Build Realistic Phoenix World Environment

About the project

PROJECT TITLE Custom Unreal Engine Phoenix World and Cinematic VFX Project PROJECT OVERVIEW I require an Unreal Engine environment and Niagara VFX specialist to create a completely new standalone Unreal project around my existing custom Phoenix avatar. The result must make the Phoenix feel physically present inside a vast volcanic world rather than placed flatly over a background. The project must include character import, a complete environment, cinematic camera and lighting, ambient and triggerable effects, Phoenix descent/emergence, tracker integration, quality presets, optimisation and full editable delivery. WHAT I ALREADY HAVE I have a completed custom head-and-neck Phoenix avatar with: - Skeleton and rigging - Head and neck movement - Lower-beak and jaw movement - Eye and eyelid movement - 52 ARKit/MediaPipe facial blendshapes - PBR materials and textures - Dark charcoal/black feathers - Molten-orange emissive cracks - Glowing orange eyes - Modelled mouth cavity and tongue - Blender source, GLB and texture files The model and tracking have already been tested and confirmed functional in Unreal Engine. I also have a working application called Phoenix Tracker. It sends head, eye, jaw and blendshape data to Unreal. It does not need rebuilding, but the new project must receive its tracking data. ENVIRONMENT DIRECTION The environment should be a vast, highly detailed volcanic Phoenix kingdom. The supplied reference image shows the preferred atmosphere, scale and density but should not be copied directly. The world should include: - Volcanic mountains and an active volcano - Gothic/infernal architecture - Distant cities, fortresses, temples, towers and bridges - Obsidian rock formations - Lava rivers, waterfalls and molten cracks - Phoenix statues, carvings, shrines and symbols - Smoke-filled skies and storm clouds - Ash, embers, haze, heat distortion and firelight - Strong foreground, midground and far-distance detail It should feel ancient, powerful, cinematic, supernatural and specific to Phoenix mythology—not like a stage, flat image or generic fantasy background. PHOENIX POSITION AND INTEGRATION The Phoenix should sit near the centre but slightly deeper inside the environment. It should appear to emerge from or sit within a central structure such as a volcano opening, molten rock throne, Phoenix shrine, volcanic fortress, obsidian platform or carved rock formation. The structure should frame the lower neck and feathers so the Phoenix looks embedded in the world. Some geometry may overlap the lower edges for depth, but it must not cover the face, restrict movement or expressions, clip badly or hide too much of the feather silhouette. The structure should remain adjustable after tracking tests. There must not be a duplicate static Phoenix head behind the live character. CAMERA AND LIGHTING The final 16:9 camera must keep expressions readable, show the environment’s scale, leave room for sky effects and make the Phoenix feel located inside the world. Lighting must preserve dark feather detail, keep the molten cracks and eyes visible, keep the beak dark and non-metallic, separate the Phoenix from the background and react naturally to effects without washing out the character. RESOLUTION, ASSET QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE The project should be designed primarily for a high-quality 1920×1080 presentation, with the livestream output downscaled to 1280×720 when required. It must not be built only for 720p. Retain high-quality source assets for future 1080p or higher-resolution use. Required presets: HIGH-QUALITY MODE - 1920×1080 output - Full-quality character and environment - Suitable for downscaling to 1280×720 BALANCED MODE - 1920×1080 presentation using reduced internal resolution or Unreal upscaling - Reduced particles, shadows and secondary effects where required PERFORMANCE MODE - 1280×720 output - Reduced smoke, ash, particles, shadows, heat distortion and secondary lighting Recommended texture allocation: - Phoenix and selected close hero assets: up to 4K where justified - Most environment assets: 2K - Distant/secondary assets: 1K or 2K - 8K only where clearly justified and approved Texture mipmaps, streaming and sensible maximum sizes must be configured. Texture streaming should remain enabled. Static rocks, statues and architecture may use Nanite where appropriate. The rigged Phoenix, Niagara and transparent materials must still be carefully optimised. Hardware ray tracing must not be required. CONTINUOUS AMBIENT EFFECTS Required ambient effects: - Flowing lava rivers, channels and waterfalls - Moving molten cracks and emissive variation - Smoke rising from the volcano, lava and vents - Drifting ash and embers at different depths - Subtle heat distortion above hot areas - Moving storm clouds and volcanic sky activity - Gentle firelight and lava-light flicker Effects must loop seamlessly, remain adjustable and not continuously obscure the Phoenix’s face. TRIGGERABLE CINEMATIC EFFECTS Each effect must be independently triggerable through Blueprint events and include a manual test method. 1. Distant volcanic explosion with fire, debris, smoke and lighting response. 2. Volcanic sky lightning and storm surge. 3. Meteor/fireball travelling behind the Phoenix and impacting in the distance. 4. Controlled central lava eruption near the Phoenix structure. 5. Phoenix statue activation with glowing eyes, cracks and sparks. 6. Molten ground shockwave expanding beneath or behind the Phoenix. 7. Temporary ash storm with stronger wind, smoke and embers. 8. Full world power surge combining lava brightening, statue activation, lightning, eruption, shockwave, embers and lighting changes. Every component of the full world power surge must also remain separately triggerable. PHOENIX DESCENT AND EMERGENCE EFFECT I require a signature effect allowing the live rigged Phoenix to descend into the central structure and later emerge again. The preferred method should combine: - Smooth vertical movement of the Phoenix actor/root - Foreground rock or architecture hiding the lower character - Smoke, ash, embers and molten sparks - Internal lava lighting - Heat distortion - An optional molten/ember dissolve The Phoenix should not simply disappear, scale to zero or be replaced by a pre-rendered animation. During descent, the structure should brighten, smoke and embers should rise, the Phoenix should move downward and the lower feathers may dissolve into glowing ash before it becomes hidden. During emergence, internal light and smoke should build first, the Phoenix should rise back into position, the dissolve should reverse if used, and the eyes/body cracks may briefly flare. Tracking must continue while hidden so movement and expressions resume immediately when the Phoenix emerges. Repeated cycles must preserve the rig, tracking, jaw, eyes, blendshapes, materials and correct positions without clipping or errors. BLUEPRINT CONTROL SYSTEM A central Blueprint controller should provide controls for all cinematic effects, the world surge, descent/emergence, resetting the Phoenix, stopping effects, adjusting lava/smoke/ash/ember intensity and changing quality presets. TikTok/gift integration is not required at this stage. Effects need only be trigger-ready and manually testable. PHOENIX TRACKER INTEGRATION Phoenix Tracker does not need rebuilding. The freelancer must connect the project to the tracking method I provide or create a receiver interface ready to accept: - Head and neck rotation - Eye movement and blinking - Jaw movement - All 52 facial-blendshape values The final demonstration should show the Phoenix operating inside the completed environment with live tracking. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS The target is a stable 30 FPS during the most demanding realistic livestream condition: - Phoenix and live tracking active - Ambient lava, smoke, ash and embers active - Livestream output active - Full world surge active - Phoenix descent or emergence active The freelancer must optimise geometry, textures, Niagara, shadows and transparent effects; avoid unnecessary fluid simulation, 8K textures and mandatory ray tracing; and ensure triggered effects stop cleanly. Performance results should state average and lowest FPS, GPU/CPU/VRAM usage, test resolution, quality preset and testing hardware. Quality must be adjustable without rebuilding the environment. FINAL DELIVERABLES The final delivery must include: - Complete editable Unreal project - Final environment map - Imported/configured Phoenix with preserved rig and 52 blendshapes - Environment geometry, textures and materials - Niagara systems and Blueprints - Central effects controller - Final camera and lighting - Ambient and triggerable effects - Phoenix descent/emergence system - High, Balanced and Performance presets - Manual test controls - Packaged test build where practical - Demonstration video - Basic setup/usage documentation - Third-party asset and licence list - All editable source files The delivery must not consist only of a rendered video, flat image or pre-rendered background. THIRD-PARTY ASSETS The freelancer must confirm whether Marketplace assets, paid plugins or separate licences are required, that all assets can legally be used for livestreaming and commercial content, and that all custom work and editable source files will be delivered. No paid or restricted asset should be used without approval. QUOTE REQUEST Please provide: 1. Total project price 2. Separate price and duration for each stage 3. Overall completion estimate 4. Relevant Unreal environment and Niagara VFX examples 5. Confirmation of experience with 52 ARKit/MediaPipe blendshapes 6. Confirmation of livestream optimisation 7. Confirmation that the full editable project will be delivered 8. Recommended Unreal Engine version 9. Proposed Marketplace assets/plugins 10. Hardware used for performance testing

Skills required