Table of Contents for Unreal Engine - 3D Animation, Augmented Reality, Virtual Production: 3D / CGI at a new level:
- What exactly is Unreal Engine?
- 3D simulations, virtual worlds: creating worlds together
- Application areas for Unreal Engine
- Advantages & opportunities of Unreal Engine for brands
- 3D Unreal Engine Agency - Danthree Studio
- FAQ
Fortnight was created with Unreal Engine, a holodeck for Star Trek: Discovery as well. The moon of the Netflix series The Silent Sea comes from the tool's ICVFX, and even the virtual K-Pop stars MAVE were created in a collaboration of the tool with MetaHuman. Those are the more well-known scenarios. What far fewer people know: Unreal Engine can do much more. High-quality 3D content for medical training is created with this tool, as well as simulations for the automotive industry, for preparing rescue workers for emergency situations, and more. Real-time, realism and accuracy are the great strengths of the tool. But what exactly can the 3D tool actually do? It is definitely more than a software for animations.
What exactly is Unreal Engine?
Simply summarized, it is a 3D software package that allows game developers, filmmakers and anyone working with CGI and content in 3D to create that content with incredible accuracy and flexibility. Unreal Engine 5, the current version (Summer 2023) is considered the world's most open and advanced tool for creating 3D content in real time.
The 3D tool contains numerous tools and resources to create entire game worlds. Size does not matter. The contents are scalable at any time. They look amazingly realistic, interactive elements are a matter of course. Depending on the industry, some functions are more interesting than others - the standard scope of the software first includes all the tools needed to create detailed worlds. Especially nice is the virtualizable micropolygon geometry system Nanite, which, together with the Virtual Shadow Maps, allows for an enormous variety of geometric details. The technical details should not be a topic at this point, that would lead too far.
To make CGI look realistic, believable lighting is important. That's what the Lumen tool is for. Illumination and reflections allow global illumination and reflections to be rendered in a lifelike and thus believable manner. You want to change the angle of the sun depending on the time of day? No problem at all. The geometry needs to be adjusted because an exterior door is opened? With Lumen, it's possible without light-map UVs. No one has to wait for light-maps to bake anymore, and reflection shots are not needed either. The editor shows what is really visible at the end - on the console.
Game developers are particularly fond of this tool because gamers expect framerates of 60 FPS or more on their high-resolution screens. This puts a strain on rendering resources. This is where TSR, short for Temporal Super Resolution, comes in. It's an integrated and platform-independent system used for upscaling. It allows the engine to render at much lower resolution, but with pixel accuracy and fidelity that approaches higher resolution frames.
Video from Unreal
3D simulations, virtual worlds: creating worlds together
So why should 3D artists work with this 3D tool? The answer is simple: the tools are artist-friendly. They allow for fast and precise iteration, no one needs to mess with DCC tools. The built-in machine learning allows for real-time deformations when animating 3D! Other nice features include mesh editing, geometry scripting, UV creation as well as editing and baking. So assets can be developed and edited directly in the Unreal editor. This also works for dense meshes created with photogrammetry tools, for example. So it's clear: this is a tool with power! But for what exactly?
Application areas for Unreal Engine
Really, Unreal Engine is known for the fact that Fortnite was created with it. But the creation of game worlds is only one possible scenario. The requirements are particularly high here, because the animated worlds have to be highly complex, scalable, interactive - gamers make demands. If the tool meets these demands, it can also be profitably used in a lot of other industries, that's clear. That's why the engine is also used for film and television. Animations are created with it.
Architecture is designed with the tool, which means faster design processes and thus more efficient work. Buildings can be visualized with just a few clicks. Working to scale and importing data from a whole range of 3D applications, CAD and BIM applications make it possible. The real estate industry works with this tool.
Unreal Engine - Danthree Studio
3D Unreal Studio - Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality
Software that can do it all doesn't have to stay in fictional worlds. Augmented reality (AR), VR and mixed reality, collectively known as XR, are becoming increasingly important in terms of creating immersive experiences. The complex scenes require exceptional quality and must be rendered at high frame rates. This is exactly what this tool does. The engine is powerful and has already proven itself for AAA video games, in film production and in photorealistic 3D visualization for products. As the ecosystems of hardware and software are constantly changing, the tool provides updates especially frequently - augmented reality is demanding. VR training is already being used in real-world environments. Surgeons train with medical VR simulations. In the automotive industry, vehicle ergonomics are tested in VR.
Advantages & opportunities of Unreal Engine for brands
With the engine, a powerful tool is available that makes the dreams of all creatives in the field of 3D/CGI come true. Of course, even simple CGI like 3D product photos are no longer created with a camera in a white box! CGI has replaced the photographer in many areas. The limitless potential of tools such as Unreal Engine allows us to think further here. What if a product catalog could be walked through? What if customers could interact with products before they buy them? What if that were possible from the comfort of their own sofa? This is where CGI/3D, XR and gaming come together. The Unreal Engine makes it possible.
3D Unreal Engine Agency - Danthree Studio
How do you work with such a tool? Where can you find 3D specialists who are familiar with it and can use it effectively? This is where Danthree Studio comes in. Our artists and designers work with this powerful tool, creating CGI that transports our business partners' customers into virtual worlds, letting them try and experience their products. Curious? Feel free to contact us via email or contact form. You are also welcome to call us.
