My level file on UE5 was corrupted as my computer crashed while saving. Assets are all intact but I am redo-ing all of the kitbashing and overlay of the cyberpunk city once again. Camera and shot setups have also been wiped so that will have to be redone from the start.

Progress Images of the redo.

I was careful this time around to not overload the level with unneccessary assets, things that would not be seen on camera to reduce the chances for crashes because of memory usage.

After that, I started re-rendering everything and putting it into Davinci Resolve to begin on cutting the film together.

I tried to frame the installation in a creeping/ horror sort of way, having it sit in the background and peeking into the camera until it finally “jumpscares” the viewer all culminating in a final exposition of the Installation Array.

Timeline after most of the edits.

I used Pixabay for its royalty free sound effects. And Udio to create generic sounding old-ish british music to be used diegetically.

Soundmixing to get surround sound audio.

>>> FINAL OUTPUT

Decided that I should have a spatial structure as my the focus of the final shots in my model, that summarizes what is the architecture I am trying to represent.

Diegetically it is a cooling array for the surrounding buildings or an underground server room. Both functional and aesthetic.

Sketchup in development model.

Imported model into Cyberwharf’s Montgomery Square using datasmith. Converted it into a blueprint for easier use. Each Cooling tower is its own blueprint.

The sculpture, originally only aesthetic was further developed with the idea that is also a functional piece of architecture.

Diegetically it would function as a cooling tower to support the large amount of cooling required within a high-tech cyberpunk world.

Model to be imported using Datasmith into UE5.

UE5 Nodegraph for the functionality of Iteration 2 of the Cooling Tower.

I used a high contrast image cityscape image and used its greyscale as an alpha to achieve transparency apart from a few point lights. Layering and staggering them to emulate distant city lights.

Flat planes with emissive light textures to give an illusion of a cityscape.

I attempted to use Niagara to create some smoke effects to fill the street. However, doing fluid simulated volumetric smoke, complete with collisions is very resource intensive and outside of my scope.

I fell back on a old school method of faking volumetric fog that is used in video games of using flat textures, set to pan onto spheres produced by an emitter to emulate the effect of smoke.

Storyboard Sketches for the views

A couple of storyboard sketches to set up some visuals on some of the views I wish to show. It is indevelopment and bound to change.

Setting up Camera work

UE5 Sequence Editor. I am arranging all shots into one sequencer and will be seperating them/editing them in post to reduce time spent.

Installation Modelling

Started thinking about what can we put into the space that talks about what is my “architecture that I am representing.”

Talks with my tutor led to the idea that with everything around being holograms/emissive, my reflection upon it should be something more physical or kinetic.

Idea of reflecting upon the invasive advertisements and rearranging them through the use of mirrors to create a new image for the viewer.

Inspired by the head of Franz Kafka a kinetic structure of rotating slabs, I developed a quick proof of concept iteration of this installation.

Installation Iteration 1

Nodegraph of Blueprint to create rotation

Added 3D Holograms as wel onto the level.

Test Render

I have the ideas of some of the flow of the video :

1. Aerial View

2. Boat Arrival

3. Walk through the city

4. Installation.

Will be working on them in the week to come.

Setting up the camera angles ASAP would be benefiicial to reducing the amount of detailing I have to do by providing fixed areas in which the camera would be actually looking at.

More layering onto Unreal model was done to make it more “British” as the cyberpunk assets were a bit too generic at the time it was hard to identify the location as “Canary Wharf” or at least London.. Adding a couple nods towards British things with holosigns.

Before

After

Started working on the street kitbash. And tweaked the lighting, and weather settings.

Material Instances for the British Building Holograms

Did some asset modelling, to flesh out the cyberpunk world. Decided to do a couple Narrowboats but cyberpunked and bits and bobs kitbash assets to fit onto the city itself.

Imported into unreal engine for material testing.

Was a bit of a slower week in terms of work, figured out how to rudimental do texture mapping from Sketchup to UE5, enough for the intended purpose.

Additional Kitbashing was done for the narrowboats to make it be cyberpunk worthy. Addition of solar panels and utility modules.

A Hologram sign modelled to add more flavour to the street views.

Figured out some possible camera angles that I might want to show in my final renders.

Learning how to do holograms beams, referencing those in Night City of Cyberpunk 2077.

I used this tutorial to learn how to create moving textures and from there developed my own nodes for this purpose.

HoloBeams

Holo Beam Node Graph. It is a simple panner node with a couple of overlaying texture nodes to create the effect.

Holo beams in City

Started Kitbashing “Cyber Wharf”. Most are low LoD as they will be viewed from a far as a midground and background element. With Cesium breaking down at more human scales, I have to rebuild/create individual street for scenes.

Street overlay

A lot more work need to be done.

Following this tutorial to learn how to make holograms and animated holograms. Assets used from the tutorial files as well.

Premade assets were scalped through other free tutorial files provided by various youtubers. Large number of them these free downloadable tutorial project files redistributed parts of KB3D’s Cyberpunk and CyberDistrict packs which I had to reassemble within Unreal.

Megascans by Quixel provide a lot of premade material file.

Materials tutorial

Just learning unreal mostly, Figuring out the workflows I need to produce the feel I am looking for.

Figured out how to load OSM data using Cesium into UE5

Havent solidfy what my idea is, but leaning towards Cyberpunking Canary Wharf.

Have to think about Spatial Problem question, current iteration is

How would Canary Wharf look in a Cyberpunk Future?

Distilling down the meaning of Cyberpunk. It is not necessarily powered. Most discussions lay it to the terms

“High Tech, Low Life”

Refering to the improvement in technology exemplifying the daily issues and inequalities.

Also need to refigure out how to use Squarespace.

My main reference would be the montage sequence in Ghost in the Shell,

Following a walkthrough of the city with a protagonist. That being a cooling array sculpture.