Maleficent's Throne Room [WIP]
polycounter lvl 8
Final Render
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Introduction
Hi folks! Welcome to the crazy ride that is planning an environment from the beginning and seeing it through all the way to the end. I can't really speak from experience though because well... I have yet to truly make a fully fleshed out environment. Way back when I first started posting on Polycount, I had plans to make a miniature environment, but I never saw it through to completion. After that, everything has been textures and models for practice and toying with ideas. More so thinking of ideas, then starting to make the first asset to go along with that idea.
That is of course, all going to change with this thread! I know that by thoroughly planning, gathering my references, and taking it one step at a time, I'll see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the most important things though is just having everything down and planned so it isn't all jumbled in my head. This I believe, is the biggest part of tackling a project at this scale.
I'll always be crazy about hand painted, low poly work and that is primarily what this project will be. I think there's something truly special about the style and I think it'll work very well with this piece. I'm also a huge classic Disney fan, so recreating an environment such as this is going to be super fun! 8)
Goals
Planning
Color Palette
Greens and purples are the biggest colors that are in play for the environment. Things that should be remembered through out is how these colors set the mood for the piece. Remember to include subtle hue shifts for each texture. Brighter greens should communicate where light hits, and is the strongest. Purples may be used for shadows and where less light is located. Less saturated hues may be used for mid tones. I think it can be *really* easy for things to get muddy very fast using the colors provided in the reference, and I should definitely make changes as necessary.
The color palette will likely be refined later on when I reach the texture process but for now, these are the basic ideas.
Reference
Try to incorporate visual elements from the reference material. I should always be thinking about the aesthetic, and how it may translate in the textures.
Asset List
After breaking down the image above, the full asset list will likely be the following:
Models:
Textures:
The model/texture that should receive the most love is the throne as it is a focal point and is one of the more unique objects in the scene.
Beginnings
Before sitting down and deciding to really plan everything out, I did do some texturing which at this point, I may consider as "tests" while I mess with the overall look of the scene:
I don't think I'm happy with these just yet though. Sculpts were used for these and I'm not sure if I've quite figured out how to get it to look the way I want. I want to get the overall look of the textures similar to the set I did below, a little softer:
Okay! That's it for planning and now it's time to move on to beginning my block out and then getting it in to UDK. I'm really excited now that everything's all written down here, and I'm hoping to learn a lottttttt from this. :poly142:
Introduction
Hi folks! Welcome to the crazy ride that is planning an environment from the beginning and seeing it through all the way to the end. I can't really speak from experience though because well... I have yet to truly make a fully fleshed out environment. Way back when I first started posting on Polycount, I had plans to make a miniature environment, but I never saw it through to completion. After that, everything has been textures and models for practice and toying with ideas. More so thinking of ideas, then starting to make the first asset to go along with that idea.
That is of course, all going to change with this thread! I know that by thoroughly planning, gathering my references, and taking it one step at a time, I'll see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the most important things though is just having everything down and planned so it isn't all jumbled in my head. This I believe, is the biggest part of tackling a project at this scale.
I'll always be crazy about hand painted, low poly work and that is primarily what this project will be. I think there's something truly special about the style and I think it'll work very well with this piece. I'm also a huge classic Disney fan, so recreating an environment such as this is going to be super fun! 8)
Goals
- Become faster and more efficient while painting.
- Become faster and more efficient while modeling and UVing.
- Become faster and more efficient while sculpting.
- Work on concept and traditional skills.
- Obtain a better understanding of mixing colors, color theory, etc.
- Gain more experience working in a game engine.
- Create a solid portfolio piece.
Planning
- Basic block out.
- Refine block out (add detail to simple shapes).
- Basic lighting setup (use lights to exaggerate focal points).
- Sculpts (when it may help).
- Retopo if needed.
- UVing and Textures.
- Prop placement (fill environment).
- Final tweaks.
- Renders.
- Portfolio shots.
Color Palette
The color palette will likely be refined later on when I reach the texture process but for now, these are the basic ideas.
Reference
Asset List
Models:
- Pillar Bases
- Royal Carpet
- Tapestry
- Throne*
- Broken Pillar Pieces
- Rubble
- Stairs
- Lower Wall/Trimmings
- Throne Pillars
- Edge Pillars
- Archways
- High Wall Decor
Textures:
- Pillar Bases
- Royal Carpet
- Tapestry
- Throne*
- Broken Pillar Pieces
- Rubble
- Stairs
- Lower Wall/Trimmings
- Base Wall Texture (May create variations)
- Throne Pillars
- Edge Pillars
- Round Floor Centerpiece
- Archways
- High Wall Decor
- Upper Floor
- Lower Level Wall
- Skydome (?)
The model/texture that should receive the most love is the throne as it is a focal point and is one of the more unique objects in the scene.
Beginnings
Before sitting down and deciding to really plan everything out, I did do some texturing which at this point, I may consider as "tests" while I mess with the overall look of the scene:
Okay! That's it for planning and now it's time to move on to beginning my block out and then getting it in to UDK. I'm really excited now that everything's all written down here, and I'm hoping to learn a lottttttt from this. :poly142:
Replies
I feel that they are more monochromatic than original paintings though.
For example, on the top of your color palette there's a bright yellowish green color which is used on ref pics a lot.
I don't really see it used on your textures that much. Your highlights seem to use a colder green hue, which made them feel less balanced and more tinted.
On movie shots in some areas (for example the throne) highlights are actually more green than other stuff but i think the important aspect is that their hue is almost always different than surrounding area.
Also, movies's backgrounds seem to use lots of soft, large scale transitions between dark blue, brown and green. Large, soft spots of color wouldn't tile well if you put them on texture so perhaps you could make a few color versions of brick texture and blend between them in editor. Or maybe just proper lighting can do the job.
Another thing i noticed is that on film shots details seem less sharp, highlights are more bold but less shiny and glossy.
Other than that it looks quite promising.
Keep it up man
Gorgeous start, what a cool scene to pick.
@Blasoid - Thank you for the feedback! I totally agree with you regarding the shifts in color and I think that's exactly what the first few textures are missing at the moment. There needs to be more than just a lot of green and maybe a dash of purple. The "glossy" look is an issue and I will definitely keep it in mind moving forward. It will be interesting trying to push a lot of variation in to tileables with out it being too noticeable.
This should be an interesting exercise in colour usage. Excellent source material!
Really looking forward to seeing it completed
while it isn't implicitly described in the scene, the colouration on the rocks comes from the lighting, not the rock itself. Melificent's magic colours are generally speaking, purple and green.
So, if you're building a scene from modular assets, consider making them a more neutral colour and allowing the lighting to take control, otherwise you risk having some areas be more difficult to light effectively later on.
@Nefarius24 - Thank ya!
@EmmanuelLawrence - Thanks! It definitely takes a lot of stress out of the whole process once you have it all down and in front of you.
@Hannah - Thanks for subscribing! I'm pretty excited to work around the palette and see what I can come up with!
@Rokugan - Haha, thank you!
@almighty_gir - I feel kind of silly for not seeing it this way, but you're right. I literally just rewatched the movie the other day and just now reviewing some scenes, it's quite apparent that this is the case for the most part. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind while texturing! Thanks for the tip before I got too far ahead.
@Lowpawly - Thanks so much for the suggestions! I do agree that there can of course be some green still, but for sure, it is probably best to keep things a little more neutral. Some variation in shapes would help the bricks not feel as basic. Varying the depth would also help with giving them some more dimension. I'll be remembering all of this moving forward!
Part 1: Block Out
Here's the initial block out that I have done for the scene! There are some smaller pieces missing, such as the parts that connect the ceiling to the pillars, as well as some of the tapestry that is placed through out the scene. I didn't think these were important to have at the moment though, but I will be adding these later!
Some Max viewport shots:
So some issues that I did encounter along the way that I will need to figure out how to fix, is mainly connecting the little entrances where the archways are at. Right now the hallways are currently welded to the main room's walls but this is apparently causing some issues with my smoothing groups. :shifty:
But with the archways being where they are, I could potentially just disconnect the hallways and just have more intersecting planes perhaps... I guess I will be playing around with this to see what works best! Maybe using a BSP to complete the hallways may be a bit easier too? Also, I have an urge to add windows to the scene, even if the reference material may not include them.
For fun, I threw the scene in to UDK using just the default packaged night settings:
Such cute shadow errors, right? :poly116:
I may also play around with using a BSP instead for the walls and ceiling, but for now the max model appears to be doing an okay job for these. More updates on the way while I start tackling each prop and making them more detailed (and also make all the current models more efficient)!
Thanksgiving has slowed progress on this a bit, but now that I'm back at my Desktop, I'm starting to refine pieces of the block out. To begin, I started working on the base side corner pillars, as well as the front side archways, and the back side archways.
The purpose of these current models, are for them to eventually be brought in to ZBrush and start sculpting in details. After that, they will then be retopo'd, so the final models will definitely be way more low poly. The archways will be mirrored horizontally however the center top piece will be unique. The pillars will be mirrored vertically on the side.
More updates on the way while I continue to chisel away at the rest of the props!
Here's some very basic lighting being thrown in to go over the models in their current state. I'm itching to do some texturing so I'm going to go ahead and move on to this part of the project! :poly142:
I will be continuing to create more props as I complete textures, as the scene is still pretty empty, and the models will continue to be changed (this includes damaging pillars, archways, editing the ceiling, etc).
Are you going to add the drainage hole things in the walls below the steps?
@AimBiZ - Thank you! I'm excited to start texturing/making the scene more damaged.
Going to go ahead and update with the base wall texture I did after taking in the feedback I got from the test textures. I thought brownish/neutral colors would work best with the lighting. :poly121:
Tiled
I started with a sculpt for this one but I just couldn't get it to look the way I wanted to without just completely painting over the entire thing so I'm sort of hesitant to spend time on another sculpt for any of the other tileable portions of the piece... Although having the lighting information did help.
Any feedback is appreciated!
Here's a little update with what I've come up with for the center floor piece while keeping in mind the feedback that's been provided. I will likely model out some of the specific floor stones with the final model just to give it a little bit more depth. I wanted this portion to be much more sharper than the wall texture, as the floor is a more unique piece and is meant to be focused on.
Just a representation of what it will look like together:
Critiques are always appreciated, wall trimming is next! :poly121:
EDIT: After comparing the wall texture to the center floor, thought I'd do a few tweaks and bring the saturation up a bit more:
Together:
Hoping to get some more frequent updates going on this! Here's what I've got for the lower wall:
Tiled
Seeing as how there appears to be some sort of sewer system attached to this wall, I thought it made sense to make it a little more dingy with some grime going on.
Going to do a prop next, need a little change. :poly122:
Really glad to see you've gone with adding the Maleficent's green lighting via actual lighting rather than adding it into the diffuse, should give you a lot more freedom with the scene.
I can't say it enough, I'm in love with these textures. The varied depth really draws my eyes in. Particularly for the decorative borders. Great work so far!
So I wasn't aware of this, but it seems as though one of the Kingdom Hearts games tackled this area (I've only played Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2OqDDzoN1w
It's been pretty nice seeing how the area can be tackled and now it's making me second guess my tileables once more. :poly115:
Specifically my wall textures may be a little too overbearing, but I think it's best to get some props done before revisiting them.
One of the basic archways finished, 196 Tris and one 512x512 Diffuse. Going to start on some simple debris and tiny props to place through out next.
This looks amazing. Any chance of a time lapse video so we can see your texturing technique?
I finished up some rubble so I can make little pebbles and such to place around the scene. Also going to use it for when I make the pillars and damage/cut them up:
Tiled
Also made a little shield and crest/plate prop, both use a 256 Diffuse each. I didn't want to make them that detailed due to their purpose in the scene:
Thinking about working on some pillars or the royal carpet next, cheers and thanks for looking!
I decided to go with a very simple design for the carpet as due to the length, I didn't want the design to be way too obvious when tiling the carpet in the other direction. I kind of picture the carpet that is in the reference material to be very thin and worn out so thus, why I went with the folds in the fabric the way they are.
Really at this stage, it may be best to visit the block out again and try to address the wall and floor tiles once more. If the basics of the room do not mesh together, then this will probably cause a lot of issues later on in the pipeline.
To begin, I decided to make a stab at the walls again, and here is where I ended up first:
I decided that the bricks just looked like pillows, so I then went back and made them again:
Being much happier with these results I also went back and revised the lower wall area as well, thus resulting in this version:
Tiled
After that, I then moved on to working with the floor texture, which I'm okay with but kind of have an itching to go back redo this one as well:
Next were the stairs which I kept really simple, but still damaged:
The center floor area still just wasn't working for me so I went ahead and remade it:
So, with everything combined, I give you a progress shot!
I'm trying to not get stuck in an endless cycle of reiterating but I would appreciate any feedback that can be given on the scene while I move forward. I know there has to be a stopping point for these things but I'm still always more than willing to make improvements when needed. Thanks for looking!
Those textures are hot!
I agree with a_g for sure. Make them pop geometry wise and it will look even better.
Can't wait to see the final piece!
@Alismuffin - Thanks!
Keep'em coming, I'm sure it'll be stunning in the end