Unreal Fellowship: World Building

About the Unreal Fellowship 

The Unreal Fellowship: World Building is a three-week virtual course that focuses on the fundamental principles of real-time production design, with a particular emphasis on the environments necessary for telling a captivating story.  

Throughout the day, the 100 participants attended classes led by Epic Games and external guest speakers, with the knowledge gained being applied to their individual projects. 

What was your project during the fellowship? 

Joey Relouw, Art Lead at Cradle R&D Lab, shares, 'The fellowship's theme was “World Building”, and we were each given a random set of parameters. Mine included “fantasy” as a genre, “windy” for environmental conditions, and “ice” as a building material. Using these parameters, I had to construct a level in Unreal Engine 5. At the end, Epic Games chose three projects to present to the entire group, and my project was among them!' 

Check out Joey's work on his ArtStation profile: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yDbzGx

'The parameters were provided to us by the "World Scene Generator". Through a roll of the dice, I received "retro 60s/70s/80s" as a genre, "ancient" as a visual style, and "office or lab space" as a setting,' shares Lothar Zhou, a Senior Lecturer in the Creative Media & Game Technologies programme. 'However, there were many more parameters involved. The project's result was a fly-through animation, a turntable animation, and a few high-resolution renders from crucial angles.' 

Check out Lothar’s ArtStation profile: https://www.artstation.com/lotharzhou 

Ella Betts, our XR Stage Coordinator, shares, 'I received parameters such as "retro 60s/70s/80s" as a genre, "recreational space" as a setting, "fog" for environmental conditions, "Romanesque" as an architectural style, "tropical jungle" as a climate type and "ocean/seaside/beach" as a landscape. I pondered over the essence of these parameters and conducted research about the era of the Flower Power. My creation culminated in a vibrant 60s bathhouse, adorned with lush flora and birds (complete with a retro birdhouse and pet cat). I named it "A Trip to Rome" and it ended up in fourth place!' 

Check out Ella's work in the YouTube video below.

What did you think of the Unreal Fellowship? 

‘It was an incredibly intense and educative three weeks. We were in a class of 15 people and had regular feedback and Q&A sessions, as well as opportunities to network. The community grew rapidly, and it was great to have the opportunity to work on a project with a lot of creative freedom. I gained a lot of knowledge and met new people, which will be useful for future projects,’ Joey says with a smile. 

'Despite having worked with Unreal for more than 10 years, I gained significant knowledge from both the guest lecturers and fellow students. The fellowship's framework provided ample inspiration for our curriculum, with a particular emphasis on virtual production and cinematics. As game development professionals, my colleagues from BUas and I held an advantage over other students. The fellowship compelled me to acquire proficiency in new features of UE5 and editing tools within UE5, such as Niagara,' remarks Lothar. 

'It was a challenging three-week period, particularly due to the differing skill levels of the participants. Lothar and Joey had more prior knowledge than I did,' shares Ella. ‘During the first part of the fellowship, we presented our research and reasoning for selecting specific assets from the Unreal Engine marketplace. We also shared our sources of inspiration and intended examples. It was a very educational experience. The guest speakers were truly inspiring and offered a diverse range of topics, including cinematography, virtual production, photogrammetry, and imagineering.' 

What's next for you now that you've finished this fellowship? 

‘Perhaps I'll participate in another fellowship with a different theme. Epic Games hosts two each year. However, for now, I plan to integrate all the things I learned into the work I do at BUas and specifically at our XR Stage. I lost some sleep during these three weeks... But it was worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat,' Joey concludes. 

'Abundant tips and technical tutorials are a treasure trove,’ says Lothar, expressing his satisfaction. ‘I believe that the knowledge I've gained can be applied in my workshops and guilds, and I've already used it to provide feedback to my students. I anticipate that it will help elevate the curriculum of our year 3 project design and creative briefing.' 

'The fellowship was a real emotional roller coaster, but I would jump at the chance to do it again,' Ella says, smiling. 'I have met some fascinating people and had the opportunity to ask them many questions. Last week, I was already able to use the knowledge I gained during the fellowship to assist one of the virtual production interns on the XR stage. He was experiencing an issue with out-of-focus glass rendering. Over the next months, I plan to delve deeper into learning everything there is to know about Unreal Engine, and I would be thrilled to participate in this fellowship again or the animation fellowship in November.'