Unreal Engine's Role in Star Wars: The Mandalorian

The Rise of Skywalker is set to be the 'last' Star Wars film before Disney takes a break sci-fi franchise this giant. Unfortunately, many fans were skeptical of Episode IX after being disappointed by the direction of director Rian Johnson in The Last Jedi. But the good news is that there is still hope for Star Wars. The attention of fans is now focused on The Mandalorian series which airs on the Disney+ service.

If you've been following The Mandalorian, you might see something interesting when the film ends and the part credit displayed. There, Lucasfilm/Disney listed an unusual name in the realm of cinema: Epic Games, the studio behind Fortnite and Unreal Tournament. The reason? It turns out that Jon Favreau as the author and creator of this series utilizes Unreal Engine technology in making The Mandalorian.

Unreal itself is engine which is the basis of many games, well blockbuster and independent: The Outer Worlds, We Happy Few, Street Fighter V, Sea of ​​Thieves, to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - there's a long line game who carried it. Engine it has become one of the developer's favorite choices because of its 'high portability', flexibility, and ease of modification. The question is, what did Unreal do in The Mandalorian?

In the discussion session at the SIGGRAPH 2019 conference, Favreau explained how Unreal Engine really helps the previsualization process. They use the V-systemcam to make a movie in VR, send it to the editor and let them do the editing. In addition, the combination of the Unreal Engine and a number of technologies is also very useful in smoothing the production flow.

One example: Unreal Engine can be used to build virtual environments (computer-generated), then the scene is projected onto the LED wall. Based on the position of the camera and the type of lens used, the perspective on the projection can change naturally and automatically. In this way, Unreal's technology can provide live visual information for the actors, as well as provide an accurate lighting system for the VFX team.

How it works like this:

In certain scenes, depending on setting and the type of lens, the crew can clearly see where the camera is, what the lighting is like, the interaction of light with the object/actor, layout, background and horizon. They don't need to put the pieces together anymore because engine have alreadyyield environment/scenery real-time.

One of the main advantages of the visualization method on-set thanks to Unreal's support, actors no longer have to guess. An actor may be able to detect anomalies when looking at the LED screen up close, but in acting he can clearly see the conditions of the set, the position of the horizon and the lighting thanks to the use of LED walls - ensuring the acting process is simpler.

Outside of acting, Unreal Engine's tech support creates situations that allow more of the crew on set to understand the scene being or about to be shot. That means, everyone can more easily share ideas and give each other input.

You can see the role of the Unreal Engine in the The Mandalorian series in more detail in the article This venturebeat.

Header image: StarWars.com.