting me, I’d encourage you to instead donate to one of the many great charities that help people in need such as Donor’s Choose or the Red Cross. If you still have extra money and want to throw some at me, I do have a Patreon linked in the YouTube description.
Rhythm of War spoilersSound and rhythm are starting to play such a key role in how things work on Roshar, especially after we learn about Navani’s experiments, I’m excited to see how that continues to evolve in the story!
[3] You might wonder why you don’t see Syl clearly in any of the shots. I confess, it’s because I haven’t actually figured out how to make her look right (yet). So right now she’s not actually animated, her dress doesn’t flex or bend at all, and she has no hair! 😬
[4] Also, saving to get a motion capture system… maybe.
[5] Don't’ look too closely as his sandals flipflops)
Copied from my reddit post
I’m starting to work on larger and larger animation projects, learning more and more tools along the way! Everything is animated in Unreal Engine 5, making heavy use of Quixel nanite meshes and procedural blueprints [1]. Kaladin and Syl were generated using Metahuman Creator, and clothed using Marvelous Designer.
The shot sequence popped into my head one day as I was working on some other things and I immediately blocked it out and loved it. I got really lucky and stumbled across some music that matched up almost perfectly to how I had done a rough edit, and it was a joy to bring it all into line. I take a lot of delight in having matched up parts of the animation with the rhythms in this particular piece of music [2].
This animation isn’t meant to depict any specific event, though the character is supposed to be Kaladin. And you’ll see Syl flitting around in the scene as well [3].
There are a few discrepancies with the canon, some intentional and some not. I’m open to any comments you may have, but before you spend too much time digging through source material to figure out when exactly Kaladin’s eyes start changing color (it’s the 3rd Ideal btw) just ask yourself “did he do it that way because it looked cool?”
There were a lot of challenges in getting this sequence to look “right” (or at least, right enough).
This and my other YouTube animations are things I do in my spare time, I have a full time job and am doing quite well. If you feel like supporting me, I’d encourage you to instead donate to one of the many great charities that help people in need such as Donor’s Choose or the Red Cross. If you still have extra money and want to throw some at me, I do have a Patreon linked in the YouTube description.
[1] See my previous video here
[2]
Rhythm of War spoilers
Sound and rhythm are starting to play such a key role in how things work on Roshar, especially after we learn about Navani’s experiments, I’m excited to see how that continues to evolve in the story![3] You might wonder why you don’t see Syl clearly in any of the shots. I confess, it’s because I haven’t actually figured out how to make her look right (yet). So right now she’s not actually animated, her dress doesn’t flex or bend at all, and she has no hair! 😬
[4] Also, saving to get a motion capture system… maybe.
[5] Don't’ look too closely as his
sandalsflipflops)