Pre-Production

Concept Development and Client Objectives

EnQuest brought us in to produce a series of high-fidelity, photorealistic visualizations for their latest line of energy equipment. At the core was the GE G3520 Natural Gas Generator, supported by the Power Distribution Unit (PDU) and Mobile Battery Storage Unit (BESS). The project’s goal was to create a fully realized fracking pad layout that placed these key assets in a realistic working environment—positioned alongside their existing THOR 5,000 HP Electric Pumps. These visuals would be the anchor for EnQuest’s new website and play a key role in sales and marketing presentations.

This was a natural evolution of our earlier work with EnQuest on the THOR Electric Pump renders. We already had a proven material library, visual language, and a baseline layout to build from, which helped us move fast in the early phases. But EnQuest’s updated strategy called for a more sophisticated and immersive visual experience. They asked for high-resolution still renders and a cinematic-quality 360° animated flythrough of the entire site. In addition, we were tasked with producing isolated, studio-style renders of the PDU for standalone marketing use.

From day one, EnQuest stressed the importance of clear visual differentiation between the various pieces of equipment. They flagged the challenge of helping viewers—especially those new to oil and gas—in easily distinguishing between the generators and pumps. To solve for that, we explored color variations, strategic logo placements, and even considered stripping tractor cabs from the generator units to minimize confusion. EnQuest also requested onscreen graphics and clear badging in the animations to make equipment identification straightforward.

CAD Asset Handoff and Optimization

We kicked off production by reviewing the CAD files EnQuest provided—highly detailed engineering models of the G3520 generator, the PDU, and the BESS. These came in STEP and Parasolid formats and, as expected, were extremely dense. They were built for engineering precision, not visualization, and required serious optimization.

We brought everything into Cinema 4D and went through an intensive process of polygon reduction and topology cleanup to make the models visualization- and real-time-ready. The Mobile Battery Storage Unit, in particular, required additional evaluation as we reviewed multiple configurations with varying energy storage capacities. After consulting with the client, we decided to go with the smallest unit in the final layout to maintain clarity and avoid visual clutter.

The CAD assets arrived without shaders or materials, so we worked closely with EnQuest to define accurate finishes, color schemes, and branding. This was an iterative process where we aligned visuals with EnQuest’s product specifications and brand standards. After rounds of material testing and client feedback, we landed on a unified blue and white color scheme for the equipment enclosures.

Environment Design and Scene Layout

While we refined the assets, we developed the overall fracking pad layout. The goal was to create an operational site that felt authentic in both scale and organization. We designed it as a desert-style frac pad, consistent with real-world operations—cleared sandy terrain with tire tracks to imply regular vehicle traffic. Around the perimeter, we placed sparse desert vegetation—shrubs, dry grasses, and bushes—using a mix of procedural generation and manual placement to add variation and realism.

We initially built the layout in Cinema 4D and then pushed it into Unreal Engine 5 through the Cinema 4D to Unreal Engine connector. This allowed us to iterate quickly on spatial layout while holding off on the finer details—pipelines, cables, and accessories—until EnQuest signed off on the block layout. Once we had their approval, we transitioned into full production with a locked site plan.

Production (Full Production / FP)

Texturing, Material Development, and Wear

Once we’d optimized the CAD assets, we moved into texturing. We used Substance Painter with a UDIM workflow to develop high-resolution textures for each piece of equipment. We started with the smart materials from the earlier THOR project but adapted them to meet the new brief. EnQuest wanted these units to look like they had been operating in the field for months—not factory fresh like the previous renders.

We applied realistic wear and tear to all the assets. Dust, grime, and dirt buildup were carefully placed in logical areas—ventilation panels, latches, cable connectors, wheel assemblies. Each unit—the Mobile Battery Storage Unit, PDU, and G3520 generators—got surface treatments tailored to its role and exposure in the environment. We manually placed logos and safety labels to EnQuest’s specs, making several rounds of adjustments for size, position, and orientation. At one point, we rotated an entire line of logos 180 degrees to improve visibility from key camera angles.

Nanite Integration and Model Handling in Unreal Engine 5

With texturing wrapped, we imported everything into Unreal Engine 5 and converted the assets to Nanite meshes. Nanite’s virtualized geometry system let us keep the extremely high polygon counts without sacrificing performance. This was critical for the G3520 generators, PDUs, and BESS units, all of which had intricate geometry requiring high fidelity in both wide shots and close-ups.

Nanite also eliminated the need for traditional LOD (Level of Detail) workflows, streamlining asset management and ensuring everything held up, no matter the distance from the camera. We brought in bulkheads, manifolds, and frac tanks using Nanite as well, keeping consistency in quality and performance across the board.

Lumen Lighting System and Scene Illumination

We handled lighting with Unreal Engine 5’s Lumen global illumination system. Lumen’s fully dynamic lighting and real-time reflections gave us the flexibility to test and fine-tune setups on the fly. We developed a midday sun scenario that delivered realistic outdoor lighting, with directional sunlight casting dynamic shadows and atmospheric fog adding depth while softening the desert glare.

With Lumen, we adjusted light direction, intensity, and color temperature in real-time—seeing results instantly without pre-baking or generating lightmaps. For final renders, we maxed out settings for cinematic quality, including virtual texture resolution and shadow detail. During production, we scaled things back to maintain a fast, efficient workflow.

Cable and Pipeline Simulation with Tether Plugin

We put serious time into simulating the physical connections between the equipment on the pad. We placed pipelines with modular assets and Unreal Engine blueprints, creating realistic connections between the frac tanks, manifolds, and THOR pump trucks. For electrical cabling—from the natural gas generators to the PDU and on to the THOR Electric Pumps—we used the Tether plugin for Unreal Engine.

Tether’s physics-based cable simulation gave us realistic sagging, bending, and laying behavior. Cables followed the terrain contours naturally, with slack and tension adjusted based on distance and connection points. We used Tether to integrate the cables seamlessly into the environment, adding subtle variations to enhance realism.

Camera Work and 360° Flythrough Animation

We built a smooth, cinematic 360° orbit flythrough of the entire site. The camera path was designed to showcase the layout from multiple perspectives, gradually revealing how the generators, pumps, and distribution units worked together. 

Onscreen callouts were placed with care to avoid covering important details, ensuring viewers—regardless of industry familiarity—could easily identify equipment and understand its role.

Specialized Rendering of the Power Distribution Unit (PDU)

In addition to the full-scene renders and the flythrough, we produced standalone marketing renders of the PDU inside Cinema 4D using Redshift. We placed the unit in a clean warehouse environment, giving it an isolated, studio-style presentation similar to our earlier work with the THOR Electric Pump.

We ported the Substance Painter textures into Cinema 4D and rebuilt the materials in Redshift to ensure consistency in material fidelity, reflections, and lighting. We zoomed in on details—voltage labels, control panel indicators, branding—making sure everything aligned with EnQuest’s specifications.

Per client direction, we removed the stairs from the PDU model in the final renders to give an unobstructed view of plug-in points and rear equipment details. These high-resolution renders were optimized for use in close-up marketing materials, where precision and polish were key.

Post-Production & Delivery

With renders complete, we moved into post-production. The final outputs from Unreal Engine 5 leveraged Nanite for geometry, Lumen for lighting and reflections, and Virtual Textures for consistent material handling. We used Virtual Shadows to boost depth and realism, particularly in tight areas with overlapping equipment and cables.

During post, we caught an issue with Unreal Engine 5’s volumetric clouds. The dynamic cloud system caused inconsistent lighting between frames in the flythrough. We fixed it by locking the clouds in static mode, which stabilized lighting and kept things consistent across the sequence.

Color correction and compositing were done in Adobe After Effects. We balanced highlights and shadows, added subtle lens effects like chromatic aberration, and introduced depth of field to mimic real-world camera lenses. Lens flares and exposure tweaks helped us lock in a polished, cinematic look worthy of high-end product visualizations.

We ran multiple rounds of client feedback through this phase. EnQuest requested specific logo placements, including mirrored logos on the BESS units for visibility from every angle. They also had us push equipment differentiation further with color and material variations. After finalizing equipment placement, we re-routed cables and recalculated Tether simulations to keep everything realistic.

The final deliverables included a cinematic-quality 360° flythrough animation of the complete frac pad, high-resolution stills showing aerial views, detailed close-ups, and isolated warehouse renders of the PDU. We also ended up with a fully optimized Unreal Engine 5 project, ready for future use in VR walkthroughs or interactive product configurators.