A look at some more advance tricks for AR in Unreal including fake shadows. Using AR in play mode and using animated characters.

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In this video, I dive into some advanced AR techniques using Unreal Engine 5 by setting up a Paragon Crunch character from the Epic Marketplace in an augmented reality scene. You’ll learn how to import and position a complex 3D character on a real-world surface—in this case, a table—while adjusting scale and camera controls to create a more immersive experience. I walk through building a custom blueprint component to possess the camera at runtime, enabling smooth AR interactions without losing control of the scene.

Next, I focus on enhancing the realism of the AR character by adding animations and carefully customizing the lighting to better fit the environment. A major highlight is the technique I use to simulate realistic shadows beneath Crunch using translucent textured planes, avoiding the pitfalls of traditional shadow casting in a complex indoor lighting setup. I explain how to dynamically position these shadow planes under the character’s feet and modulate the shadow’s opacity based on each foot’s height off the surface, making the shadows respond naturally to movement. This combination of character control, lighting tweaks, and dynamic shadowing showcases how to convincingly integrate virtual characters into real-world AR scenes using Unreal 5.