The cinematic potential of the Unreal Engine 5

Exploring the possibilities of real-time rendering in the VFX industry

Modern movies and their cinematic standards could not be achieved without the help of VFX and 3D-rendered images. Almost all productions require CGI to bring their vision to life. But the excessive use of visual effects is also causing problems regarding the time and craftsmanship that is put into the production. This means that new technologies and out of the box thinking are required to keep the VFX industry up-to-date and ready for future movie projects. One of those ideas could be the trending topic of real-time rendering and whether this new method could be introduced into a traditional VFX pipeline. And even though the latest visual and technical achievements of such real-time rendering software like the Unreal Engine 5 made by Epic have not gone unnoticed in the industry, the actual cinematic potential of real-time rendering has not been fully embraced in traditional movie workflows yet. Therefore, this thesis is going to explore, why that is the case and whether or not the Unreal Engine 5 can be used for cinematic purposes, and if real-time rendering could impact different VFX workflows and pipelines in the future. The main challenge of this project, however, is to explore a tool that has mostly been used in the video game industry with very different workflows, conditions, and needs compared to movies and animation. So, in this regard, this thesis is about testing and experimenting with the Unreal Engine 5 in terms of real-time lighting, set building, animation, rendering, and look development. As well as the overall use cases of the engine in the VFX industry so far. And additionally, if this new tool could be a viable option to a pipeline or if this topic is better used for smaller productions or individual artists.

Masterarbeit von andre Kimberly Kneißl, betreut von Prof. Jens Müller und Prof. Dr. Thomas Rist. Cooperation: Rise Visual Effects Studios.