Chinese grave

Stavaas

Hey guys, I've decided to spend my summer holiday by creating a small scene. I wanted to make something with stone, and ornaments, and decided to make a grave scene.

This is the first blockout



So far I've tried to keep the lines pointing towads the grave itself, but I could use some feedback on this before I continue, as this is the first piece where I'm taking this into consideration.



I'll keep working on the blocking for a few more days I think, and keep you updated as I go.

Jordz

Looking good so far with the blockout, what is your referance?

Stavaas

Thanks man!
So far I've used these three images as reference;

Stavaas

Alright gotten some more blocking down and drew in some ideas as well.

AtticusMars

Just so you know, your last reference is Japanese, not Chinese.

The torii is really a dead giveaway since those are basically exclusive to Japan but stone garden lanterns like that are also extremely rare in China, that one in particular is called a Kasuga doro and I am not an architectural historian but my assumption is that it is exclusive to Japan too.

Stavaas

Ah, yeah, you're probably right about that mate! I think I found that image when searching for oriental stone lanters or something along those lines! I guess I'll have to find a Chinese counterpart and swap it with then! Cheers for pointing it out!

Jordz

I like where its going an really like the concept, I do agree with AtticusMars the last reference I would say is definitely Japanese, Maybe look at some Chinese guardian lions, looking at chinese graves myself I have seen a few with them.

Stavaas

Thanks man! Yeah I realized I'll need to swap the Japanese lantern with something Chinese Since I want to sculpt some tiger or lion ornaments on the sides of the grave;

So I think adding a statue like will give it a nice theme as well



First time I'm working on a 3D-Still like this, so I really appreciate the feedback!

Jordz

I would say that using the tigers would look awesome the 'walls' around the actual gravestone do seem heavily chiseled and decorated and tigers are a very present in chinese art.

Stavaas

I agree Jordz, that's gonna take it to the next level I think! I only hope I can pull it off with my minimal sculpting skills!

Final update for the day


Swapped the lantern with some lion statues, and got some handrails on the top, as well as a chain with a broken end, so I'll get a nice arrow towards the grave from that angle as well.

Stavaas

Another small update.



I decided to remove one of the tiger statues, as I felt one was enough, and the other stole some focus from the grave. Starting to get happy with the blocking, but I still need something behind the handrails to block the view.

Stavaas

Did some more tweaking and changed the handrails on the right side, added some steps and made a wall to block off the back of the shot. Think I'm ready to start breaking it up into individual pieces with higher detail to get more of a feel of it before I start sculpting!
I also did some very basic light setup to get a feel of depth as well.

Jordz

Im liking the change of the background just adds a little more interest and asymmetry.

Stavaas

Been a while since I've posted, but I have been working! Work has gone slowly because of summer holidays, but it's getting there at least! I'm currently having some trouble with lighting I think maybe you guys can help with! I want to have some tree foliage shadows on the scene, and I made an alpha texture I put on a plane, and put the plane out of sight above the scene.

This is what it looks like in the viewport in Maya.


And this is what it looks like when I have rendered it.


Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? I thought vray lights worked with alpha textures automatically, but I guess I'm completely wrong!

Skeletos311

A few things could be going wrong depending on what type of shader you're using and what you're rendering in. From my experience, Mental Ray just doesn't play well with alpha maps on Maya shaders.

Try using the "Mia _Material _X" Mental Ray material and plugging in your alpha map to the "Cutout Opacity" under the Advanced tab and check on "Alpha is Luminance" in the color map node.

Stavaas

Hey man, thanks for the reply! I actually figured it out a few minutes after I had posted (aint that typical!), and it was just me being dumb and using a lambert material when I should have used a vray material

Anyway, got this rendered out now, and I think it's looking pretty decent for a first pass of the leaf shadows.