Last month I ended up having some free time to finally finish a ‘quick’ and fun personal project I started back in 2020.
In those 3 years, MetaHumans and UE5 got released, so I thought I’ll redo everything and ‘upgrade’ the project from UE4 and whatever rigs I was using for characters back then and finally complete this short-film.
There’s not much story in this, just a fun little thing with cars going vroom vroom.
Unfortunately YouTube’s compression ate half of the pixels and removed almost all detail from shadows and dark areas, so enjoy what’s left
Hope you’re well and having a great holiday season
Had to hop into this thread just to say how cool this project was from start to finish. The animation and lighting specifically caught my attention. Spectacular work! Especially for 3 years of dedication. If you don’t mind answering, what originally inspired this film?
Thanks!
Well, I didn’t work on it during those 3 years, I started working on it in 2020 and then had to put it on hold due to lack of time, and then only recently I went back to it. So in total, I worked on it for like 2-3 months in my free time.
As to what inspired it, I was playing Forza Horizon with my friend and I thought it’d be fun to make an animation where two pals race each other around the city, just like we did in Forza.
Then I stumbled upon that song that you can hear in the film, and as I was listening to it I had a feeling it would be fun to make a car animation edited to it.
So that and also childhood memories from playing the old Need for Speed games, Underground, Carbon, Most Wanted etc. which kind of shaped the idea, theme and style of this short film.
I’m hoping to make this into a series of short films that would end up having a similar story to some of the NFS games.
I lost friends to Forza for months. The sheer amount of times I’d get a picture of some new vehicle they created was… obsession levels. So I definitely get the passion As for your plan to do a series, I’m beyond thrilled and I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Especially if they’re as high quality as this project was.
Sending you all the good luck and well wishes. Happy developing!
First things first, we have to figure out a way to allocate more free time for you because I need more ‘quick’ fun personal Need for Speed creations in my life!
Your incredible short fan film sparked feelings I haven’t felt for the Need for Speed series since childhood. I could feel the spontaneity of adventure, the gravitas of the race, and the intensity of the unknown! I sincerely hope we will see another Need for Speed-based fan film in the future.
Thanks!
Yeah, I’d love to just quit work and do my own animated short-films full-time, but I do need money to live so…
I was thinking of doing it the Patreon way, so maybe one day if there’ll be enough people that would support me.
I completely understand where you’re coming from. I, too, would love to pursue my hobbies full-time, but they don’t pay the bills… yet!
Patreon is a great way to start, however. I imagine with your level of talent it wouldn’t be so hard to build a dedicated community willing to contribute to your journey.
