Link to my Animation Showreel:
Link to my UE project cinematic only:
Project Concept and Work Process
This project started with a clear visual idea and a short story that I wanted to tell only through images, camera movement and atmosphere, without dialogue. From the beginning, I planned the whole scene as a sequence of specific shots, each one with a clear purpose and emotion.
The story begins with a wide shot where my character appears from far away and walks into the scene. This was important for me to show the space and set the mood. Then the camera moves to a closer shot where the character notices something and reacts. That moment leads to the main point of interest in the scene – a flower.
After that, the camera switches back to a wide shot showing the character walking towards the flower. When the character reaches it, they crouch down to look at it closely. Here I wanted to slow down the pacing, so I planned a close-up shot of the flower first, followed by a close-up of the character, where the flower is still visible in the frame. This moment is meant to feel calm and focused.
From the flower, a small light appears and becomes the element that moves the story forward. The light flies upward, circles around the character, and the character follows it. Later, the light shoots off in one direction and the character decides to follow it. The journey ends at a cliff, where the character looks at the view from above. The final shots slowly move the camera to reveal the landscape and end with a fade to black.
Scene, Cameras and Sequencer
Even though the environment scene itself was already created, and I used it for my environment, I created all my own cameras and positioned them manually for each shot. This gave me full control over composition, framing and storytelling.
I worked extensively with the Sequencer to organize all the shots. I carefully decided when each camera should be active, how long each shot should last, and how the cuts between them should feel. I used both wide and close-up shots to control the rhythm and focus of the scene.
Character and Animation Work
The character in the project is completely my own work, including the mesh and the rig. A large part of the process was focused on preparing and fixing the animation in Maya before bringing it into Unreal Engine. I spent a lot of time adjusting the animation so it would work correctly in the engine.
Once inside Unreal, I still had to do a lot of fine-tuning. The original animation was too fast in some places, so I had to cut it, pause it, and reposition parts of it using keyframes. By carefully placing keys and adjusting timing inside the Sequencer, I was able to create longer, more emotional moments. This process took a lot of time, but it is where the scene really started to feel alive.
Light Effect Challenges
One of the biggest challenges in the project was the moving light effect. My original idea was to use a blue light created with a spline-based Niagara system. Controlling this effect turned out to be much more difficult than expected.
The light either started playing automatically without control, or it did not move at all. I spent a lot of time testing different setups, trying to understand how Niagara, splines and Sequencer work together. I also had to use external resources to learn how to properly control the effect using variables that track the path and progress of the light, and how to connect those variables to the Sequencer. I also had to manage the life cycle of the effect so it would start and stop at the right moments.
In the end, the original blue light setup did not work reliably enough, so I made the decision to change the effect and use a different one. The final light became pink instead of blue. Even though this was not my initial plan, it worked better visually and helped me move forward instead of getting stuck.
Rendering and Final Look
The final stage of the project was rendering, which was also more difficult than I expected. I had to spend a lot of time adjusting render settings, lighting, exposure and overall quality to achieve a clean and pleasing final look. The process was confusing at times, and it took many tests to understand how small changes affected the final image.
Conclusion
This project involved a lot of problem-solving, testing and adapting. I started with a clear concept and visual story, but throughout the process I had to adjust my ideas, change technical approaches and find alternative solutions. Working between Maya and Unreal Engine, controlling animation timing, building my own camera setup and handling complex visual effects taught me a lot about real production workflows.
In the end, the project is the result of many small decisions, fixes and adjustments, and it reflects both the creative and technical challenges I had to overcome.
Here are some screenshots from my project:
