Epic Games Responds to "Pirates of the Caribbean" Director's Criticism of Unreal Engine
Epic Games visual effects specialist Pat Tubach believes Gore Verbinski is wrong.
Earlier, "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski stated that the increasing use of Unreal Engine in filmmaking has led to the emergence of an "gaming aesthetic" in cinema. According to him, the engine "doesn't work with light in the same way," incorrectly conveys subsurface scattering and the interaction of light with skin, which creates a "uncanny valley" effect, especially in creature animation. The director also lamented the simplification of the approach to visual effects and decisions made for the sake of speed and economy.
However, Epic Games visual effects specialist Pat Tubach called such statements inaccurate. He noted that it is wrong to blame one tool for the problems of modern graphics.
It is incorrect to claim that any particular tool is to blame for the alleged problems with the state of visual effects and computer graphics. Aesthetics and quality are the result of the work of artists, not software.
According to the specialist, Unreal Engine is mainly used for previsualization, virtual production, and only in some cases for the final image. He emphasized that artists who worked on major blockbusters 10–15 years ago could only dream of such a powerful tool.
Tubach also reminded that he himself participated in the creation of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film series and understands perfectly what he is talking about. His career in visual effects spans more than 20 years: he began working at Industrial Light & Magic in 1999 and rose to the position of visual effects supervisor.
For his work, Tubach has been nominated for an Oscar four times — for visual effects in the films "Star Trek Into Darkness", "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" and "Solo: A Star Wars Story".
