From undiscovered worlds and neon cityscapes to desolate futures and robotic ecosystems, this year’s Unreal Fellowship: Storytelling program produced some seriously impressive shorts, several of which embraced the science-fiction genre in all its glory. Here we’ve rounded up some of our favorites to show you what’s possible when you combine an out-of-this-world story with Unreal Engine’s galaxy-conquering capabilities.If the program is new to you, it was designed to help 3D,CG and VFX artists re-skill themselves in real-time technology. As well as CG and VFX artists, key decision makers – directors, cinematographers, and VFX supervisors also joined in the short format training course.

Over the course of six weeks, each participant attended 24 classes, which touched on the foundational principles of linear animated storytelling and film production, including story, modeling, layout, lighting, and rendering. They then use these skills to create their own short film.

By the end of the program each participant could:

  • Import hard surface models for environmental scene construction
  • Deploy effective lighting and material systems to create a stylized look
  • Understand and utilize the character ingestion pipeline to animate performances
  • Implement and retarget performance capture data on character models
  • Operate a virtual camera solution to stream camera data into Unreal Engine
  • Utilize Sequencer to compose, animate, edit, and render a short film

See some of our favorite sci-fi themed shorts from the program below.
 

Love Is a Dangerous Game – James Bown

Source: Unreal Engine Blog