Month: January 2026

This week, we were given the time to start working on our own projects. I began building my scene, focusing on creating my alley environment. It felt good to finally move from exercises to something more personal, and to start shaping the space where my final idea will take place.

Alongside this, I also started browsing FAB to look for assets that could support my scene. Exploring different props and environmental elements helped me think more about the overall mood and how everything could come together visually.

This week, we focused on color grading and how LUTs can be used to enhance the overall look of a scene in Unreal Engine. Starting from a base template provided by Serra, we took the LUT into Adobe Photoshop and experimented with different adjustments to shape the visual style. By playing with contrast, color balance, and tone, we were able to create a look that felt more intentional and atmospheric.

Once the LUT was ready, we brought it back into Unreal Engine and applied it through a Post Process Volume. Seeing the changes appear instantly in the scene made it clear how powerful color grading can be in setting the mood and strengthening the visual identity.

We focused on lighting and got our first look at post-processing tools. By experimenting with different light sources, we saw how lighting choices can completely change the tone of an environment. Adjusting things like brightness, color, and shadow settings helped make scenes feel more atmospheric and visually convincing.

We also tried out something new by using a material to modify a spotlight, adding extra texture and detail to the light itself. To finish the week, we explored a few post-processing effects, which showed how final visual tweaks can really bring a scene together and add more depth.

This week’s Unreal Engine class introduced us to Control Rigs and procedural animation. Compared to previous lessons, this topic felt a lot more complex and technical. We learned how animations can be created directly inside Unreal Engine by setting up logic that drives movement, instead of relying on pre-made animations.

As an exercise, we worked on a snake-like rig. By linking joints together and using different nodes, we managed to create a flowing, wave-style motion where the movement of the head influenced the rest of the body. Understanding how everything connected took some time, but once it started working, it was satisfying to see the motion come together.

This week was focused on understanding how physical behavior is handled inside Unreal Engine. We experimented with the engine’s physics system by testing how objects respond to forces and gravity. Using basic shapes, we adjusted properties like weight and movement settings to observe how these changes affected their behavior once physics were activated.

Later on, we worked with Blueprints to build a more complex setup. We assembled multiple meshes into a single structure and connected them using physics constraints to create a flexible, chain-like motion. By adjusting the constraint settings, we could directly control how freely the structure moved, which made the results easy to understand and experiment with.

This week, I had a one-on-one conversation with Serra, where we took a closer look at my project ideas and discussed what is realistically achievable and what might be too ambitious. It helped me better understand the scope of the project and where I should focus my time and energy.

Alongside that, I spent time working on a storyboard. Breaking the idea down into separate shots made the concept feel more concrete and manageable, and it gave me a clearer direction for how the final result could come together.

This week was all about materials and how they affect the look of our scenes in Unreal Engine. We learned how to assign materials to objects and experimented with building them up inside the material editor by connecting different nodes together. It was interesting to see how adjusting small values or links could completely change the surface of an object. Working with materials felt more technical, but also very creative.

This week, we dove deeper into Unreal Engine, with a strong focus on the Level Sequencer and creating cinematics. We also used FAB for the first time, which made finding and adding assets to our scenes a lot easier.

Besides working in the engine, we talked through our final project ideas with Serra. My inspiration is moving in a slightly darker direction. I’m thinking about a cat that slowly transforms into a zombie, inspired by The Walking Dead. I like the idea of using cinematics to really show that transformation and set a strong atmosphere.

During the Unreal Engine lesson, we took our first steps inside the software. We navigated through the workspace, learned where everything is located, and experimented with the basic tools. We also looked at how environments are built up step by step, and how combining different elements brings a world to life. After that, we were able to try things out ourselves by setting up our first simple interactions.

In the first week, everything revolved around getting to know each other. We met our classmates and teachers, and during these lessons we also received our first introduction to Unreal Engine. To break the ice, we played a game where I had to draw the person sitting next to me using my non-dominant hand.