Level Assembly and Lighting

whynot

*UPDATE*
Here are some final shots. Please remember that everything from concept to post-production was done in 1 month by me.





Also here is a link to my public dropbox where you will find an EXE file to install the level.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59589536/UDKInstall-DM-LoadingDock.zip


*ORIGINAL POST*

I'm starting a new class tonight called Level Assembly and Lighting. Here are some of the details:

Class theme - Futuristic Science Fiction (Sci-Fi)
Create 6 assets:
A Decorative Break up object (ex. Boxes, crates, pipes, debris, ect..)
A Light practical ( something that gives off light)
A Wall
A Pillar
A ceiling piece (rafter, archway, or something that changes the silhouette)
A Trim (a part that can be used frequently and to cover up problem areas like seams)

For now my question is what/who do you visit when looking for interesting sci fi ideas. Anything from movies, books, games, and/or artists, etc.

I've been reading around and someone mentioned Feng Zhu Design has pretty cool stuff. Anything else would be greatly appreciated! This class looks like it's going to be awesome.

Thanks,
Tony.

Seaseme

I love Feng Zhu for his design work - however I think his concepts are notoriously difficult to nail. There's a certain dynamic motion in his work that makes matching them very difficult.


Some of my favorite Sci-Fi work in the past while has been: http://www.ilyanedyal.com/bladerunner.html Ilya Nedyal's portfolio.

Blade Runner has some of the best sci-fi design around. I think it is definitely more approachable than Feng Zhu.

I would also recommend checking out as much Deadspace 1, 2, & 3 concept art as possible. They have lots of pillars, and that game is like 90% wall modules.

Just play some sci-fi games. It would probably be worth your time to go pick up a few and take a look at them. One great one that comes to mind that is free is Valve's Alien Swarm on Steam.

*edit* be sure to keep us updated!

whynot

Seaseme - Thanks for the recommendations! I've got a ton of deadspace concept art now. Hopefully it helps inspire some cool scifi work out of me.

Here is some general reference that caught my eye:


In this class we are not matching a reference image, we are creating everything from scratch. So all my reference is more to help shape my idea, not a mirror image of what I'll be making.

Here is my first assignment due Monday - Decortive Breakup Object:


*edit* The top two images on my reference sheet are images I found online

My lack of concept skills are really killing me at this point. I plan to add a lot more detail to this, but lack of ability/time to pull it off inside photoshop. I need to create the hires, lores, bake maps and texture this fella as well as my light practical. I also need to create reference sheets for all 6 items by Monday.. oh boy.

Any crits would be greatly appreciated. I will be posting images along the way.

Thanks,
Tony.

throttlekitty

Designwise, I would place an orange strip more prominently on the front of the chest, guide a player to it easier. Widen the height between the screws and place it there perhaps?

whynot

throttlekitty - thanks. I will take that into consideration when I go to texture this object tomorrow. More than likely I'll tweak it all anyway.

Here is a quick update..

HiRes:


GameRes:


Because of the tight time constraint I'm under, I am going to add small details in Photoshop with a height map. Seems a bit quicker to me.. we'll see.

The game res is 1.6k tri's and we are allowed 3k per object.

Crits are encouraged!

Thanks,
Tony.

whynot

Quick update..

LoRes with noramsl:


And UV's:


If you guys see anything I'm doing wrong, just let me know. Entire object is mirrored (UV wise) as well as a few individual pieces of the clamps.

Off to texture now.

Thanks,
Tony.

ohnomelon

nice bake; the edges look pretty strong and smooth

low poly looks a bit too dense. I can see at least a couple places where you could have cut out some geometry without impacting the silhouette, which is extremely important on an asset that will be instanced very often like this.

uvs look pretty good; items are packed well for the most part, though I wonder if you just jammed all the small things on the side in at the last minute

whynot

ohnomelon - thanks! I've been trying to study normal maps as much as possible to find the best solution for them.. so that is good to hear. As far as the density, would you mind being a bit more specific? I'm posting wires below.

I usually UV from bottom left to top right. I start with larger/important pieces first.. so yeah, the smaller stuff usually ends up on the edge or in holes somewhere. How do you UV? Do you group pieces together? Because to me, once they are a UV island, they can go anywhere! hah. Probably not the best option?! But I don't know.

Block out Color:


Wires:


I'm going to go through tonight and overlay real materials, scratches, grunge and all that fun stuff.

Again, crits are strongly encouraged here.
Tony.

whynot

egh.. not happy with where this is going.. on a positive note - I think the rubber on the top looks good.

Update:


Still have lots to do and only a couple of days to do it..

Thanks,
Tony.

Kathle7

look good

mr.craft

looks good, try to apply some dirt or dust on the contact areas or you can use AO map as a mask for dirt. keep it up

PixelMasher

looks like its coming along, those uvs could be packed a lot tighter though, try to maximize your texture space, right now there is like a 15-20 pixel gap between the shells. a bit late now though but just something to keep in mind for the future.

whynot

Kathle7 - Thanks.. it's coming along...slllloooowwwlly!

mr.craft - I appreciate that. I will go around and add dirt in at the end. How would use you an AO map for dirt?

PixelMasher - The last project I did I had the UV's packed in way too tight! hah. I guess I over compensated this time around. I'll work on them for the next 5 objects I have to create. Thanks!

Marmoset Renders:



One thing that bothers me about this is it's just not a practice object. It's the size of a dumpster and would be used in a loading/repair dock for something large like mechs. You can't really reach in to grab tools out of it... I was thinking of throw a bio-hazard sign on it (like it holds chemicals or something) because that's really the only useful thing I can think of for it. What do you guys think?

Right now, I'm about 90% done with this object. I need to stop for now so I can work on the rest of my prepro and create my hi and lo res light fixture before Monday. Another weekend of no sleep!

Thanks for all the feedback so far.
Tony.

Snader

It could just be a shipping crate; I'd probably make a pocket on the flat green side where you can store the papers and such (maybe a display because SCIFI!)

whynot

Snader - not a bad idea! I was planning on creating some sort of tablet looking display anyway.

Finish my light for Monday.

Concept Light:


HiPoly:


LoRes with normals:


UV's:


I'll start texturing tomorrow night. I tried to pack them all in there better this time. Baking normals on cylindrical objects is a bit harder to do. Not sure if it is as good as it could be.

Thanks,
Tony.

whynot

Alright.. Monday turn-in. This is what I had to turn in for Week 1:

Breakup Object:


Light:


I also had to get the rest of my concepts done..

Concept dump.

Pillar:


Wall and Ceiling Trim:




Did I mention I'm not a concept artist. I really wish we could just use other peoples concepts for this class. It's going to be a lot of work for creating average looking models. At least I'll be learning a LOT of UDK this month.

Crits are welcomed! Especially on my concepts.

Thanks,
Tony.

*EDIT* Blockout so far..

throttlekitty

Hey, moving quick there! Looks good so far.

whynot

Ok, so after our week long 'summer' break and finishing up the alpha, I'm onto the beta. Here is where I'm at right now:






So, come to find out, this class is more about learning UDK, not creating assets and building a level.. I guess I'm taking it too far.

Sorry for the lameness - we were only given a month to come up with our own concepts, blockout, model, UV, Texture and do post processing - all while learning UDK.

Also, for those willing, I've baked an EXE if you would like to take a peek. Add '-D3D11' to the shortcut if you would like to see a bit of DX11 lighting.. just playing around with the new features.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/59589536/UDK_AMann1207-Beta_EXE.zip

Thanks,
Tony.

whynot

Does UDK harden all normals?

UDK:


Maya Viewport 2.0:


I'm curious if there is a better way to export/import or create normals for use with UDK. Right now I'm using maya transfer maps, but xnormal gives me the same results.

Thanks,
Tony.

SuperFranky

udk will import maya normals as hard or soft if you check "explicit normals" while importing your obj's in udk

whynot

wow! Not sure how I missed that... looks much better now. thank you very much.

Notes

maybe try to multiply the normal channel in UDK with a constant 3 vector before plugging it in. Something similar to this...this way you can adjust the normals easier.

Not sure if you are building your lights in UDK with or without lightmass on; but if you are, your mesh will need to be light mapped as well. This is another channel of you UVs that don't overlap and are arranged in a way where certain sections of the mesh gets the most UV space for lighting.
There's a quick and dirty to do it within udk when you double click on your static mesh in the content browser...I believe its the last option under "window"...don;t have udk up anymore :P

dpaynter26

yay for lvl, you're at full sail arent you? lol

whynot

Notes - Whenever I multiply the normals it always starts killing my seams even more. It might be because I have overlapping UV's; it's always on the side that has been copied over. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.. your image wont load.

dpaynter - Yes I am - I msg'd you.

Notes

http://s15.postimage.org/m8s0h6yd5/udk.jpg here's the direct link to the image...

btw, the way you laid out the color pallets before texturing...is that your doing or was it required by your instructor? aynways, thats a neat way of approaching the texture process

whynot

Notes - Laying out the color pallet was part of the assignment. It was new to me, but it really helps keep everything uniform.

I've updated my first post with new images and a link to download the EXE if anyone wants to take a closer look!

Even though I'm done with this class, I would still appreciate critiques for the next level I create.

Thanks,
Tony.