Real-Time VFX EmberGen Contest

Some time ago I created a short VFX test for the EmberGen challenge organized by RealTime VFX.

The entire piece was built and executed in Unreal Engine, with the environment developed in Houdini and brought into Unreal as part of a realtime pipeline.

My goal was to treat it as a complete mini production rather than just a standalone effect. I handled everything end-to-end environment setup in Houdini, scene assembly in Unreal, camera animation and timing, explosion simulations in EmberGen, flipbook preparation, supporting secondary FX, and dynamically triggered barrel blasts.

The focus was on rhythm, composition, and making the sequence feel physically grounded while staying performant and production-ready in realtime.

It was a fast turnaround project, and I’m very happy with the outcome, the piece received an Honorable Mention in the competition.