Towers of Enoi

The final project of CINE 215: Introduction to 3D Animation focused on building a world in Unreal Engine 5 with 4 team members, consisting of various individual levels all set in the same universe. Each level was meant to demonstrate each individual’s proficiency with the basic tools and functionalities of Unreal Engine 5, including lighting w/ Nanite, digital cinematography, and the asset store/Quixel Megascans. Simultaneously, teams were expected to express their creativity and ability to convey a unique world.

Early on in the process, I contributed the base idea for the world, centering on the apocalyptic, fantasy subcontinent of “The Shield.” I would personally focus on a notable structure, the “Towers of Enoi.” Creating the level required the creation of a landscape, which I would eventually use World Machine (a procedural, node-based terrain generator) for. I then took the height map generated by this program and exported it to UE5, scaled it to an appropriate size, then created a landscape texture that blended multiple Megascan textures from Quixel into one brush-able texture. After brushing the textures onto the landscape, I then imported multiple assets from both Quixel Megascans and the UE5 Asset Store, modified them according to my vision, then placed them throughout the level along with appropriately sparse foliage. The results can be seen below:

This project, and class in general, exposed me to many different tools and programs relevant to my desired career path, and demonstrated both how far I have to go and how surprisingly accessible it is. I realized that I could assemble pretty decent looking scenes without necessarily having to shell out money or spend unfathomable amounts of time, although if I wanted to make a truly amazing scene, I’d have to put in much more effort than I currently have. I also learned how difficult taking on a directorial role can be. Since I contributed the initial idea, I felt great attachment to how the world was portrayed and thus vetoed certain ideas early on in the process. However, I realized that as much as this was a team project, it was an individual project as well. I eventually settled on providing simple directions while letting my teammates go wild with their ideas. However, in the future with a more unified project, I have learned that I will need to hit the right balance between direction and individual creativity.