This personal project recreates a top-down cinematic shot from Dune (2021), featuring three ornithopters flying over the desert of Arrakis. Using Unreal Engine 5 with Ultra Dynamic Weather and Ultra Dynamic Sky, I focused on capturing the scale, lighting, and atmospheric mood of the scene.

I used the custom dust weather setting in the Ultra Dynamic Weather blueprint to add a slight sandstorm for the Ornithopters to fly through.

I used a Post Processing Volume to add film grain, colour correct and as slight lens flare to the final shot.

The project highlights:

Desert environment creation with realistic sky, sun, and atmospheric effects

Dynamic lighting and volumetrics using Ultra Dynamic Sky/Weather

Composition and camera blocking for a cinematic top-down perspective

Integration of flying vehicles to convey motion and scale

This work was inspired by the film’s aesthetic. It was primarily created as a learning exercise following a UE5 tutorial, with personal adjustments to enhance composition, lighting, and cinematic impact.

The Ornithopter model used was created by sanchello.

Technical Details:

Software: Unreal Engine 5.7

Assets: Landscape created in Gaia, desert textures created in Unreal Engine material editor

Features: Ultra Dynamic Sky & Weather for lighting and weather effects

Render: High-resolution EXR top-down images from in-engine camera, compiled in DaVinci Resolve