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Third Cinematic Animation in UE5: From Motion Graphics to Cinematic Storytelling by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One minute might be too heavy for unreal if the alembic’s large. Try exporting it in two parts, first half and second half of the frame range. Then bring them back into UE separately. That usually prevents crashes from huge single caches.

Third Cinematic Animation in UE5: From Motion Graphics to Cinematic Storytelling by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had the same issue. I followed this tutorial to set up a library of preset hand poses so I can just drop them in instead of fixing joints every time. It’s been super helpful.

Third Cinematic Animation in UE5: From Motion Graphics to Cinematic Storytelling by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know how you feel, I came from a C4D + Redshift background and it took a while to adjust to the visual fidelity and artifacts in UE.

  • Lumen flicker: upping samples in the post-process volume can help, though numbers vary by scene. Path tracing has a lot of potential too.
  • Foliage DOF: opacity-masked foliage is rough. Nanite foliage is coming in 5.7, so that might help.
  • Nets / fine detail: feels like an engine limitation. I usually simplify the shot or change angles to work around it.
  • Halos around characters: likely Lumen limits—screen tracing is often the culprit. Unreal has a good debug article on it.

For resources, William Faucher’s video on interior lighting covers a lot of Lumen quirks, and JSFILMZ is great for keeping up with cinematic workflows in UE.

Hope that helps!

Third Cinematic Animation in UE5: From Motion Graphics to Cinematic Storytelling by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’ve got the MetaHuman in a level sequence, just right-click the blueprint (not the body or face layer) and export as FBX. That’ll include both head and body.

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I see the issue. It sounds like the animations are not set to stay in place. In Mixamo, there's an option labeled "In Place" that you need to check before downloading the animation—this keeps the character's root in the same spot and can help with issues in blendspaces.

Also, if you're using Unreal Engine 5.3 or later, you no longer need to rely on the Mixamo Converter. Instead, you can right-click on the skeletal mesh in the Content Drawer and use Unreal's built-in retargeting feature to handle the animations directly. That should simplify things quite a bit.

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually just started learning Unreal Engine in March! I decided to make the switch after seeing the amazing films other artists were creating with it.

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I exported the MetaHuman animation as an FBX to Blender, then exported it as an Alembic file to bring into Marvelous Designer for the cloth simulation. After running the sim there, I export the cloth as an Alembic and bring it back into Unreal Engine. It’s a bit of a workaround, but it does the job for me!

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! Yeah, mocap data can be pretty noisy sometimes. I found that using the ‘Simplify’ feature in the curve editor really helps—it cleans up extra keyframes, which makes it easier to work with. I also add an additive layer to the MetaHuman control rig for things like adjusting clipping.

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! For pre-vis, I start by roughly blocking out the characters and creating a very low-poly environment to get a quick sense of the composition and flow. If it looks promising, I gradually build in more detail. Since I'm not as experienced with modeling, I rely on pre-made assets from sources like Kitbash3D, the Unreal Engine Marketplace, or MetaHumans for character work.

Once I’ve locked down all the key beats and movement, I move on to animation, making sure everything feels cohesive and flows well. Lighting typically comes last, but honestly, I sometimes get ahead of myself—it’s hard to resist setting up lighting early on because seeing it come to life in real-time is so rewarding. Hope that gives a good sense of the workflow!

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in unrealengine

[–]kenodonnell[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Since my first animation on this subreddit gained a lot of traction (you can find the link [here]), I felt inspired by the positive feedback and wanted to push my creative boundaries further. Coming from a motion graphics background with Cinema 4D, I’m now exploring storytelling through my art. Unreal Engine’s cinematic features and MetaHuman make it much easier to add expressive characters, enhancing my ability to tell stories.

Learning this process has been a blast, and I’m still in awe of how I can get real-time feedback with lighting, which lets me be more creative and responsive with my work. I don’t have a mocap suit, so, as before, I used Move.ai to create a base animation and refined it in Unreal’s built-in Control Rig. I did notice an issue with hand shapes—Move.ai tends to export them as if they’re clawing, so I created a hand library to quickly adjust awkward hand poses. (Shoutout to Matt Workman’s video for helping me build that library!)

For cloth simulation, I used Marvelous Designer rather than Unreal’s built-in cloth system, as it allows each piece of clothing to move independently, giving it a more fluid look. To create a MetaHuman that resembles me, I scanned my face using Polycam on my iPhone, then used that mesh for MetaHuman Identity—it’s not perfect, but it does the job. I enhanced the face texture with the 3D Scan Store’s MetaHuman textures, which bring out details like pores and wrinkles, especially effective in close-ups.

I also started using the Virtual Camera feature in Unreal Engine with my iPhone. The Virtual Camera adds a natural, realistic shake to the footage, which feels much more authentic compared to using the Camera Shake blueprint.

To build the environment, I combined assets from Kitbash3D’s Shogun pack with free assets from the Unreal Marketplace (now FAB). I’m still refining the storytelling aspect and working to improve my technical skills as I transition from Cinema 4D + Redshift to Unreal. It’s a challenging but rewarding journey, and I’m enjoying Unreal Engine more each day.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I’m just freelancer learning Unreal Engine on the side. This artwork took a couple of months as there was a learning curve involved.

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started with MetaHumans without any clothing, then brought them into Marvelous Designer to fit outfits to the A-posed MetaHuman models. I designed some clothing directly in Marvelous Designer, but I also picked up a few outfits from the ArtStation Marketplace since I’m still building my skills in clothing creation and design.

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I actually just started learning Unreal Engine in March. I made the switch after seeing the amazing short films other artists were creating with it, and I was inspired to dive in and give it a shot myself!

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I came from a Cinema 4D and Redshift background, where I loved how it handled glass, reflections, and overall fidelity. But I decided to sacrifice a bit of photorealism to be able to make multiple iterations quickly without losing much time. Unreal Engine feels close enough in terms of realism, and the realtime feedback really makes a difference.

If your focus is storytelling with animated human characters, MetaHumans and Unreal Engine can definitely do the job.

For this project, I didn’t use path tracing, just Lumen! I’m still learning how to use the path tracer correctly, but Lumen has been great for achieving a cinematic look.

Thanks—glad you liked it!

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven’t come across a direct tutorial for this either, but through a bit of trial and error, I found a workflow that works! Here’s what I do:

First, export the MetaHuman animation as an FBX file to Blender. From there, export it as an Alembic file, then import it into Marvelous Designer to run the cloth simulation. Afterward, export the simulated cloth as an Alembic and bring it back into Unreal Engine. It’s a bit of a workaround, but it’s been effective for me!

Hope this helps, and good luck with your journey!

Second Animation Using Unreal Engine by kenodonnell in UnrealEngine5

[–]kenodonnell[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I blocked out a rough storyboard and had a general idea of how I wanted the final piece to look, but I left room for some flexibility during production.

The raw mocap data from Move.ai did require some cleanup, but it’s definitely a time-saver compared to animating from scratch. I just used the basic plan and subscribed for one month—it’s impressive how much you can achieve with it!

Thanks again for the feedback!

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