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[UE4] WWI Mansion CGMA Class Project - By Instructor Clinton Crumpler

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brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
Hi everyone,

I'm taking a class with the CG Master Academy with Clinton Crumpler as the instructor and need to post my progress to get feedback from the community on helping it be an amazing project.  The class started 5 weeks ago and I'm posting my progress from now on and for the next 5 weeks until the end of the class. Here are my main references below and then some renders from where I started and where I am currently at.  If you have any time to look please add a quick comment or question that can help me make this one really great project. Thanks

-Brandon


































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  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Here is where I am at week 4. I've been working on props and trim sheets. Any Critiques and Comment is very much appreciated. Don't hold back I need to know where there needs to be an improvement and I need to work harder at will post my UV's, as well as that is one weakness I am running into as well.  

    Trim Sheet for wood pannels


    Stairs made with quixel


    Banister for stairs props low poly

    Chair






    WIP on a safe for one of the props



    Hopefully this safe is going to turn out great using Substance Painter but I'm working on some work in Unreal getting the stairs looking more finished and get another step in the scene with some lighting and just more than a block out in Unreal moving forward from the Blockout meshes in Unreal above in the last post.
  • aclund3
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    aclund3 polycounter lvl 6
    The bannister material seems a little flat/dull to me. In a rich setting like this I'd expect the wood to be smooth and highly polished (i.e. shiny, roughness towards the black) and then depending on use you might see more dust, etc. especially in the cavities.

    The couch material needs a bit more texture and height variation to show what kind of cloth it really is. Its reading super generic right now. And for me, I'd add more buttons on the back, two just looks weird. Something more like the pink chair below.



    You're doing good work so far, keep at it!
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    So I have been busy building this scene and haven't posted here in a while. Three more weeks left of class and here are some of my work as of now.













  • Bletzkarn
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    Bletzkarn polycounter lvl 6
    looks insane. Really love the process pics too.
  • FreneticPonies
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    FreneticPonies polycounter lvl 3
    Stairs look great!
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Hey Polycounters,

    I have some more updates from this scene I have been working on. These are 2 weeks worth of work. Hope you guys like them, and please critiques are always welcome. There is only 2 weeks left of the course so I need all the help I can get.  Thanks







     
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    These are from Week 8 of the 10 week class. Most of these are all lighting changes and post-processing. 



    First basic lighting, but without the actual light lamps.


    Added some light fixtures and some blacklight lights (That I'm taking out later)












    This is the current state of lighting. I got rid of the blue lights because it doesn't fit the time period of the WWI era.

    Here are some final shots of the safe prop on the bottom of the stairs.






    Thanks for looking and please any comments are welcome.
  • LorasTyrell
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    LorasTyrell polycounter lvl 5
    The roughness on your wood is really nice, in general I love the texture work in this project! You could crank up the roughness contrast on the safe though. What irks me is that your assets and textures are so good, but the lighting in the last post does not present it in a good way. I know you're probably still working on the light but I hope you manage to find a balance that's realistic but also brings out the best of your textures. Maybe turn down the saturation of the lights a little, get some ambient occlusion in there.... This is gonna look amazing when you're done!
  • RustySpannerz
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    RustySpannerz polycounter lvl 13
    Yeah, definitely research good lighting and get lots of reference. The lighting and the repeating wall textures are what's really bringing the piece down. Your stairs and safe both look great! Try to get the same amount of detail that was put into the stairs into the rest of the scene. 
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Hey guys,

    I adjusted the lighting and made a mix of night indoor and an outdoor sun going down directional light. I made a Gif of the old lighting vs. the new lighting. Tomorrow is the last day of the class but this is not the end of the scene. I am going to continue working on it for probably several more weeks, but I just wanted to post an update and see what you guys thought. 
















    GIF of lighting: ( Most yellow is the old one) Most updated one is on the top of this post.


  • FreneticPonies
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    FreneticPonies polycounter lvl 3
    Last? (Darkest) one looks best for lighting IMO. Most contrast with the artificial lights. Nice job!
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Looking for feedback on the library/study room for my mansion. Here is an update of a different layout. I'm planning to add bookcases on the north walls and some more props like cardboard boxes and other things. If anybody has any suggestions or comments they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

     
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    I wanted to make some adjuments to the scene as a mansion to a library or study room. I still have to add the bookcases but it is being converted to something more fitting for the space and the time that I spent on the best parts of the project, which is way overdue, so I'm taking out the chair (Never really liked it) and the safe and boxed and will be putting in bookcases. Let me know what you guys think of the color change and the direction it is going and if you think it could be a portfolio piece if finished right.









    I really want to get this out there and in my portfolio, so any comments good or bad would be appreciated. Thanks :)


  • shabba
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    shabba polycounter lvl 15
    I think the first thing I'd adjust is the lighting, the colour of the light and the amount of that colour in the bounce, it feels very unnatural and is affecting the overall colour palette.

    - look at injecting some new materials, its literally 100% wood right now.. 
    - look at your original reference, and how all the colours and materials used work so well together.
    - the scale of ur stairs is massive in comparison to the wall details and rest of the space
    - that glowing picture draws my eye first there, which i dont think is the intention. 
  • cmc444
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    cmc444 polycounter lvl 11
    Nice revisions so far! Keep going :)
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Hey guys, 

    I keep still working on this scene, now for a VR Horror experience.  The lighting has been re-worked and improved. 

    Here are a few screenshots and video. Right now the video is still a work in progress but feel like I need to show it. Only in VR it lags a bit when all the lights are enabled so It jitters.

    Also the props right now are stand-in, I did not make them,
    I found them on the Unreal Marketplace so this is not ready for my portfolio just yet, but enough progress to share here to see what everyone thinks.

    VIDEO 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmQpIdiAQYk

    IMAGES
















    Thanks for looking

  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Full quality bake render of the main room with better lighting.


  • Yura_Vorobiev
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    Yura_Vorobiev interpolator
    Great work. Is there a skylight in the scene? I think some places a little too dark
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Yes there is a skylight.  I could turn it up more. I did notice it is darker on my tablet too. 
  • Jack M.
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    Jack M. interpolator
    You need to work on your lighting and color composition more than anything right now. In my opinion, you've taken many steps backwards on the lighting from your last update. Things are way too dark, uninteresting, and monochromatic on the lighting.

    Increase the distance of your lights, bump up your skylight intensity a bit, and change the light streaming in from the windows into a cool blue moonlight to give you some better color balance. You should be getting soft light bounces literally everywhere with a nice soft falloff.

    Your scene also has significantly too much contrast overall. The lighting fixes might fix that though. 
  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks Darren, Clinton, Yura and Jack,

    How does this lighting look? I also added some cardboard boxes that I made to give the scene a little more color variety.  I still need more props though, but I am looking for feedback on the lighting and composition at this point.


    It still looks dark on the tablet but most people will see it on a monitor so I'm not that concerned with it unless it shows up with dark spots on a mac or something, but for the most part it looks just fine.

    Thanks for looking guys

    -Brandon


  • Yura_Vorobiev
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    Yura_Vorobiev interpolator
    It's much better now. I notice few things:
    1) Weird shadows, maybe because of some spotlights
    2) Too sharp transition between light and shadow
    3) For my taste it's still too dark, maybe add point light with small intensity will help it
    Also i suggest you to watch unreal lighting academy on youtube, it's amazing.
    Good luck!
  • ParksMarks
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    ParksMarks polycounter lvl 5
    Hi Brandv3d, 
    Its hard to judge dark scenes across multiple monitors. Instead of guessing, ( or using a calibrated monitor) you could use photoshops' histogram. I pasted in an example which shows that most of your values are very close to black. I also included an example of a more comfortable looking exposure, with the values stretched into the midtones. 

    I'll also add this link to a pinterest board of castle interiors. Lighting such a big dark space is very challenging, so it might be worthwhile to see how real places are doing it. I noticed that these photographers usually photograph during the day, use tonemapping to flatten their values, and take advantage of chandeliers and off-camera fill lights to light up the spaces.

  • brandv3d
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    brandv3d polycounter lvl 12
    Ok, I went in and made some lighting adjustments, and added some chairs with leather materials applied to them. Got rid of some of those spotlights and made a new LUT that is controlling some of the postprocessing.









    This is more evenly lit but I don't like the floor as much as the one above where it is darker, but maybe I can change that in the material.


  • LorasTyrell
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    LorasTyrell polycounter lvl 5
    I agree with Parks that the light is some of the issue now. Obviously everything will look different when you dress the set and get more colour and material variation, but the lighting should complement your entire scene. If I were you I would spend some time studying how others have lit these kinds of environments, you can just search for lighting artist on ArtStation. And check out the lighting academy on youtube. Some photos for illustration 



  • Maxilator
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    Maxilator polycounter lvl 8
    I think it looks pretty strange with the spotlights that are high up on the wall, Perhaps i've just not seen it but from an interior design point of view i dont see why you would ever put lights like that. I also think that it would look better if the second panel stack is different in some way, either like the tile material you made after the reference or some wallpaper.

    Sorry if this has been addressed, the thread is a bit tl;dr at this point.
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