[UE4] Steampunk Observatory

Clark Coots

Hello Polycount. I'm making a Steampunk Observatory based on Toni Justamante Jacobs concept. Environment will be in UDK. Feel free to leave feedback!

As of now, I think I'm going to shorten the height of the center big column by 2 stair steps to try to match the proportions more in the concept, although there looks to be some scale inaccuracies in the concept. So might end up just being whatever works best.

CONCEPT:


BLOCKOUT:

ZacD

I feel like the telescope needs to be bigger, there are a ton of scale issues with the concept. I'd also like the stairs to be a bit narrower or the column wider. The vertical supports you added kinda break up the nice flow the staircase had, I'm not a fan of that.

Clark Coots

Thanks Zac! I've made some adjustments to the blockout, think I'm ready to model something. Feel like starting with the telescope!

couple notes for myself: make column spiral wider, raise height of table a bit, extend bottom or stairs/railing

I did the fog in PS for now for some pre-viz of what I'd like to aim for in UDK

BLOCKOUT 002:

whats_true

Looks good so far. I still think the lens could be a little bit bigger. Not a fan of the concept art tbh. Scene feels kinda empty, with the majority of details going into the scope. I think if you did a render focusing closer on the telescope, that'll be ace!

Clark Coots

Modeled HP/LP of the telescope as well as some texture and shader work.



Still pretty new to UDK so I ran into a problem with the cube map reflection breaking at mirrored UV seams, particularly noticeable on the base plate shown below. Anyone have any idea on this? I researched older threads but nothing on this cubemap problem.

Shader set up is pretty standard. I have a SceneCaptureCubeMapActor with a RTT Cube plugging into it. That RTT is in my shader with a Reflection Vector into the UVs and multiplied with my Diffuse going into Emissive.

Clark Coots

more stuffs
floor texture still WIP

Shad0w_Walker

I think that this could look amazing!
It's hard to tell at this point of development, but I think I'll stay tuned for this.

Keep on going.


Cheers

killazzz

Good work so far, The platform texture and telescope are looking really good and quite close to the ref. The only say id recommend at this point is re think the foreground walls. if you look at the concept the left wall is different than the round like pillars, it would be a nice way to vary it up if you had that wood more hard edged wall with the scrolls in it. Otherwise keep it up!

Clark Coots

thanks everyone.

@killazzz I'll be revisiting the foreground walls as you suggested at some point to furthur match the concept.

the latest update:
book cases and books are still WIP, but the spiral columns are near complete.

WarrenM

I have to say with the materials and lighting set up in this scene, have you considered moving it over to Unreal Engine 4? This would look AMAZING with PBR materials...

Clark Coots

Hey Warren, I've definitely considered moving to UE4, it's been itching me since the release. I've been gathering information about UE4 and PBR and getting more comfortable with the idea of moving over. Also it's early enough in production so it still could happen!

WarrenM

Right, that's what I was thinking. You're just starting to import stuff so it's the perfect time.

Clark Coots

Alrighty, transitioned into UE4! Still some tweaks on the current asset placement, and of course the new PBR materials but heres where its at so far:

Joltya

Wow this is incredible. I don't know if it's what you're going for, but it looks so much like an illustration rather than a CG model. I am absolutely in love with the style.

WarrenM

Already looking 75% more ballin'. Nice!

Clark Coots

got back to working on this puppy after finishing up some other stuff.

Clark Coots

some more lighting and almost finished up the walls

Kimon

I know it's not final but I really think you should put some more love in to the shadows and AO. Post Process AO that is. It kinda looks like stuff is floating right now.

But it's starting to look really cool good job!

Clark Coots

Hey Kimon, thanks for your comments. I've tried messing more with the post process AO to try to ground the objects. I have noticed the floaty objects problem before and the AO wasn't cutting it. I even incorportated vertex painting into my floor texture to paint in darker floor tiles to fake shadow to help ground objects. Theres also a light above the globe and table that has cast shadow. I'm going to play more with the light placement, I don't think it's there yet.

here's the new update:

locater16

Very cool! I was wondering if reflective metal would clash with the more handpainted style, but you made it work, especially in that last shot.

Kimon

Wow! Huge improvement in that last pic imo tbh! Great job man. This will be a cool piece.

ZacD

I would go more brass with the metal on the wall and in the room. And leave the telescope as copper.

WarrenM

Great progress, man! That last shot is great. I thought it was a reference image for a second.

Clark Coots

thanks for the comments and feedback everyone, I really appreciate it!

list of updates:
changed the wall metal to brass as ZacD suggested and to match the concept more.
completed left dome section
single books prop and placement
cleaned up and completed 3rd modular wall section (where camera is) with proper UVs/additional modeling
more intense lighting and bloom
spiral staircase LP with UVs complete - still have to make HP, bake, and texture (placeholder materials on now)

thanks for looking!