Week 3: Sequencer

This week, we began working with the Unreal Engine 5 Sequencer. I learned how to translate film production techniques into the Unreal Engine Sequencer, with an emphasis on understanding the key differences between traditional film production and the Unreal Engine workflow.

Film

1. Master Scene Technique (Master Shot)

• This refers to filming an entire scene in a single, continuous shot from a wider angle, usually capturing the entire set and all the actors involved. The master shot provides coverage for the whole scene, establishing the geography of the action and relationships between the characters.

2. Coverage Cameras

• Coverage refers to additional shots taken from various angles and distances after the master shot. These include close-ups, over-the-shoulder shots, and inserts that help emphasize emotions, reactions, and details. These are edited with the master shot to build the final scene, ensuring smooth continuity and flexibility during the editing process.

3. Linear vs Non-Linear Storytelling

• Linear: A narrative that progresses in chronological order, moving from beginning to end without jumping in time.
• Non-Linear: A narrative that doesn’t follow a strict chronological order. It may involve flashbacks, flash-forwards, or scenes out of sequence to create a more dynamic or layered story.

4. Triple Take Technique

• This is when a director asks for three takes of a specific shot, often with slight variations in performance, framing, or blocking. It gives editors multiple options to choose from during post-production and helps ensure the scene is captured effectively.

5. Overlapping Action

• A technique where parts of a movement or action are staggered or delayed, making it more realistic. For example, when a character turns, their body, head, and arms don’t move at the same time. This is common in animation, but in live-action, it’s often seen in the timing and natural flow of actions.

6. Hitting Marks

• In film production, actors are given specific spots (marks) where they need to stand or move during a scene for the best camera angles, lighting, and focus. “Hitting the mark” means landing on that spot accurately while delivering a performance.

7. Traditional Live Action Production Roles

• Gaffer: The head electrician on set, responsible for managing lighting setups based on the cinematographer’s vision.
• Grips: Technicians who handle the rigging and setup of equipment (e.g., lights, dollies, scaffolds). Key grips lead this team.
• Production Manager: Oversees the logistics of the production, ensuring that the schedule, budget, and resources are well managed.
• Director of Photography (DP): Responsible for the visual look of the film, working closely with the director to choose camera angles, lighting, and shot composition.

These are all crucial elements of traditional live-action filmmaking, giving a solid foundation for understanding how a production comes together from both creative and technical standpoints.

Unreal Engine

1. Sequence-Based Linear Workflow

• One Level Sequence: This refers to the organization of a scene or project as a single, continuous timeline or sequence. In linear workflows, this sequence progresses from start to finish, without any jumps or re-arrangements. It’s simpler but may lack the flexibility of non-linear editing.
• Multi-Camera: In a multi-camera setup, several cameras record a scene from different angles simultaneously. This allows for capturing various perspectives (e.g., wide shots, close-ups) in one take, which can then be edited together in post-production.
• Single Camera Cuts Track: In a single-camera setup, each shot is filmed separately, one at a time. The footage is then edited together in post-production. “Cuts track” refers to editing the individual shots together in sequence on a single track in the timeline.

2. Shot-Based Non-Linear Workflow

• Nested Level Sequences: These are sub-sequences or smaller units of a larger project that can be worked on independently and then combined into the main timeline. In a non-linear workflow, scenes can be rearranged, edited out of sequence, or altered without needing to stick to a strict order. Nested sequences are particularly useful for complex projects where different parts of a scene are handled separately and then “nested” back into the main project.
• Take System: A system used to manage multiple versions (or “takes”) of the same shot or scene. This allows the editor or director to easily switch between different takes to find the best one for a specific moment in the timeline. It’s common in both animation and live-action editing.
• Sub-Scene Tracks (Optional): Optional tracks that allow specific elements of a scene, such as animation, sound, or visual effects, to be edited and adjusted independently. This provides flexibility for making changes to one part of the scene without affecting the whole.

3. Multi-Artist Collaborative Workflow

• Sub-Levels: Sub-levels are subdivisions of the main project that different artists can work on independently. In complex projects, having sub-levels ensures that multiple people can collaborate on different parts without interfering with each other’s work.
• Sub-Scene Tracks: Similar to sub-levels but more granular, sub-scene tracks allow various aspects of a scene (e.g., animation, lighting, or sound) to be separated and worked on individually. This modular approach is useful in a collaborative environment where specialists focus on their specific areas.
• Visibility Tracks: These control the visibility of certain elements or layers in a scene. For example, an artist may choose to hide specific props, characters, or effects during editing or rendering to focus on a particular aspect of the project.

Workflow Comparison

• Linear Workflow is straightforward, where everything is worked on in a fixed order from start to finish. It’s more commonly used in traditional filmmaking where the story or scenes are shot in sequence.
• Non-Linear Workflow allows for flexibility, where shots, scenes, and edits can be arranged, changed, or modified out of order. This is especially useful in animation and VFX-heavy productions, where various artists can work on different parts of the project simultaneously, and the final sequence is pieced together later.

These workflows are critical for large-scale productions, especially when teams need to collaborate efficiently without stepping on each other’s toes or slowing down the process.

After understanding the key differences between traditional film production and Unreal Engine, we began working with the Sequencer. I learned that the Sequencer is Unreal Engine’s Non-Linear Editing Tool, offering features such as:

• Ground-up Shot Creation: Allows creators to build individual shots from scratch within the Unreal Engine, providing full control over elements like camera angles, lighting, and scene composition.
• Pre-visualization: A tool used to create rough versions of scenes or sequences before full production. It helps visualize how a final scene will look and aids in planning and decision-making.
• Full Film Creation: Unreal Engine can be used for the end-to-end creation of entire films, from pre-production to final rendering, providing a virtual production environment.
• Game Cinematic Creation: The tool is also used to create cinematic sequences for games, helping to craft narrative-driven cutscenes or trailers with high-quality visuals.

This makes Unreal Engine highly versatile for both film and game industries.

I learned that in film, the narrative is typically structured as a collection of sequences, often following a three-act structure. In contrast, Unreal Engine uses a Level Sequence, which organizes Nested Level Sequences to build an entire narrative film.

We were introduced to two new terms: Possessable and Spawnable Actors, where Possessable actors are like Zombies which we don’t want in our scene and Spawnable actors are considered to be the angles which we always want in our scene. For Spawnable actors we will have to call them for them to appear in our scene whereas for possessable actors they will be seen in our scene always no matter what.

Afterward, we created a sample project named DMX Previs Sample to learn how to create new cameras within the scene and animate their movements, all while gaining experience with the Sequencer and the process of adding cameras and other objects to it so that we can keyframe them and animate them.

We learned to create Spawnable Actors after adding the models to the Sequencer. By right-clicking on the object I wish to convert into a Spawnable Actor and selecting Create Spawnable within the Sequencer, the object becomes a Spawnable Actor. This ensures that the object is always available in the Sequencer whenever we need to render the scene or access the Sequencer.

We created a Level Sequence and then opened the Sequencer to add a camera to the DMX Previs Sample scene. After incorporating the camera into the Sequencer, we adjusted the focus property from frame 1 to frame 100 and keyframed it to create a simple animation.

This week, I experimented with camera settings and movements to create various camera animations while enhancing my understanding of cameras in Unreal Engine, all while learning to use the Sequencer effectively.