The release of Unreal Engine 5.1 sees improvements that will benefit creators across all industries. In this blog, we take a special look at what’s new for makers of both live-action and animated film and television content—including virtual production and LED stage projects—as well as for broadcasters and live event production teams.The exponential growth in adoption of Unreal Engine over the last two years by media and entertainment professionals and companies of all sizes has yielded successful projects like performance-driven character animation YouTube show Xanadu, the Caledon soccer commercial by Pixomondo, and the new virtual production studio by Fox Sports. With Unreal Engine 5.1, our aim is to empower the industry to build on that success, with a toolset that’s more extensive, robust, and accessible than ever before.
What’s new in Unreal Engine 5.1 for media and entertainment
Enhanced support for stage operations
Stage operators working under pressure in the fast-paced environment of an LED stage will welcome a new dedicated In-Camera VFX Editor that supports a range of workflows specifically tailored for the tasks they need to carry out. This largely eliminates the need for stage operators to hunt through the Outliner for specific objects and controls.
A corresponding iOS application that mirrors the editor’s functionality, but with a UI adjusted for a touch interaction, is planned for release within the next few weeks. In related news, we’ve improved the UI, UX, and performance of the Remote Control APIs, enabling you to construct powerful custom browser-based remote controls more quickly and easily.
The new editor hosts an interface to an improved Light Card system that displays as a preview of the nDisplay wall. As well as making it intuitive and efficient to create, move, and edit light cards and save templates, the new light cards can retain their shape on the wall, eliminating distortion.
Source: Unreal Engine Blog