[UDK] Desert enviro
polycounter lvl 8
Visual target update: 31/03/14
Hi guys,
This scene is to improve my organic modelling workflow. Im still working on blocking out the composition but I thought I'd share some shots.
A quick pass on the vista was done in World Machine.
As for the rocks, I did several iterations on them but Im still not very happy with the current form, so none of the assets are really complete.
This scene was also a good opportunity to experiment with shaders. The rocks and the the dry pond are using sedimentation gradient based on world position.
Any feedback much appreciated.
Hi guys,
This scene is to improve my organic modelling workflow. Im still working on blocking out the composition but I thought I'd share some shots.
A quick pass on the vista was done in World Machine.
As for the rocks, I did several iterations on them but Im still not very happy with the current form, so none of the assets are really complete.
This scene was also a good opportunity to experiment with shaders. The rocks and the the dry pond are using sedimentation gradient based on world position.
Any feedback much appreciated.
Replies
Have a sub from me
My only crits are that the blend between the sand and stone at the edge of the cliff seems a bit too perfect. And the lake rings seem to be a bit too saturated/contrasted, though I'm not looking at your reference so I could be wrong.
Again awesome looking scene so far.
@YakZSmelk yep, I will be doing some proper rock blends for it.
Ive briefly cleaned it up for you: http://krzysztofteper.com/storage/sediment_rocks.upk
Im using AO and edge mask on separate channels of one RGB tex but you should be able to plug in pure diffuse straight to VP_IN! node.
The sedimentation gradient is 2x512 texture which in my case looks like that (resized):
However, I dont know if it is going to do the trick for your scene, as your rocks have more independent structure (piles of stones) as opposed to homogeneous formation. Anyways, your scene looks interesting, give it a try!
Thanks guys, I will definitely put in more sharp edge work to next version.
@MiragentGames
Yeah, I pretty much started this project with WM jamming, I wanted to have better sense of scale before actually working on the foreground so its definitely not final. I want to have better blending between the actual scene and the vista, as the rock formations will turn out incoherent no matter how much work I will put into rock sculpts or WM terrains. I will probably bake the heightmap for the scenes groundplanes and the vista together, and bring back the whole thing to WM. Finally, just import it to UDK and dress it with rocks again.
@SaboR1996
Id suggest watching this: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpmua6XE5UawNH5qN5Ey7RT4GrmPDhLvn&feature=mh_lolz
Im not so good with texturing either. I used a couple of shader tricks to patch it up.
The rocks are not really using proper diffuse. Im using AO and Peaks and Valleys mask on RG channels (keeping B for further experiments) rest is just a tileable diffuse texture + normal map. If the normal map is not baked from HP mesh the Blue channel is pretty much redundant, its probably best to put a height map in there if you need it.
Sand cover is just Z axis projected texture (attached download link for the shader in my previous post)
HeightMap = 2k; Color = 4k; Normal = 2k
I updated the vista and trying to bring back all of the rock props. I feel like the terrain became too noisy in some places, I should be able to fix most of that in diffuse but any critique would be greatly appreciated.
I know it's a nice tool to use in World Machine, but there are other tools that will give you a more believable result, like steps and plateaus, like this:
Just my 2 cents! Keep up the good work buddy!
@ Prophecies Thanks, I think it was an extra normal map on the flows that killed it but yeah Im considering reducing the flow maps as a whole.
Focused on close up stuff this time. Still needs proper foliage and ground blends pass.
This new update is inspiring! I love it!
...
Rockin!
Is that all terrain or have you put some of the hills and desert into the skybox?
If it is all terrain is it just a single one as I'm wondering how you achieved the sense of distance?
Thanks
@Cint 128
The first plan and the vista are one heightmap but the very far desert plain is just a decimated mesh of the same terrain mirrored and scaled down vertically. I’ve also rotated it slightly to fake the globe roundness.
I’m still experimenting with different techniques to reduce the mesh count (especially in the lower parts)
Hope this helps
@Fewes
Turns out the WM file crashed or misses some macros, so couldn’t take a pic. Will try to run it at work tomorrow.
I did the main blockout in Zbrush and exported a mask that separated the desert plain from mountains. Aside from globally applied advenced perlin, the things that did the trick for the terrain there were Vornoi noise plugged into terrace modulation and ‘good with terraces’ erosion preset. As far as the diffuse goes, I exported pretty much every mask from erosion device + slope select. Then, satellite map photos came in handy
Btw just saw your website, I really dig your stuff man.
Dropping some trees this week:
Tree: D,N=2k; 4300tri
I was learning Headus UVlayout while unwrapping this tree. It is really nice tool but I can still feel my brain aching
It seems like the AO is too strong, I will try to reduce it. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Care to share the Zbrush fibers grass technique? First I'm hearing of that. I love the results.
I'm curious as well.
It looks like you're using UE4 and targeting high end platforms. Did you know that even a low end PC will have relatively more than double the RAM available than say, the 360 and PS3? Mesh count should not be as much of an issue in more modern platforms as compared too previous platforms.
same, very interested too.
I was really surprised how easy and fast it is to create foliage with fibers. Here is some stuff that may help:
(my quick plan sheet)
For grass I basically masked a spot on a plane and experimented with fiber sliders till I was happy with the result. I found that its good to exaggerate the grass width, so you get better result while smoothing it afterwards.
For thorn I used two fibre passes. One for branches (mask on a plane), and one for spikes (mask on the whole bush).
Importing everyting to maya.
The HP is vertex coloured, I may use it as a mask to add more variation later on.
I would recommend checking Zfibers with Micro Mesh tutorials if you want more control over the single grass/branch shape.
Please bear with me, I will do more tidy and organised breakdown at the end of the project
I think that the key is to get the smoothing groups right. I did not find subsurface scattering a lot better than old transmission, at least on foliage. But yeah you dont have to use custom lighting model to get that here.
Thanks man. In this case, Im more concerned about shader complexity (multiple alpha overlaps) rather than mesh count. I dont want to limit myself to any particular target platforms or specs with personal project but yeah I will keep it sane to some degree. My laptop anecdote concerns the G74 that freezes 5 times a day with UE4 (and its a really decent machine otherwise). So I guess its time to get a desktop PC just for the sake of work comfort
And yeah hopefully new technology and consoles will bring it to upper level. It is a real headache to fit everything to PS3 memory, especially at the end of the generation.
I havent tried PaintFX but big thanks for bringing this up, it looks really interesting.