This week focused on expanding the project’s environments and developing the visual system used to represent memories throughout the film.
Production began with the continued development of the second environment, representing the teddy bear during adolescence. Particular attention was given to environmental storytelling through object placement. Since no human characters appear on screen, props and spatial organisation became essential tools for communicating the passage of time and suggesting the changing relationship between the teddy bear and its owner.
For this, and in order to communicate time, the bear was ‘modified’ to seem that time has pass through him as well.
Work also progressed on the third environment, representing the teddy bear’s transition to a new child. This stage involved assembling and integrating multiple assets while ensuring visual consistency across all three environments. Throughout this process, several elements were simplified or redesigned in order to maintain a cohesive visual language and avoid unnecessary technical complexity.
Here’s the outcome of scene 3:
A significant portion of the week was dedicated to developing the memory visualisation system. Initial plans involved animating Cinema 4D Sweep objects directly and transferring these animations into Unreal Engine.
However, testing quickly revealed that the procedural growth animation generated by the Sweep object was not preserved reliably during export.
To overcome this limitation, the workflow was redesigned. Instead of transferring animated geometry, the memory traces were imported as static spline meshes and animated directly inside Unreal Engine using materials. Multiple reveal techniques were explored before arriving at a masking system driven by UV coordinates.
During development, an unexpected issue appeared when the reveal effect animated across the entire spline simultaneously rather than progressing from one end to the other. Investigation revealed that the imported UV data stored spline length information within the V coordinate channel rather than the U coordinate channel. By driving the reveal effect through the Mask G output of the Texture Coordinate node, the lines could be progressively drawn across their full length.
Additional testing involved different visual treatments for the memory traces, including Fresnel effects and alternative masking approaches. Although some produced interesting results, they often introduced visual artefacts or reduced readability. The final solution prioritised clarity and consistency, resulting in a cleaner visual language that better supports the nostalgic atmosphere of the project.
This was the final material for the spline:
And this is the reveal on the sequencer:
Overall, this week involved extensive problem-solving and refinement. The memory system evolved from a technical challenge into a fully functioning visual storytelling device, while the continued development of the environments helped establish the complete narrative progression of the film.