While some coloring may be done in the engine pre-render, additional color adjustments may be done on a shot by shot basis in the edit suite. This is a not-to-be-under-estimated stage that turns your ‘render’ into a ‘movie’.

Many FX can happen within the engine itself, but you may find more control adding things like lightning, rain, lasers, and so on, after the fact. Programs like After Effects specialize specifically in fine tuned control for all manner of effects. Tutorials for almost anything AE related can be found online, usually easy-to-follow, that will allow you to lift the production quality once again.

The ‘Deepfake’ has provided frighteningly real face-swapping for several years, using tech well within the reach of independent filmmakers. Experiments have seen great success when adding a real, trained dataset over top of the metahuman performance. This final step, applied to the final or close to final output (it may want to be done ‘under’ some FX work) can radically affect how real this animated film looks.

Your film, made with foundation of Unreal Engine 5, has the potential of being on par with the best Hollywood has to offer. You and your team’s skillset will determine if your movie can be sold in the same marketplaces as the Hollywood elite. Maybe you’re aiming for streaming services, or even a theatrical release – nothing should be stopping you if you’ve made a compelling story. As more filmmakers succeed with making films in this manner, the more acceptable and even expected this format will become.