Design Engineering
Showcase 2020

My work on Lipsync.AI can be broken down into three main projects: the Unreal Engine Demo, 3D Modelling, and Promotional Materials.

The demo was a way for us to quickly review changes being made to the models inside the game engine Unreal Engine 4 (UE4), without having to render computationally intensive high-resolution videos every time. While building the demo, I applied and improved my ability to develop efficient workflows and optimized solutions. I created functions that make the avatar speak and repeat sentences, as well as change the avatar and camera view. I built these in UE4’s ‘Blueprints’, a visual coding system. When building these functions, I improved my ability to build robust and reusable solutions since I knew we would be adding more characters in the future.

Much of my 3D modelling work went into helping to create and edit new characters, the most recent of which I created myself. I used WrapX to wrap new character meshes over our original model. I learnt to attach the skeleton to the mesh, check the shape keys, and alter the model appearances in Blender. I also used Maya to export materials that we wanted to use from new models. While designing, modelling and wrapping characters, I used an iterative design approach to constantly re-evaluate changes while learning new software.

The promotional materials included a mobile demo to send to clients, a short video, and a one pager website. I designed and wireframed the mobile demo in Figma and built it using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I had no web-development experience before this project, so again I iterated over different implementations while becoming familiar with the programming languages. For the website and video, I carried out competitor research to see how other tech companies market their products. From this I put together some visual mood boards and basic wireframes in Figma. I also built a way for us to render out video clips in UE4 without disturbing our previous work and then edited them in premiere pro.

Overall, the projects allowed me to put a lot of my Design Engineering skills into practice, which helped me grow a lot more confident in my abilities through feedback from more experienced team members.

As a Design Engineer my role at Emotech has varied depending on the ongoing projects. Working on the Unreal Engine Demo, 3D Modelling, and Promotional Materials has allowed me to learn a range of new skills, from web development to 3D modelling to visual coding. I believe I saved time and energy for the team in all my contributions, particularly my work in UE4 and 3D modelling, since I could help implement large features as well as quickly troubleshoot and fix small issues. Hopefully the work I have done on the promotional materials will also help to attract new clients and be able to convey what Lipsync.AI can do.

The most significant challenge I faced during my placement was learning new skills, as nearly everything I worked on required me to use new software. Having done this, I am now more confident in my ability to quickly pick up new things. I have developed professionally, with significant improvements in my confidence, initiative and efficiency when approaching a task.

My placement at Emotech has been incredibly valuable in allowing me to practice Design Engineering in a work environment, learn brand new skills and develop as a professional. The placement is a fantastic opportunity to realise how you would like to develop in terms of a career path and working on a wide range of digital projects reinforced my desire to pursue a career in digital design.