Six tutorials to help you learn Unreal Engine 5
Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) is here, and with it comes the opportunity for new and unique game features, which we hope will lead to bigger and better gaming experiences. And while it shares similarities with its predecessor, Unreal Engine 4, there are lots of differences for existing—and new—game developers to come to terms with.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of six great Unreal Engine 5 tutorials to get you started. From broad overviews to niche videos that help you develop a certain animation style or art piece, these will help grow your confidence in Epic Games’ latest release so you can bring all of its power to your own gaming projects.
1. "Unreal Engine 5 Beginner Tutorial | Getting Started (2022)" by Smart Poly
This first tutorial is a great starting point for anyone looking to get into Unreal Engine 5 development as it covers all the basics from installation, features, controls, and even the community marketplace.
The video clocks in at just under 47 minutes, which is brief when you consider how broad of a view you’ll have of UE5 afterwards. Each section is labelled using YouTube’s chapter system, too, which makes navigating around the tutorial easy.
This is a beginner tutorial that’s suitable for absolutely anybody — even if you’ve not touched a previous version of Unreal Engine or its competitor Unity.
Smart Poly is a game developer who provides a variety of tutorials and reviews, and you can follow their Twitter here.
2. "Basics of Unreal Engine 5 Chaos" by Simon Houdini
To make a living, breathing game environment, the area you’re building needs to feel real, and that’s exactly what Simon Houdini helps us do in this tutorial. In just under 15 minutes, you’ll learn what the Unreal Chaos destruction system is and how you can use it to create some very vivid and immersive scenes in your own projects.
This tutorial requires an existing understanding of Unreal Engine, but the clear narration along with the sample footage make it possible to follow along with even if you’re new to game development.
Most of Simon’s other YouTube content is related to the animation software Houdini, as his name suggests, however given its crossover with Unreal Engine there’s still lots that game designers and developers can learn. You can follow him on Twitter here.
3. "Create a Massive Open World Map in 15 minutes - Unreal Engine 5" by CG Dealers
If there’s one trend that seems to be growing as games become more technical, it’s setting them in an open world. Although many of these worlds take scores of people years to create, this tutorial by Ivan from CG Dealers shows us how to create a basic map in 15 minutes.
The tutorial is to-the-point and covers how to use a program called World Machine to generate a large landmass in the style you want. The tutorial is rather simple, with just the right amount of information to guide you along what’s being said.
The only downside to this one is that the version of World Machine used is a bit outdated. However, there’s a pinned comment from one viewer that details a simple correction to an issue this might cause!
While we couldn’t find a social account of CG Dealers to follow, there are numerous other guides on the channel that will help you master the intricacies of Unreal Engine 5. Check them out and subscribe here!
4. "How To Make An Animation Blueprint In Unreal Engine 5" by Matt Aspland
Matt Aspland has created this great, easy-to-follow tutorial on how to create an animation blueprint for your custom character within UE5.
The tutorial covers what a blueprint actually does along with how to add idle, walking, running, and jumping animations to custom assets in your game — all in just 14 minutes. Matt’s narration is very clear and perfectly matched with what is happening on screen, which makes following along with what’s happening a breeze.
As always, check out the rest of the videos on his channel as he offers a variety of brilliant UE4/5 tutorial content on a regular basis, and follow him on Twitter here.
5. "Realistic Lighting in 15 Minutes - Unreal Engine 5 Lumen Tutorial" by Virtus
This 15-minute tutorial is a phenomenal guide to taking advantage of the Lumen system that Unreal Engine 5 has brought to the table.
Luke from Virtus gives an introduction to what Lumen lighting is followed by a nicely detailed explanation of how to utilize it within your scenes. Every section of the video is well laid out with simple but useful information on what and why certain engine settings are important to use.
Virtus can be found on Twitter here and has a library of Unreal Engine tutorial content on their YouTube channel. They’re back creating new content after a break in uploads, too, which means we can hopefully expect more to come from them soon!
6. "Create a Beach in 1.5 mins" by I See 3D
Here’s a cool one: creating a simple—yet beautiful—beach in Unreal Engine 5 in just 90 seconds. For those of you that like ultra efficient tutorials and have a grounding in Unreal Engine already, this video is for you.
With none of the intro, outro, or fluff segments that some tutorials bog themselves down with, we think this will appeal to a lot of you. What’s more, I See 3D has several other videos showing you how to create different stretches of terrain in a short amount of time on their channel. Talk about a great resource!
I See 3D doesn’t seem to have any social media to follow, but you can find their other tutorials on their YouTube page.
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That’s all, folks! Six tutorials showing you Unreal Engine 5 in a different context.
Check out our other tutorial mashups below to continue learning more about Unreal Engine:
