This is my entry into the Unreal Lighting Challenge! Title: Better Late than Never Twitter: My entry into this challenge was rather last minute as I simply didn’t know if I’d have time but thankfully this week, I found some spare hours to create something I am happy to submit! I’ll be the first to admit there are some things that could use some improvement here, artifacts and the animation is a bit robotic at times, but due to my limited time and very limited hardware power, I am happy with what I have been able to do and is a testament to what Lumen and UE5 allows lower end PCs to accomplish. After I decided to enter this challenge earlier this week the first thing I did was consider the criteria themselves. Lighting, Composition, and mood all seem pretty straight forward for a lighting challenge, but the 4th criteria “Use of Theme” stuck with me as a solid foundation for idea generation. I recently had great viral success with a Superman Demo I released that utilised the Matrix City as a foundation, and being a huge Superman and hero fan in general, I wanted to visit the idea again, but in more of an emotional story way. Everything about this short 30 second story was designed to attempt to showcase the 4 criteria. - Lighting: The concept and physicality of light being the driving force for all that is in the scene. - Composition: Tight and confined spaces with limited lighting to invoke emotion. - Conveyance of Mood/Atmosphere: Colder lighting becoming warmer by the end to showcase hope, and light disappearing to convey fear and despair until light returns to provide a chance at life. - Use of Theme: And finally, “better light than never”. Light itself and the light of a hero metaphorically, works in tandem to get to a lost puppy, just as all hope is lost, just in time. I also knew how important sound would be to convey emotion, so even though this is a lighting challenge and my focus here, all of this is also elevated by the incredible audio work by Alec Shea who you can find in the credits below. Student Submission: (No) Music / SFX - Alec Shea - Twitter: - Credits to sourced content: Dog - IPeunov Apartment Tech Props – Dekogon Studios Superhero Constructor - BL Superhero Flight Animations – Indie-us Games 4K Materials: Wood Flooring – Karl Detroit Chameleon Post Process - SUMFX Concrete Debris VFX Pack – Tuatara Games Megascans – Quixel Bridge