Dream Environment
polycounter lvl 9
Update:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBCLw_ckdI&hd=1"]Dream_Warehouse_Environment_95% - YouTube[/ame]
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This is an Environment that I dreamed of one night.
When I woke up, I quickly sketched it out on a post-it note.
Now im trying to make it real, and add a few things that would make it more real...like I had the idea of nature trying to take it back so im going to make alot of foliage.
I dreamt I was in a small warehouse building holding two container rigs that have windows built in on the sides.
I remember there being 2 large windows on the roof with bright light shafts coming through and there were piles of leaves scattered on the ground.
(This is still a rough blockout, the two things on the left and right are those container things that big truck rigs haul around.
I still need to add things like actual piles of leaves that come up from the ground)
I'm in the process of finishing the HP for the container and finalizing the vines with ivy on them, just need to hand place more leaves...im thinking of using the spacing tool for that. I made a tilable vine branch texture which took FOREVER and hand painted the alpha for it (magic wand and color range selection wasnt doing a good enough job)
Here's how my dream started out; inside one of the containers.
I love how the vines and leaves came out!
MORE UPDATES ON THE WAY!
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYBCLw_ckdI&hd=1"]Dream_Warehouse_Environment_95% - YouTube[/ame]____________________________________________________________________________________________
This is an Environment that I dreamed of one night.
When I woke up, I quickly sketched it out on a post-it note.
Now im trying to make it real, and add a few things that would make it more real...like I had the idea of nature trying to take it back so im going to make alot of foliage.
I dreamt I was in a small warehouse building holding two container rigs that have windows built in on the sides.
I remember there being 2 large windows on the roof with bright light shafts coming through and there were piles of leaves scattered on the ground.
(This is still a rough blockout, the two things on the left and right are those container things that big truck rigs haul around.
I still need to add things like actual piles of leaves that come up from the ground)
I'm in the process of finishing the HP for the container and finalizing the vines with ivy on them, just need to hand place more leaves...im thinking of using the spacing tool for that. I made a tilable vine branch texture which took FOREVER and hand painted the alpha for it (magic wand and color range selection wasnt doing a good enough job)
Here's how my dream started out; inside one of the containers.
I love how the vines and leaves came out!
MORE UPDATES ON THE WAY!
Replies
I agree, the leaves do seem a bit bright, i could just darken up the diffuse.
So I'm having a problem with a spot light. Im trying to have a bright light come out from under a door i just put in and in the editor it looks fine..but when i bake lights it doesnt work anymore...any way i can force the spotlight shadow when baked?
here it is in editor:
Here it is baked in:
any way i can force the spotlight shadow and light when baked?
If you want to maintain crisp shadows you need to change the lightmap numbers on your BSPs or static meshes - higher on meshes, lower on BSPs (because the lightmap is measured in texels on BSPs and in texture resolution on meshes).
See Epic's description of all things lighting here.
Thank you for the link, i was looking for that page.
I figured it out though, stupid reason...but here you go!
Keep going....you still have lots to do. It's going alright so far!
However, it's still VERY boxy. You could use a little variation in the shapes in your scene, just for future consideration! I know you're still just starting, so it's fine.
Also, the colors of your scene are going to need some serious consideration too, but again, that can come later. However, it's not a bad idea to set your lighting early on to get a better idea of things.
The light map UV's were jacked and really small. I must have missed that mesh when I exported the blockouts.
tristamus:
Thank you! now that I have the initial block out of what I dreamed, I'm adding more to it for some story.
I suppose I could add some props in later on for variation..general clutter will be nice..I was thinking about having a hole in the roof like it caved in or something and have like wood planks and large stones under neath it, that will be a nice organic thing to break up the blocky-ness.
For the colors, i only think the piles of leaves are an eyesore..I had a somewhat finalized lighting when i started the blockout with simple blocks..now its sorta changing as i go along. Maybe I'll add a flickering light near the loading dock doors for some variation in lighting.
So many possibilities at this point.
Ton's of modeling to be done..I need to get the container finished.
I'm trying to finish the whole scene before GDC, along with another iphone game
HP done.
LP, texture and in game soon..
Ill have to just start over on the main ramp thing. Dont think i can just loop every edge loop and drag it further away from the support edge
A neat trick I picked up from Lauren Corijn's Eat3d Dozer tutorial is to just select the entire loop, use edge constraints, and smash the entire loop into the edge it's supporting. That will conform the loop to the edge it needs to support, then you can just pull it back to where you want it.
Part of the point of using edge-loops instead of just beveling everything like crazy is to maintain editability - if you you can't fix hard edges in less than 20 seconds, then something is wrong with your modeling workflow. It would be great if you could post wires.
I forgot about swift loop too...thats a really useful one.
Both those tips will really help my modeling speed, seriously a thousand thanks.
I don't understand the smashing into the edge that its supporting...why would you need to conform it by smashing it, then pulling it away?
Here's the wires :] as you can see, the support edges are very tight.
p.s. I'm taking a break on this environment until after GDC, I'm trying to wrap up my iphone game in udk with my group before gdc, we have to submit it to apple within the next couple days because apple takes forever to review the app and put it up..
major crunch time!
Here's an example. It doesn't look like it will apply to your model, but it's a good technique to have on hand.
At first i did the edge constraint thing and move pulled them further away..but it wasnt making the edges soft enough.
I had to chamfer it to get the desired smooth edge, the needed support edges were in the way and i couldn't remove them because they were supporting another edge.
It's a bit better
Finished the LP and texturing for the ramp!
It's funny that we paid attention to that hard edge...it baked out great, but i put rust on those edges anyway so i dont think it mattered...idk
The backsides look weird because that wont be showing, It's going to be in the ground. I'll put it in game soon.
Thank you Xoliul for your awesome shader
I'll post up an update with the newest stuff in game tomorrow!
For now...BARRELS!
I'll be putting different colored barrels in the scene:
This is the first barrel I've ever modeled..I've always stayed away from them because everyone and their mothers model them! haha
But my scene needed them as a prop so ya..made one and it was pretty fun to texture.
I fixed the specular too
Just in case you guys didn't know, this functionality is built into Swift Loop. After dropping in a loop, hold control+alt, and you can click and drag the last loop you created. It will conform to whichever side of the ring it's closest to.
i re-did the leaves again...i cant figure out why they look so wrong, seem over saturated but when i de saturate they look too dark. I'll figure that out later.
I'm going to take a new direction with the roof and add realistic elements to it like support beams and stuff.
I'm also going to completely redo the vines and ivy.
I'll give your suggestion a go though and see how it looks.
so heres another update:
I really need to get around to the container..
Thanks for your views and comments polycounters!
An-Tim: "there's something I find really odd about it, not because of the dream-like quality you are attempting to convey but because there is something disrupting about the overall harmony of the piece.
What kind of emotion are you trying to convey in the surreality of your environment? Is it supposed to feel hostile? Wondrous? Offsetting? There is lacking a solid sense of direction, both conceptual and visual.
Because of it, the scene's foundations are flawed: the current composition is dulled by its balanced distribution rather than an asymmetrical hierarchy to guide the viewer through the scene, the textures lack a lot of natural saturation which would help define better the visual differences and focal points between the concrete, brick and aluminum materials (a surface's diffuse color and pattern is composed of a wider variety of colors that are intricately structured with each other, akin to impressionist brush strokes to form a larger picture), and lighting suffers tremendously because the different sources conflict with each other rather than assist and guide the viewer (lack of cast shadow direction and definition, contrast in intensity and softness between the key light, the ambient light and the secondary lights, etc.)
Just figure out what you're trying to communicate, what are you trying to make the viewer feel?"
I replied: "Thanks for the awesome comment, you pointed out alot of flaws in my environment that I hadn't noticed. Alot of it does have to do with the natural saturation in my textures, it's all pretty much the same contrast from the ground up.
When I start vertex painting dirt and moss on the ground and walls it will fix alot of that.
For the lighting, I'll brighten up the light coming from undearneath the broken door, i want that to keep the player interested to whats under there. brighter light and darker shadows.
The environment will develop its emotion in my next update, I'm going to use some post processing and weather effects. I want the scene to have a colder feeling so I'll use post processing to inject that.
As for the weather, rain. rain pouring down the windows on the roof and coming out of the holes of the roof with puddles on the ground with real time reflections. Adding an ambient sound of rain hitting the top windows will sell it for sure.
I want the viewer to feel a sense of depression. In my dream, i remember feeling like the day wouldnt get any better and it was going to rain for months. You know, like one of those rainy days how you just want to sit inside your home, be lazy and drink hot coco."
I wanted to let you polycounter's know what i want to convey for the emotion of my environment too. So there you go :]
-Post-Processing
-Cinematic Rain
-Particles
-Advanced Vertex Painting
I included these elements to help give my scene some emotion as i felt in my dream.
Here's a still video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM-Z6j6K-pA&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Right now, lighting is slowly starting to work for you, but you need a but farther to go. Push those lanterns a bit more, and really try and get a feel for what kind of ambient light you want in this scene.
Just something I am noticing now, is your leaf piles are standing out a bit too much than everything else. You could just do some material tweaking in engine darken them up a bit. A little more color in them wouldn't hurt as well.
Right now, my eye (aside for being distracted by the leaves), is going to the doorway on the right. If there is where you're wanting the focus to go, put something cool to look at there
All I got for now, keep it up man, you're doing great!
I definetly need to work on the lighting alot more, I was stupid and didnt finish the lighting during my blockout, so now its going to take super long to get correct lighting. Gotta bake lights each time i change the lighting..
The leaves are a problem all together, I think im going to get rid of the piles and just have small amounts of leaves scattered on the ground. Ill replace the piles with rubble or trash or something.
Im glad your eyes went there first, I've intended putting something interesting there..i thought it would be scary to put a pair of legs standing behind the door to add a fear factor to it...im probably not though, maybe just a cool prop ^_^
Care to share your research on cinematic rain?
I think you can keep the leaves in there but they need to be knocked back a bit. What I said before about the leaf saturation as if they're freshly fallen, I think it'd look a bit better if they were dead leaves and would be less noticeable. If there is ivy, then there's probably other things growing like some grass or weeds, and maybe some moss on the floor near the damaged spots or in the edges where the different materials meet. That would help masking the leaf piles too.
All your light sources seem a little similar to each other besides the one coming in from under that door way on the right side. Also with lighting, since a lot of your textures are really desaturated looking. It could use a bit of color to give some feeling, like this place is a really a haven from the rain. Some nice warm lighting and use some cool shadows to really pop out the lights.
Also your scene seems very symmetrical in some places. You don't need to change the architecture but I'd suggest changing the camera angle a little bit more than what you have now, and maybe changing the position of the barrels and the leaf piles.
Hope this was helpful. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
Great idea, I dont know why I didnt bake AO on them in the first place. That'll make em pop :poly124:
As for the rain, I watched the Eat 3d cinematic video.
http://eat3d.com/udk_cinematics
(I only watched the elements that I needed to apply to my environment)
And to make it look like the rain is rolling down the windows, its just a panning distortion shader.
Kelli:
GREAT paintover! First off, when I read that the leaves need to be less noticable that pretty much stuck in my head. Thats exactly what they need. right now the are an eye sore, dead and desaturated will fix it!
I agree on more vegetation, I forgot that I had intended on putting in some plants and grass...I even had udk plant placeholders in my blockout haha.
What stands out the most to me on your paintover is the warm lighting. You are absolutely correct. Introducing warm lights gives it just the right amount to make it feel more real and visually pleasing.
On another note:
My friend Frank_Tzeng pointed out that he thought the light from the sky was the same light coming out from under the door. And one is clearly brighter then the other.
I hadn't intended for that AT ALL, they are supposed to be 2 separate lights. The light from under the door is supposed to be coming from the "mysterious" room behind it..not from outside.
So I gotta fix that so people wont be confused.
Thank you for your comments guys! they really helped!
I'll be posting an update very soon
All the speculars and lights in your scene seem to be a (near) white too which might make the scene a bit boring? Maybe you haven't spend much time on lighting yet and I'm running to far ahead here.
But I'd say that the light coming through the gap under the door would be more blue and since it is so bright it would bounce off the truck on the right onto the more shadowed areas in the scene.
And not sure what's happening under the ramp there, but it is completely black (on my screen?) while the chain is pretty bright, even to the part where it attaches to the ramp itself. Almost as if it's self illuminating.
Anyway, awesome work so far. Love the separate props and the rain looks awesome. The only thing that's really letting the scene down is the completely black shadows and the lack of color in the scene.
Keep it up!
Almost done with the HP, just a couple things left to do on it.
I'm gonna try to bake it down on the LP and texture it by the end of the weekend. Lots of work to do!
As kelli said the scene is particularly symmetrical, If you don't have time to change the architecture of the building then I suggest you use lighting a little more effectively to attract the users eye to one particular side - I suppose you already have this going on with the open shutter with the bright light behind it, personally, I don't think that works at all, its colourless, too bright and has no clear source, I'd suggest you make it a sort of teal thats a lot less bright.
Theres also little shadows going on at the moment, this could be due to your lightmaps, but you've got these awesome windows on the ceiling thats a great excuse for some cool shadows from the moonlight/ thunder to shine down on the entire scene.
You also have these cage lights which emit a light that is far too soft and again, symmetrical, try just having one side on fully, or variating them a little.
Overall the scene feels a little too claustrophobic, maybe you could widen it so that theres a free lift mechanism/ shutter in the middle.
Keep going though man, can't wait to see that truck baked.
I'd switch your camera angle to where the garage is cracked open and look the other way through the garage to better showcase the detail you have in your scene. Theres some really cool details in here, put the camera closer to the awesome and show it off.
Also, your leaves are too warm in a scene thats got an overall cool tone.
I'd love to know what you think!
The texture on the container is a bit older than my current one, i added stickers and darkened some metal parts. I'll update that with my new lighting pass. hopefully that will be soon!
and heres an updated texture on the loading dock which holds the ramp levelers.
Been about 5 or 6 months since I touched the damn scene, worked on some projects and got a job and all that other good stuff. I'm a week from graduating college and I wanted to get my work together for a reel. So I'm going to finish off my stuff and polish it all up.
Thank you all for the critiques, I listened to all of you and it really helped the scene out. This is why I love being a part of polycount!
My next steps are to fix the grass, its too dark and isn't cluttered enough. My final video will have some DOF transitions and slow movements. I don't know how to do DOF transitions from foreground to background yet, but I'm excited to learn how to do it.
Here's an update!:
[ame="
.......................................................................................................^^^^^1080P the vid!^^^^^
Please let me know which lighting you like better, I like the first one more(warm).
And here's a close up with some DOF:
Hey dude I did a quick paint over. I love all the effects and atmosphere you have going, But i think the lighting is too flat. It lacks points of interest. I think you should lower the global lighting settings and place a lot more lights manually. Try and vignette the scene and add some color. I think more dramatic lighting would help a lot. Maybe getting some of those ceiling supports to cast shadows on the ground would help. I know its easier to do in 2d than 3d but I think upping the contrast and filling the dark areas with color would help a lot.
I like what you suggested and went for it in-engine.
I fixed a lot of the post-processing, fixed lighting/shadows, added some [COLOR="rgb(0, 255, 255)"]dust particles[/COLOR], added more rain drips inside the warehouse with puddles and fixed most of the grass...
I can't get the lighting to come out of the window as good as it looks in your paint-over...how do I get it to look like that?! it's so hard haha
I also cant get the windows to cast a shadow with its bars and all, its a material set to translucency and the settings are okay in the material...for now it casts a shadow of the entire window with no cage :[
I'm also thinking about adding in some slight lens flares, is that overkill in a scene like this which already has light shafts?
results:
[ame="
I fixed even more post-processing and learned about LUT (look up table) which helped my post-process look even better!
I love how the lighting turned out in the end.
This environment was a huge learning experience for me and I can't wait to start another one! I'll upload a video of the final with all the nice camera transitions and stuff soon when I put together my demo reel.
Now it's time to update my website with my most recent stuff before I graduate next week.
Honestly, you could really make this scene look "full" by adding all sorts of cheap, easy effects, like light shafts and heightfog and dust particles. Don't overdo it, but just throw a bit in and see if it helps add volume and depth to the scene.
EDIT: You already have lightshafts I see. Can't tell on the fog. I think lens flares would be way out of place for a scene like this that is grungy.