Virtual Worldbuilding in Unreal Engine
Self-paced
Instructor: Michael Bradbury
Spots remaining: 15
Full course description
From workshop project to real-world production tools
Unreal Engine powers games, virtual production, architectural visualisation, simulation, training, live events, and emerging industries that rely on real-time 3D. The skills you build here are not abstract exercises — they map directly onto how modern studios and creative teams prototype, pitch, and deliver work.
Production-Ready Thinking
Learn how environment artists plan, block, iterate, and optimise — developing habits that translate into real pipelines for games, film, and XR.
A Platform for Future Work The world you build here becomes a launchpad — ready to evolve into a game level, virtual production set, interactive experience, or XR prototype.
This isn’t just a short course. It’s a practical on-ramp into how Unreal Engine is used across games, film, design, and immersive media and a concrete step toward the kind of work you want to be doing next.
Course Introduction
This course immerses learners in the creative and technical process of building virtual worlds in Unreal Engine. Instead of a rigid, step-by-step tutorial, participants work in a studio-style environment that mirrors how professional environment artists think, experiment, and iterate.
The emphasis is on constructing worlds with mood, purpose, atmosphere, and narrative potential. Learners move from reference gathering and ideation into hands-on Unreal Engine production with continuous instructor support.
By the end of the course, each participant will have a fully realised Unreal Engine environment, ready to be refined through specialised pathways into natural landscapes, architectural environments, or narrative-driven worlds.
Learning Experience
A guided studio process: from immersive reference and AI ideation, through world selection, into full worldbuilding inside Unreal Engine.
Immersion & Reference Gathering
Explore what makes a world believable — mood, palette, lighting, scale — and assemble a visual library from real and fictional references.
AI-Powered Ideation
Use AI tools and moodboards to explore styles, lighting moods, and concept variations — all before starting any 3D work.
Choosing Your World
Pick a world archetype — neon megacity, haunted forest, ancient temple, or forgotten city — shaping the creative path forward.
Building in Unreal Engine
Blockout, terrain sculpting, asset sourcing (Fab/Quixel), environmental dressing, and lighting, fog, and post-processing to build your world.
Delivered as a hands-on workshop with continuous instructor support, group feedback loops, and room for experimentation and iteration.
Final Output & Pathways
Learners complete a mood-driven environment with hero images, moodboards, and a polished fly-through suitable for portfolio, pitch, or presentation.
Natural Landscapes
Terrain, foliage, water, and biome workflows for large-scale cinematic spaces.
Storytelling Worlds
Lighting, scene design, prop placement, and narrative-driven composition.