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Monthly Environment Art Challenge - January & February 2017 (46)

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  • NBerbatov
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    NBerbatov polycounter lvl 6
    Some update from me :)

  • Sequencer
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    Sequencer triangle
    Hi guys, so I finally decided to give one of these challenges a shot too. This post is a bit late because I'm already working on the textures but here is the mesh I went with. Probably a bit higher polycount than necessary but I wanted to make sure that it won't be a problem when painting because I'm not very experienced in how much geometry  would actually be needed.
    Not quite sure about the grass yet if I'll add planes for that, gonna have to try it out.
    I'll try my best to get it finished in time but I might have bitten of more than I can chew with hand painting it.
  • Tzur_H
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    Tzur_H polycounter lvl 9
    @cfey dude, awesome progress!  you're almost there.  as said, lighting and tweaking the materials would improve it a lot.  you seem to have gone with a lot of metallic surfaces? yet they look dull and boring.  get more specular highlights and reflections going in there, lower the roughness values.  take a look at Toku's scene for reference, I think he pretty much nailed the lighting and the base material properties.
  • Toku
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    Toku polycounter lvl 6
    @cfey gotta agree with Tzur_H the modelling looks good but the lighting and materials could do with a lot of work. From what I see it's in Marmoset which isnt bad but may be worth trying UE4 if you get the time! 

    The bolts on the storage container are a bit of an eyesore, value is way too dark and it bring attention away from the focal areas like the sofa and bed, 4 lights on the ceiling would probably be enough instead of 6, also when you light it 6 lights casting light/shadows is a bit too much. right now it doesnt look like the light mesh is casting so try making an emissive material and using bloom to make them look brighter, and lot of the variation in the textures can be achieved just on the roughness channel and tone down the value changes on the albedo, the rust/wear on the cross panel looks way too intense, Also the stars are too bright.

    Here is an example of the lighting setup I have, I changed some of the materials compared to the concept so it has a cleaner minimalist look but hopefully they can help! Also I used a filmic tonemapper and screen space AO which also helped draw the eye to key areas

    Emissive area lighting for GI: http://i.imgur.com/BtXHp3t.jpg
    Point lights at 100W for Shadows: http://i.imgur.com/AV195J9.jpg
    Lit with materials: http://i.imgur.com/bJRonQv.jpg
  • Tzur_H
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    Tzur_H polycounter lvl 9
    @Toku is that dynamic GI and lighting or baked lightmaps?  if the latter, this is some awesome quality! I'm having crazy issues with lightmaps artefacts at the moment.
  • kadeschui
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    kadeschui greentooth
    Incredible work this round all! I just wanted to drop in and say it's time to get your votes for the next Challenge in!

    I've made the new thread here Monthly Environment Challenge 47 so please come by and vote / post a concept !!

    kade
  • artstream
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    artstream polycounter lvl 11
    Calling it done, about 3 days start to finish. Going to do proper presentation with wires tomorrow.


  • cfey
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    cfey triangle
    Hello again,

    thank you very much for all the helpful feedback :) i did some changes and here is the "new" scene:

    hope you like it this way ;-)

    @Toku i haven't got the time to dive deep enough into UE4 to get that thing done in time :-D but i will definately try to use it for the next challenge.
    "The bolts on the storage container are a bit of an eyesore, value is way too dark and it bring attention away from the focal areas like the sofa and bed" - erased them 'completely' looking good without them
    "
    try making an emissive material and using bloom to make them look brighter" - mat was emissive all the time; bloom makes the whole scene foggy, so i decided not to use it. 

    best regards
  • Klo Works
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    Klo Works polycounter lvl 8
  • cfey
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    cfey triangle
    Klo Works said:
    finally, done with the Grenade. 

    this is highpoly, right? if lowpoly -> well done ^^
    looking good! i like the 'brushed aluminium' look of the cylinder.
    in my opinion the scratches and damage is spread too evenly over the whole object  (and many others here did/do the same thing). could be worth trying to let some areas being touched more and some that haven't been eroded at all?!
    e.g. the inner part of the handle is not exposed to any kind of erosion at all i guess or the parts that lie in concave areas like the trapeze-shaped thing on the top not so much. the ring on the other side could have a big chipped area where the paint was damaged.
  • Klo Works
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    Klo Works polycounter lvl 8
    cfey said:
    Klo Works said:
    finally, done with the Grenade. 

    this is highpoly, right? if lowpoly -> well done ^^
    looking good! i like the 'brushed aluminium' look of the cylinder.
    in my opinion the scratches and damage is spread too evenly over the whole object  (and many others here did/do the same thing). could be worth trying to let some areas being touched more and some that haven't been eroded at all?!
    e.g. the inner part of the handle is not exposed to any kind of erosion at all i guess or the parts that lie in concave areas like the trapeze-shaped thing on the top not so much. the ring on the other side could have a big chipped area where the paint was damaged.
    it's low poly I forgot to add the link:
    https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3xNaA
    and thanks for the critic and feedback next time I will be aware of that. :)
    I will try to attend any new challenge to learn more and get critic and feedback.



  • Toku
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    Toku polycounter lvl 6
    @Tzur_H
    It is a realtime GI + Dynamic Light setup, I didnt use any precomputed lighting in the scene.

    @cfey looking much better with the new lighting, some of the materials look a bit glossy (plant on the left, sofa pillows) and the stars could also be added back in, maybe a texture with less stars and more dark space, also the footmat(?) which is grey looks a bit too basic, maybe try using a frosted glass material or something

  • cfey
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    cfey triangle
    update (maybe the last?!):

    @Toku there is no frosted glass in marmoset, i think i'm happy with the carpet (footmat) as it is :D you were right with the glossy pillows 'n stuff. also darkened the table. and the backdrop is back in the game; nevertheless i like the simple dark backdrop - maybe i will change that once again... ;)
  • Toku
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    Toku polycounter lvl 6
    @cfey looking much better man, Yes I am not sure what material those steppes/mats are made from, right now I have a basic material on them too. One thing I would say is that the floor area under your bed should be a bit darker because it looks very shiny, either the same material as the floor in the sitting area or maybe a dark metal or rubber material.


    Here is the latest update with my scene, still need to detail some of the smaller pieces and put the plants in, any crits are appreciated, I still think the materials look a bit too flat

  • LaurentiuN
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    LaurentiuN interpolator
    Another material version without any edge damage.


  • Tzur_H
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    Tzur_H polycounter lvl 9
    Toku said:
    @Tzur_H
    It is a realtime GI + Dynamic Light setup, I didnt use any precomputed lighting in the scene.
    do you mind pointing me to some articles/tuts about this?  I'd love to give this a go!
  • Toku
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    Toku polycounter lvl 6
    Sure, This is the primary tutorial I followed:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xamOHJF2UTs

    This will show you how to enable the realtime GI and set up a material which uses it. Also if your emissive material is way to bright to get the necessary amount of light make sure to use the "GI Replace" node as shown at the end and tone the bloom down.

    You can change the shape of the point lights into tubes (adjust Source Radius/Length) so they cast light from the mesh in the right way, Also make a postprocess volume and adjust the light propagation volume and ambient occlusion settings to get the desired lighting. Also where you enable the GI add r.diffusefromcaptures 1

    This should help with the reflection captures sampling, although for me I have to set my lights to static, update my captures then turn them dynamic again or the reflections break, I've encountered it a few times where I have had to move my lights slightly or update captures with static lights to get the right configuration, and metal materials are showing up pure white in my captures still, so there's a few problems with the setup but that is the overall approach 
  • Tzur_H
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    Tzur_H polycounter lvl 9
    @Toku thank you very much, such a significant improvement!
    here's before/after the implementation of it:


    regarding the reflections, I tried several things, got something to work quite nice as you can see in the screenshot.
    basically, I used a scene capture cube to capture a cube map of my scene and then save it as an HDR texture to be used in the skylight actor.  I've set up the scene so the lighting and the colors+intensity of the lights would reflect my HDR, not my final lighting setup.






    after this is all setup, I select the 4 point lights and just disable them (tick off "Affects World") - I keep them there so when I texture my scene I'd be able to simply toggle them back on and capture a new HDR image.  the scene capture cube captures an image of the scene on every frame so just leaving it there until you finish texturing your assets is fine.  I'd get rid of it at the end of the process, though, it's pretty taxing performance wise.

    hope this helps someone!
  • cfey
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    cfey triangle
    Hi there,
    thank you for your support @Toku
    here is the final piece: (you can always improve and try to get as close as possible to get the 100%, but i'm fine with it for now!)

    best regards!

    @s1dK looking very good! but i like it some wear a little more ;-)
  • LaurentiuN
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    LaurentiuN interpolator
    @cfey thanks man, maybe i`ll add some wear, your env looks really nice, great job.
  • Toku
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    Toku polycounter lvl 6
    @Tzur_H That is a good idea for the cubemap, Since Dynamic reflections arent really necessary in this scene it would probably give better results. I think UE4 still has problems rendering metal materials especially for reflections. Also I think your door needs changing, It doesnt fit the style of the rest of the scene, Maybe try adding another bulkhead and then a more angular doorway.

    One thing regarding the lights is that you can use a RL reference light which may give more accurate/realistic results. Find a reference light such as this one: https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/assets/images/lighting_package_lg.jpg

    Once you have the wattage and colour temperature, you can convert it into lumens and a color value for UE4 using the converters linked below. One thing to remember is if the light is encased in a material like the ones in the scene, they will absorb part of the radiation adjusting the temperatuer, brightness and diffusion pattern of the light, so you need to use artistic license aswell. Oh and another thing, Don't set the colour temperature of the light using the Kelvin option, It does not function correctly with postprocess volumes, you need to use the RGB values instead.
    https://academo.org/demos/colour-temperature-relationship
    http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/light/watt-to-lumen-calculator.htm

    @cfey

    Nice work man! It has a good likeness to the concept, A couple of crits, most of these are differences from the coenpt: The glass holding the plants needs a frame connecting the panels, The coffee table is a digital surface and the albedo for the wall materials seems like the contrast is too high, also there should be 4 lights not 6.

  • artstream
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    artstream polycounter lvl 11
    Wrapped up the grenades, fun project that I took a bit further than just the base concept. Here's a link for any interested in more images. 

  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    Can we get next months voting thread up so it can start on the first? 3 days of voting should be enough. 
  • cfey
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    cfey triangle
    kadeschui said:
    Incredible work this round all! I just wanted to drop in and say it's time to get your votes for the next Challenge in!

    I've made the new thread here Monthly Environment Challenge 47 so please come by and vote / post a concept !!

    kade
    @ZacD is that what you are looking for?
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    I'm blind, thanks.
  • Tzur_H
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    Tzur_H polycounter lvl 9
    @Toku thanks for all the info, really great stuff.
    regarding the door, I'm still playing with designs, but thanks, I'll keep that in mind!

    added sun to my scene, I think it adds some interest to the scene and also brings in some warm colors.
    have been working on it 8 hours or so today had quite the challenge!  I'm still not 100% happy with the animated textures look on the surface, I'll check flow maps.  I also plan on adding another layer for cloud-like effect where the aura is, and some particles.
    also plan on adding shutters to the window.


  • mats effect
    Think I am done with this, it turned out pretty ok in the end I think. 

  • OsmanAG
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    OsmanAG polycounter lvl 5

    Hi, everybody!

    I’ll try to catch up with this challenge and add some stuff to your sci-fi furniture store ))
    Now still working on hipoly. But sofa is already baked.




  • saulti
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    saulti polycounter lvl 6
    Hey, everyone!
    I've actually never joined in on one of these challenges before but, had some time this weekend and figured why not give it a shot. I worked on the grenade this weekend and just wrapped it up now. The normal map didn't bake absolutely perfectly, especially on the handle where it attaches to the top. Might have gone a little wild with the dirt in the texture too, but I wanted it to feel like someone had had it out in the field with them for a while or something. 



  • DmitrySychev
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    DmitrySychev polycounter lvl 6
    Critique is wellcome, need some work on presentation and probably textures a bit.
  • KustomZero
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    KustomZero polycounter lvl 6
    for me personally your presentation graphics are too messy. When you show just one asset, like this grenade, put two of them on the screen on front and one back view, maybe show your wireframing, an AO render and most definately your uv layout. A LOT of people can do nice stuff but don't consider poly or tricount and how well they used the UV space. 

    For me your texture looks fine, subtile edgewear nothing over the top reads solid, good job
  • creepyhooman
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    creepyhooman polycounter lvl 7
    My update on the grenade.
  • Toku
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    Toku polycounter lvl 6
    Last update before the submission, Any crits are appreciated
  • david-best
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    david-best polycounter lvl 5
    Hi, everybody!
    This is the first time for me joining a polycount challenge.
    There are some small baking problems in the top part of my grenade, otherwise im happy with the result.
    Your feedback is very much appreciated
    model


  • Poseiden
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    Poseiden polycounter lvl 9
    Hello,

    Busy month for me, so I could only get like 80% of the sculpt done. I'll most likely finish it up at a later date by retopologizing it and add textures. I hope to be faster and more successful in the future. 


  • DmitrySychev
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    DmitrySychev polycounter lvl 6
    Update:
    3100 tri
    2048*2048 Maps
    Marmoset Viewer: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6Xm9W


  • DmitrySychev
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    DmitrySychev polycounter lvl 6
    KustomZero, thanks for the feedback!

    update
    Marmoset veiwer
    3100 tri
    2048 Maps



  • Tzur_H
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    Tzur_H polycounter lvl 9
    looking good @DmitrySychev. I like the changes you did to the spoon and cap.  the only critique I have is that you have edge damage all over the place, feels very uniform.

    here's my progress on the enviro, goes really slow haha. but I'm having fun and learning a lot, all that matters!



  • NBerbatov
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    NBerbatov polycounter lvl 6
    Some update from me. Almost done with the high poly :)


  • hannes d
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    hannes d polycounter lvl 12
    progress for today
    wont be able to finish this month :( but will try to finish it anyway

    baked the bed and put it in unreal
    for some reason fbx doesnt export smoothing groups
    i think it might be because my fbx exporter is from max 2015 so possibly outdated ?
    bed is currently obj and that works fine 
    (ticked export smoothing groups)
    if anyone has any idea whats going on give me a shout

    also working on this gave me some cool workflow ideas related to explodemesh
    is there already a script out there to explode your mesh?
    might work on one



  • cfey
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    cfey triangle
    tried the grenade as well, could possibly need some tweaks here and there, but challenge is over now :smiley:
    ...and i can't upload any images due to heavy site-usage... AHH!!!
    will try it again soon!

    edit:

    1.760 tris
  • kadeschui
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    kadeschui greentooth
    @hannes d Love the wrinkles on your sheets! Not too over the top and looking pretty realistic imo. don't worry if you can't finish by the "deadline" lots of folks keep working after the next challenge has started and post when they have time to finish :)

    Speaking of which - The new Challenge 47 Concept Voting Thread has started HERE. Please come by and vote on next months concept, if you haven't already. I'll be kicking off the new Challenge 47 Thread Tomorrow.
  • OsmanAG
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    OsmanAG polycounter lvl 5

    Time is up for me)

    Not finished, but already in Unity.

    I think this scene need at least 2 days for some tuning, and for making bed and table.



  • Tanda_66
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    Tanda_66 polycounter lvl 2
    Here's my progress so far!


    Not gunna be able to finish this on time but will be finishing it over the next few days.
    I will be bringing it into Quixel for texturing next.
    Its been a good challenge and everyone has come up with some great artwork!

  • Toku
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    Toku polycounter lvl 6
    @hannes d
    UE4 is Synced to work with FBX 2014/15 so make sure you FBX File Format is set to that. Also make sure tangents and binormals and triangulated is enabled also. Your bed is looking really good! Nice job on the folds!

    Here is my submission for challenge 46! Still need to add in the Bamboo plant near the Sofa and detail the panels on the floor. I will do that ASAP. Good job to everyone who participated and hopefully I will have time to do the next one with you :D





  • kadeschui
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    kadeschui greentooth
    @Tanda_66 Love the lighting! so far your normal map is looking great, look forward to seeing the finished piece.

    @OsmanAG Looking good so far! The creases / folds on the cushions are coming along nicely and not too overpowering.

    A little late in posting this but - better late than never! C & C very welcome as always :)


  • cfey
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    cfey triangle
    @kadeschui your grenade looks pretty realistic, nice materials. i like the overall damage, the design interpretation of the handle and top, but i love the fingerprints :smiley: - haven't thought about these kinds of small detail at all. 
  • Vailias
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    Vailias polycounter lvl 18
     Great work all around. 
    Not done with this yet, but will likely finish it up this week. 
    Screencaps from max.
    parts for the scene.

    setup like the concept.
  • tehrobster2
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    tehrobster2 polycounter lvl 11
    Here is my Grenade, I am still working on the well =)

  • kadeschui
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    kadeschui greentooth
    @cfey Thank you for the kind words! 

    @tehrobster2 nice work! I might suggest switching up the gloss factor between your lettering and the metal paint to really help the text stand out!

    Wanted to drop in and let everyone know that the new Enviro / Prop Challenge is started here. So come on over and get those props / environments going! :)
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