Republic RT - UE5 Lookdev Tool Update.

Hi!

It has been a long time since I did not put any decent model inside my project. To be honest I have been quite stuck and did not have the time to dedicate to Republic RT development, for several months, I still feel that I do not have it...

It's hard not to feel down when you are "stuck" with life, and you have to let go of stuff that really hooks you...

I was more focused on all the bugs to fix, old and new; some introduced by the latest UE versions, and all the stuff that still needs to be done.

For different reasons, one of them being; the will of checking how the tool could perform under the new UE5.4 version. I populated some of the base model BPs with different assets of my liking from the Epic Marketplace, and just tried to enjoy and beta test my tool as a mere user.

I was gladly surprised. I really enjoyed the experience, despite the bugs and the lack of some of the core features. It was still very capable of keeping me hooked trying to get some quick pictures while I was exploring the different models.

You can find the uncut session in this post, where I spin around in my little playground

Also added my Metahuman "Tabita" to the project yesterday, and even if performance was heavily impacted by the highest quality model, specially in the face close ups, she was looking great under Path tracing
even with the super basic light setups. This is what I showcase here a bit with these screenshots.

I am trying to get motivated, and plan something so I can release Republic RT at some point, for real.

My focus is to finish the current functionalities, aiming for a first release:

- MODELS: 25 empty blueprints where the user can add desired stuff.(DONE)
- 5 BASE TURNTABLES: with individual rotation, scale and position coordinates. Switch MODELs from an array of 25, at any time. (WIP)
- ROW, 5 slots to save\load the actual state of each Turntables\Models.(TODO)
- BASIC POST PROCESS: Example; E + Left Mouse Pressed, allows to slide mouse left and right to smoothly get the desired result. Release of the E or Left Mouse would go back to standard mode and leave the mouse in the place it was before the interaction.
Includes; Exposure, Contrast, Saturation, Bloom, Chroma Aberration, Grain, Vignette and Motion Blur (WIP)
- POST: 10 slots to save custom Post Process states (TODO)
- Launching UE5.4 Rendering: Path Tracing and Real Time, of 2k or 4k still frames or 2k or 4k turntables (turntable will render current camera with the model rotating 360).(WIP)
-CAMERA: Settings and focus control helpers that aids user to achieve desired framing.
10 slots to save\load current camera framing parameters (WIP)
-BASIC LIGHTING: 3 light presets, plus 7 slots to add your own sublevel with your lighting elements (WIP)
-CONTEXT: 3 basic lookdev backgrounds, plus 7 slots to add your own sublevels to use as background.(WIP)

As you can see there is A LOT to do yet, but I would say that, a part of bug fixing, that is always such a pain... the most complex logics are already done :].

So, it is just a matter of how I can get organized and try to invest a discrete amount of time on the development of Republic RT while keeping motivated.

I hope you find this humble tool of mine as something that could be useful, somehow, to improve your workflow or pipeline, and help you on a daily basis, enjoying, maybe, a bit more of your job.
I see it as a quite "seamless experience" where I enjoy exploration of ideas or concepts within a frame.

Best!