UE5 Project Trying

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After reaching the limits of A-Frame, I began exploring other platforms that could help me achieve my vision for a high-quality, immersive 3D experience. One of the most powerful tools in the game development and virtual production world today is Unreal Engine 5 (UE5). I had seen stunning cinematic scenes and interactive environments created with it, so I was hopeful it might be the solution I was looking for.

The Promise of UE5

Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly powerful. It supports real-time rendering, ray tracing, high-fidelity materials, and even native VR/AR development. Most importantly for me at the time, it also supports 360-degree video rendering—allowing me to simulate an immersive environment without requiring complex real-time interactivity.

I decided to try using UE5 to build a complete 3D scene, render it as a 360-degree panoramic video, and later embed that video into a webpage. On paper, it sounded like a great plan:

  1. Design and assemble a full 3D environment (imported from Cinema 4D or created natively in UE5).

  2. Set up a 360-degree camera rig (using tools like the “Panoramic Capture” plugin).

  3. Render the scene into a 360-degree video.

  4. Embed the resulting video into HTML using <video> or <a-video> elements.

The Reality: Extremely Demanding

However, once I started actually working with UE5, I ran into several serious issues.

1. System Performance Problems

Unreal Engine is massive. It takes up dozens of gigabytes on disk and requires a powerful computer to run smoothly. My own laptop, which performs well for design and 3D modeling, struggled to even open the project.

  • Loading the engine and assets took a long time.

  • Scene preview lagged constantly.

  • Crashes occurred when attempting to build lighting or simulate complex materials.

As a student without access to a high-end workstation or a GPU farm, I realized quickly that UE5 is designed for studios or professionals—not casual or academic prototyping.

2. Rendering 360-Degree Videos is Complicated

Setting up a 360-degree render in UE5 was not plug-and-play. I had to:

  • Install plugins or enable experimental features.

  • Configure capture settings that were poorly documented.

  • Wait for very long render times, even for short 10-second clips.

  • Manually stitch or encode the video to be compatible with web-based viewers.

Despite these challenges, I eventually succeeded in rendering a 360-degree video. But the process was incredibly time-consuming and full of trial and error.

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