UE5 3D Animator + Automation Specialist — 20 Min Fan Film Production Pipeline

Summary
Category: 3D Animation / VFX / Automation
Project Description:

I'm producing a 3D animated fan film — Unreal Engine 5, cinematic quality, DBZ-style power-ups, particle-heavy energy effects, fluid-sim VFX for complex sequences like character absorption. Final runtime: 20 minutes, 16:9 aspect ratio.

I need someone who can build both the production pipeline AND the actual 3D video content, start to end.

This is a combined role. You must be able to handle both parts below — please do not apply if you only cover one.

Part 1: Automation Pipeline (Airtable + Make.com + Claude + ElevenLabs)
Build an Airtable base to track scenes/episodes from idea to completion Set up a Make.com scenario that takes a short prompt, sends it to Claude AI, and returns a structured script, shot list, and VFX brief.

Connect ElevenLabs for per-character voiceover generation once a script is approved
Add status tracking and an approval checkpoint so nothing renders without my sign-off
Deliver documentation so I can maintain/adjust it myself.

Part 2: 3D Production (Unreal Engine 5)
Take each approved scene brief and build it in UE5, 16:9 delivery format.

Animate characters, set camera work (low-angle power-up shots, motion blur/camera shake for combat impact).

Build particle effects in Niagara for energy blasts and absorption/goo-style VFX
Handle or direct fluid simulation for key complex sequences.

Character texturing (AI-assisted workflows welcome)
Facial animation/lip-sync (MetaHuman or similar — avoiding the stiff "dead eyes" look common in automated lip-sync).

Color grading matching a dark, desaturated palette with purple/magenta energy accents
Render, edit, and assemble all scenes into one final 20-minute cut.

How the pipeline connects:
I enter short prompts scene by scene → automation generates script/brief/voice → you build and render each scene in UE5 → scenes get assembled into the final film, tracked through Airtable start to finish.
Must have:

Proven experience building multi-step Make.com scenarios.

Experience using Airtable as an automation backend
Experience calling LLM APIs (Claude/OpenAI) with structured JSON output.

Experience with ElevenLabs API/module
Strong portfolio of actual UE5 cinematic/fan-film work.

Experience with Niagara particle systems
Experience with facial animation/lip-sync (MetaHuman a plus).

Experience editing/assembling multiple rendered scenes into one cohesive final cut
Comfortable working solo across the full pipeline, from automation setup to final render.

Nice to have:
Prior fan-animation or anime-adjacent project experience.

Fluid simulation experience (Houdini, Niagara fluids, or similar).

Experience with AI-assisted texturing or frame interpolation.

Experience with MetaHuman and mocap-based animation for faster turnaround.