So having modelled the various components in Blender I have now imported them into Unreal Engine.  Unreal Engine is made by Epic Games and is a heavyweight games design software. With it game designers have produced some incredible games with really spectular graphics. I will just be using it to produce a few nice graphics as it gives a really nice look without having to wait days for the renders.

The city, we are told, lies on a flat plain but would probably be contrasted aginst mountains in the distance. Also like most cities, would be situated by a source of water. So the next step is to create the terrain. Unreal Engine provides some really good tools for sculpting a landscape.

Now I have a basic layout I can start creating some camera moves. I have decided (for the time being) on three main moves.

I wanted to start with a shot a little bit away from the city and for the first view of it to be that of a traveller coming through a mountain pass with the city laid out before him:

For the second shot I wanted to create that feeling you get when you travel down the road and a large structure maybe a mountain or moon, to one side of you doesn’t seem to move. The hills, trees and buildings in front fly past but the distant object stays stationary:

And lastly I decided to have a slow move toward the city gate, like a traveller not knowing exactly what is waiting for him ahead, possibly feeling a little apprehensive in the approach:

I’m hoping the next post will be the last before the final release of these shots. I basically now have to spend time dressing the scene, adding trees and foliage along with other items to fill it out.

So look out for the final post in this series…