[UDK] Flooded ChinaTown
polycounter lvl 12
I normally would want to wait until I get a bit further to make a topic but with this being such a departure to what I normally make I wanted to get as many crits and or tips along the way. Not only that but not enough topics start from the very beginning so I'm hoping this will help some other artist who may have trouble getting started with a larger scene.
This project was originally going to be done in CryEngine 3 but I was having a ton of issues getting stuff from Maya to Cry(sometimes it would work flawlessly and others it would just never seem to work right) but using UDK will give me more control over my shaders.
The concept
Pretty big project to tackle, I know Ill need to make use of tillable textures and some trim textures but things such as the windows will need to be uniquely unwrapped.
So I split it up into stages, I took the concept and blacked out the rest of the image except for what I should focus on first. I will not be finishing this one section but just getting the blockout of stage 1. This way It seems less overwhelming, because just blocking something out this huge will be new to me.
Step 1
What I need to figure out is getting a window and wall set(with tillable bricks) that I can reuse for most of this section, I'll need to create a material where I can adjust the brick color as the front is a tan ish color and further back is white(and greenish?) No need for two separate brick textures here.
Ill need one unique door and window for the top section along with a neon sign. Bellow that what looks like a metal plating between the windows with some sort of electronic sign.
Here is the blockout I have so far, any crits or tips on how to approach this please type away. I currently have some modular pieces set up in Maya but I exported it out as one Mesh so I wont have to deal with seams between pieces when I bake the lighting.
This project was originally going to be done in CryEngine 3 but I was having a ton of issues getting stuff from Maya to Cry(sometimes it would work flawlessly and others it would just never seem to work right) but using UDK will give me more control over my shaders.
The concept
Pretty big project to tackle, I know Ill need to make use of tillable textures and some trim textures but things such as the windows will need to be uniquely unwrapped.
So I split it up into stages, I took the concept and blacked out the rest of the image except for what I should focus on first. I will not be finishing this one section but just getting the blockout of stage 1. This way It seems less overwhelming, because just blocking something out this huge will be new to me.
Step 1
What I need to figure out is getting a window and wall set(with tillable bricks) that I can reuse for most of this section, I'll need to create a material where I can adjust the brick color as the front is a tan ish color and further back is white(and greenish?) No need for two separate brick textures here.
Ill need one unique door and window for the top section along with a neon sign. Bellow that what looks like a metal plating between the windows with some sort of electronic sign.
Here is the blockout I have so far, any crits or tips on how to approach this please type away. I currently have some modular pieces set up in Maya but I exported it out as one Mesh so I wont have to deal with seams between pieces when I bake the lighting.
Replies
Worked on the strip at the top a bit and added a early tiling brick texture. Feel free to crit the texture but its not my main focus right now, its more of seeing how much the brick should tile.
Also added the section on the second level where the electronic sign is, I think ill go with it being some sort of advertisement or map. Both seem like a good idea.
I want to have the sign, window, air conditioner and maybe the lantern's near the door on one 1024x texture sheet.
Up next I think ill try and get the stairs and walkway a bit more detailed and get a wip texture on the windows.
By low poly blocking it all out you'll have a much better sense of the space and depth in the scene helping you avoid any pitfalls you may experience with matching the concept, in terms of dimension.
I just feel you are jumping the gun a bit considering how ambitious it is. Looking forward to seeing more!
Doing it in very focused strokes like this will lend to alot of mistakes and a cluttered scene instead of a harmonious one.
And you'll also get really tired of this project if you work on it in focused chunks.
This is what I was going to say had it not been said already.
Also, I remember someone else doing this concept just recently and someone commenting (dont remember who it was, cant find the thread) mentioned the vertical aspect of the scene. Not figuring out a proper way to present that aspect of the concept will really ruin the piece. You dont want to have a horizontal render of an extremely vertical scene. Definitely something to figure out if you havent already.
For the vertical issue If I set the FOV to 120 it seems to match up pretty well to the concept.
I suppose my older way of doing it is better suited for when you are planning on having modular pieces to be put together in a game engine, but this scene while having some modular pieces are staying modular in Maya and coming into UDK has a single mesh.
Blockout so far. Still a ways to go but it's coming to life
Got a few more things blocked in. I think I might move onto detailing some stuff soon as the existing towers will just be duplicated for the rest of the scene.
I want to start getting the rough shapes of the rest of the tower, this would also help fill out the rest of the environment as the other towers are just reusing the same mesh just rotated and in different order.
What I should be able to get done after work tonight is get the metal bars that hold up the walkway in and get at least the next section up mostly modeled.
Added stairs and different set of windows to the left.
It was really really bugging me just how ugly a blockout can I needed to texture something to get it out of my system and focus back on modeling, so here is a wip lantern.
Huge props to JordanW for when he released his street fighter scene. Looking at his material helped me build my lantern material(and now I know what a Fresnel node does!)
(and i know they dont have any thing to connect them at the top)
Preferences -> Apect Ratio Constraint?
I was thinking that in your computer settings you could set your screen to be vertical and then change the settings to the Y-axis instead. Then you'll have a big vertical shot in the end without too much stretchy.
EDIT:
It's very important that you start working in this mode from the start though, otherwise your composition will be all messed up.
I can't seem to find a way to make it vertical without me having to hold my head sideways. I would if I could just have like black bars on the sides but the nvidia control panel and windows resolution settings dont seem to have that option. I would just rotate my monitor with it but the stand i have dont not allow rotating.