The Dragon and the Tiger

Real-Time Action Cinematic / 2026

1.Overview

A compact martial arts cinematic built around the confrontation between two MetaHuman fighters.

Role: Director / Unreal Engine Artist
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Character: MetaHuman
Format: Real-Time Cinematic / 20 sec

2.Production Process

From AI-Generated Motion to a Finished Real-Time Cinematic.

1
AI-Generated Motion Video
2
Motion Capture in UE5
3
Retarget & Refine
4
Lighting, Camera & Edit

AMotion Source

I generated a two-character martial arts video as the motion source for the real-time production.

AI-generated reference video showing a red fighter and a blue fighter in martial arts poses — （ AI martial arts video / Motion source ）

BUE5 Motion Capture

I captured each fighter's movement separately in Unreal Engine, checked both solves against the source video and reunited their timing in the project.

Unreal Engine motion-capture workspace showing source footage, a solved character and separate red and blue animation assets — （ Video mocap and export / Unreal Engine 5 ）

CRetarget & Refine

I retargeted the fight to two MetaHumans and refined each strike, block and kick in Control Rig.

Close-up Unreal Engine Control Rig view used to correct the hand and wrist during a block — （ Hand and wrist / MetaHuman Control Rig ）

Two MetaHuman fighters with Control Rig handles visible while their contact pose is aligned — （ Contact alignment / MetaHuman Control Rig ）

Unreal Engine Control Rig timeline with the foot IK control selected for manual keyframe correction — （ Foot IK correction / MetaHuman Control Rig ）

Flying kick contact pose being refined with MetaHuman body and foot controls in Unreal Engine — （ Flying-kick contact / MetaHuman Control Rig ）

DCamera & Edit

I staged and lit the fighters in Sequencer, then selected and edited the strongest 24 fps camera shots into the final 20-second cut in Premiere Pro.

Unreal Engine Sequencer showing a lit martial arts shot and virtual camera keyframes — （ Lighting and camera / UE5 Sequencer ）

Adobe Premiere Pro timeline comparing the AI motion reference with the rendered martial arts cinematic — （ Shot timing and final edit / Premiere Pro ）

Next projectMotion Capture Study →

1.Overview

AI-Generated Motion Video

Motion Capture in UE5

Retarget & Refine

Lighting, Camera & Edit

AMotion Source

BUE5 Motion Capture

CRetarget & Refine

DCamera & Edit