Gate Expectations

And now for something…completely different than medical animation.

A musician friend of mine recently asked me to collaborate with him on a music video for a melancholy instrumental track entitled “Gate”. This offered a chance to delve into a different genre, and explore real-time animation workflows with Unreal Engine.

After soaking in the track, to me it created a feeling of nostalgia and wistful melancholy. I felt that the visuals should also evoke the feelings of a bygone era – a joyful night at the county fair captured on Super 35mm (or is it VHS?), the grainy texture of the film and the warm, nostalgic hues transport us to a simpler time, where the world was still full of possibility and the future felt just out of reach. The fairgrounds, with their spinning lights and distant laughter, become a metaphor for the fleeting moments of joy that we often fail to recognize until they are gone.

While the majority of the rides utilized were from an existing UE5 asset pack, these were supplemented with custom models for the swings and roller coaster.

The swing ride was custom modeled inside Cinema4D and brought into Unreal for animation and rendering.

The roller coaster was animated in Cinema4D and baked to an alembic file to be brought into Unreal.

Handheld Cinematography

For the cinematography of this piece, I wanted to capture a handheld, shaky camera to complement the home video, low-fi aesthetic. The aim was to make it feel like it was shot by an amateur cinematographer. For this, Unreal Engine offered the perfect tool – the Unreal VCam. Using the VCam, I was able to utilize my iPad to explore different shot sizes, movements, and framing, all rendering in real-time in a live VR-like experience. The handheld shakiness captured in the final piece looks authentic because it was truly a direct capture of the handheld camera movements I performed holding the iPad.

Adding Characters

To add characters to the scenes, I relied heavily on Metahumans, and retargeted animation data selected from the Mixamo database of pre-built animation data. This data was brought into Unreal as FBX files. I’ve experimented with various different motion-capture solutions, and hope to use that in a future production, but found Mixamo’s pre-built animations to be sufficient for this project.

Use of a virtual VCam inside Unreal Engine to capture true handheld camera movement.

Characters in the scenes were imported from Epic’s Metahumans. Character animation by Mixamo.

Creating Vintage Footage with Modern Video Editing

Imagine taking your brand-new footage and turning it into something that looks like it was shot decades ago. Here’s how I accomplished that using
post-processing effects:

Noise & Grain: By adding noise and grain, I can give the footage a textured look, similar to what you’d see on old film. Think of it like adding a bit of dust or tiny scratches to each frame.
Color Grading: I’ll adjust the colors to mimic the warm, faded tones of vintage film. This includes adding slight tints and desaturating colors to make them look like they’ve aged over time.
Pops & Scratches: Random pops, scratches, and light leaks can be added to make the video look like it was played on an old projector or camcorder. These imperfections add authenticity to the vintage feel.
Frame Rate Adjustments: Super 8 and VHS had different frame rates compared to modern cameras. I adjusted the frame rate to match those older styles, giving the footage that classic, jerky motion.
Vignettes & Blurs: Adding darkened edges (vignettes) and slight blurring can make it look like the footage was captured with older, less sharp lenses.