It has been such an exciting year seeing all of the new projects created with KitBash and UE5 – The Cloud Racer from Virtual Production pioneers Impossible Objects is a shining example of what small teams can do with this powerful tool combination.

In the new sci-fi short film, director Joe Sill tells the story of a rookie outerling piloting his race-craft over dilapidated streets in a fierce aerial competition against better-funded corporate teams. ”The idea for Cloud Racer spawned from a mutual love for the jaw-dropping pod racing sequence that premiered in Star Wars just over twenty years ago, and how special it was to see a race film set in a science-fiction fantasy landscape on the big screen.” Sill shared, “We wanted to capture the essence of this sequence, and develop it into a story of a father and son taking on the daunting world around them, and proving that the little guy has a spot in the race too.”

To create the film’s post-apocalyptic Los Angeles in the year 2055, Sill and his team of only four Unreal artists relied heavily on the Warzone and Aftermath Kits from the KitBash3D library. “KB3D (assets) are providing infinite possibilities for artists to stand up massive, detailed environments within an extremely short amount of time, allowing small teams to develop and realize completely fictitious, and previously restrictive big visual ideas,” said Sill.

For the Impossible Objects team, the project is a result of their determination to develop narrative passion projects in between their constant commercial schedule and virtual production pipeline building. They are dedicated to breaking through constraints of storytelling by democratizing virtual production to put the power back into the hands of creators of all sizes. “Our goal has always been to manifest original ideas independently using innovative and emerging new world building tools. Unreal Engine and KitBash3D are making it possible to visualize ambitious concepts at such a democratized level."

The Cloud Racer premiered through Short of the Week on Monday, August 15th – and proves that with the right combination of artistry, technical ingenuity and embracing next generation production tools, small independent teams can produce projects that meet or exceed the quality of much larger and more well-established studios.

Below are several stills from the film.