20.11.2023 – Sequencer
Week 8 – Sequencer in Unreal Engine
In Unreal, to render the scene set up in your camera, you need to add a sequence. Sequencer isn’t just for animating cameras, it can animate lights, sublevels, characters, and more.
Adding a sequencer can be done in two ways:
- Right-click on Content Browser – Cinematic – Level sequence
- Click the film icon on the shelf – Add level sequence or Add master sequence
When you create a master sequencer, there are shots you can enter. Each scene has different actors from the master sequence. To check the shot, ensure that ‘Unlock viewport from shots’ is toggled.
In the timeline, you can reference all actors from the original scene. There are two types of actors in the timeline:
- Possessable actors: currently existing in the scene, the acceptable and preferable choice.
- Spawnable Actors: spawn only temporarily for the duration of a scene. When the sequence ends, the Actor will be destroyed and removed (recognizable by its bolt icon in the name).
To see components of each actor, press Shift and V; you can close/open all components. You can work with your preference, whether to put every actor on the main sequence or put actors in each shot.
Actors can be added to the sequencer using these steps:
Select an object – Track – Actor to Sequencer (You can also drag & drop from the outliner; if you put it from the Content browser, it will be a Spawnable actor).
To add a new camera in Sequencer, press the camera icon (it will be a Spawnable Actor).
If you want to use an existing camera in the level, drag & drop a camera actor onto the sequencer, press the ‘+’ button beside ‘Camera cuts’ – existing binding – this sequence, and select the imported camera.
When you want to add component for an actor, press track on that actor and select components you want
Shortcuts in sequencer:
- ,/.: move to the next cut or keyframe
- ←→: move one frame forth/back
- ctrl+←→: move the keyframe one frame forth/back
- Shift+W: set a key for Location
- shift+E: set a key for Rotation
- Shift+R: set a key for Scale
Create a take: you don’t need to delete a shot if you’re unsure whether to use it or not. You can keep a specific shot when you want to change it. You can toggle takes whenever you want.
Next week, there will be a lecture about Rendering. After that, I hope to render a preview of my project.