Elmore Ridge - Hand-painted Environment
polycounter lvl 8
Hello everyone and welcome, 
My name is Nick, I am about to finish up my last year at school. I have tons of loans to pay for an art degree that means nothing. I want to work at Blizzard, My professors say I'm wasting my potential and that I'll never work there. I'm determined to prove them wrong.
So lets begin shall we?
- The Goal -
Create a hand painted environment that is visually stunning, technically strong, portrays a dreary mood, shadows Blizzards art style, and provokes a story.
Also
Create a thread that helps explain the entire process of creating an environment start to finish. I am far from a pro, but maybe some people new to environment art will find it useful and learn from my mistakes.
So Polycount please correct me when I'm wrong, give me suggestions, critiques, anything to improve the final product and the thread.
So lets begin for real this time.
- Creating a Successful Environment -
Before I begin I want to show a little diagram of things to remember that make an environment successful. Remember art should be the hook to get people interested and always support the gameplay. Good practice is crucial, remember to miter those edges, keeps those bevels for baking loose, and snap to the grid when possible.
- Personal Objectives for the Project -
Get your goals together all artists should have them. Tell yourself what you want to get/achieve out the project. The more you realize what you want, the more you can focus and put in action to achieving those things.
For me I want to,
-Impress Blizzard (is that possible?)
-Show potential
-Awesome Portfolio piece
-Get better at concept art
-Improve at hand painting textures
-Improve work flow
-Increase speed
-Artistic vision where everything works as a whole
-Color, composition, lighting, etc.
- Concept and Research -
Pretty self explanatory, its coming up with what one wants to make!
I was inspired by some concept art that ladyknowles found. After seeing it I really want to turn the scene into an environment.
The concept however had many flaws which would be problematic when translating it into 3d.
I decided to take inspiration from it and see if I couldn't make something somewhat "original." Personally I feel copying something directly isn't as fun and takes some of the creative aspect out of it. I feel its more impressive to make something new rather than copy something that already exists.
Anyways this is what I'm thinking for the project.
- Basic Blocking Stage -
I started out by blocking in my terrain in Maya and then quickly moved it to udk to get a sense of the scale and space. I kept doing this till I had a feeling for what I wanted.
For this environment I want a cramped, claustrophobic feeling because it takes place inside a crack in the ground and I want the player to feel like this place would suck live in. However I also want a grand scale where the player feels very small because epic views are cool.
I'm shooting for a happy medium between those two. At the moment it feels a bit big but the ravine should fill up once I start getting things in there.
Before blocking in the buildings, I want to get a sense of how I'm going to make an entire town in such a short period of time. I start to break the buildings apart into modular chunks that I can reuse to make other variations of buildings.
In Maya I started blocking in the possible town with the few variations I made. From a distance I want the town to lead the eye to the elevator which is the most important part of the town. to help with that I slowly raise the apartments as they get closer to the elevator. I might even exaggerate this more. because the town is busy I want to leave the rest of the environment rather bare to give the eye a place to rest. The brown things on the cliff walls are possible mine entrances.
Ariel shot of the town, due to the limited space to build people started to build up rather than out. I plan on using scaffolding to hold some of the buildings a walkways up. The start of those are the brown pole things.
Shot of the other end of the ravine where a large waterfall will be located.
I want to create tight road ways that really emphasize the close quarters/cramped feelings.
At this point some may notice that this is going to be a huge undertaking a require a lot of effort, but its important to remember that nothing worth achieving is ever easy.
Also remember I'm trying to impress Blizzard, something practically impossible. :0 and if I fail I'll just try again.
Anywho next up finish blocking things in and start the terrain.
Thanks for Looking.
My name is Nick, I am about to finish up my last year at school. I have tons of loans to pay for an art degree that means nothing. I want to work at Blizzard, My professors say I'm wasting my potential and that I'll never work there. I'm determined to prove them wrong.
So lets begin shall we?
- The Goal -
Create a hand painted environment that is visually stunning, technically strong, portrays a dreary mood, shadows Blizzards art style, and provokes a story.
Also
Create a thread that helps explain the entire process of creating an environment start to finish. I am far from a pro, but maybe some people new to environment art will find it useful and learn from my mistakes.
So Polycount please correct me when I'm wrong, give me suggestions, critiques, anything to improve the final product and the thread.
So lets begin for real this time.
- Creating a Successful Environment -
Before I begin I want to show a little diagram of things to remember that make an environment successful. Remember art should be the hook to get people interested and always support the gameplay. Good practice is crucial, remember to miter those edges, keeps those bevels for baking loose, and snap to the grid when possible.
- Personal Objectives for the Project -
Get your goals together all artists should have them. Tell yourself what you want to get/achieve out the project. The more you realize what you want, the more you can focus and put in action to achieving those things.
For me I want to,
-Impress Blizzard (is that possible?)
-Show potential
-Awesome Portfolio piece
-Get better at concept art
-Improve at hand painting textures
-Improve work flow
-Increase speed
-Artistic vision where everything works as a whole
-Color, composition, lighting, etc.
- Concept and Research -
Pretty self explanatory, its coming up with what one wants to make!
I was inspired by some concept art that ladyknowles found. After seeing it I really want to turn the scene into an environment.
The concept however had many flaws which would be problematic when translating it into 3d.
I decided to take inspiration from it and see if I couldn't make something somewhat "original." Personally I feel copying something directly isn't as fun and takes some of the creative aspect out of it. I feel its more impressive to make something new rather than copy something that already exists.
Anyways this is what I'm thinking for the project.
- Basic Blocking Stage -
I started out by blocking in my terrain in Maya and then quickly moved it to udk to get a sense of the scale and space. I kept doing this till I had a feeling for what I wanted.
For this environment I want a cramped, claustrophobic feeling because it takes place inside a crack in the ground and I want the player to feel like this place would suck live in. However I also want a grand scale where the player feels very small because epic views are cool.
I'm shooting for a happy medium between those two. At the moment it feels a bit big but the ravine should fill up once I start getting things in there.
Before blocking in the buildings, I want to get a sense of how I'm going to make an entire town in such a short period of time. I start to break the buildings apart into modular chunks that I can reuse to make other variations of buildings.
In Maya I started blocking in the possible town with the few variations I made. From a distance I want the town to lead the eye to the elevator which is the most important part of the town. to help with that I slowly raise the apartments as they get closer to the elevator. I might even exaggerate this more. because the town is busy I want to leave the rest of the environment rather bare to give the eye a place to rest. The brown things on the cliff walls are possible mine entrances.
Ariel shot of the town, due to the limited space to build people started to build up rather than out. I plan on using scaffolding to hold some of the buildings a walkways up. The start of those are the brown pole things.
Shot of the other end of the ravine where a large waterfall will be located.
I want to create tight road ways that really emphasize the close quarters/cramped feelings.
At this point some may notice that this is going to be a huge undertaking a require a lot of effort, but its important to remember that nothing worth achieving is ever easy.
Also remember I'm trying to impress Blizzard, something practically impossible. :0 and if I fail I'll just try again.
Anywho next up finish blocking things in and start the terrain.
Thanks for Looking.
Replies
It does make me wonder why the cliff on the other side is so empty save for one house.
as for crits, I'd suggest adding more variation in scale of your forms. All your cliff paths are the same width, fairly straight, and the heights between the levels dont vary much. The buildings are all roughly the same size, just stacked to different heights. Try adding a great hall, or a storage silo, or something like that to break it up a little. Don't be afraid to really warp and push your proportions and scales.... I realize this is still a really early block in, but I hope it helps. Cheers.
BTW, goood job so far !!
This is one of my favorite quotes, and I think it applies to you as well.
The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. - Walter Bagehot
ReverenDK, I think the fact that the models are straight might have something to do with the fact that they are block out meshes made from boxes. I'm going to assume that the wonkyness factor will be present and correct once he starts working on the actual models
First and foremost,
I want to quickly explain the big lack of interesting shapes/silhouettes with this block in. Since I do not have a direct concept for this environment, I use this primitive block in to quickly get an idea of how I'm going to break stuff down, set up the compositions, and help get a general idea of how things fit together, locations, and what the entire environment entails. Because I'm using basic geo I can quickly set up a scene and see if its working or not.
@LoTekK: Thanks!!!!
@Kbrom12: Thank you! I'm going to do my best.
@Justin Meisse: Yeah Im not sure what structures to put over there. I set up a crane, not sure if its working or not though. I'm worried if I add to much over there, the entire scene will become to busy. Originally was planning on just keeping the mining stuff on that side. It is important that both sides feel balanced though.
@darbeenbo: Lucas! Thanks, man also congrats on your teams project getting funded!
@Synyster & beaulamb1992: Thanks! I hope you guys will get something out of this!
@TJS93: Thanks!
@iWeReZ: Yes I will go over the modularity in detail when I start to model the buildings, so stay tuned and pay close attention to where I mess up, because I've never done it before.
@tharle: Thank you!
@roosterMAP: Im going to try!
@Howl: Thanks!
@Ferg: You are very right, I added more variation to the cliffs, definitely added a lot more interest. Having a hard time with the town though, due to the limited space and height, I cant seem to think of other buildings to add. I did make a clock/bell tower, I feel its a bit cliche, but its a nice change from the houses.
@reverendK: You are also very right. I will definitely be keeping this in mind when I start to model the structures and buildings!
@clearrose: Yeah I know, I'm not sure if they said as a means to push me or really meant it. Either way that is not the best way to motivate some one. I'm all for wake up calls but there are better ways to go about it. Thanks for the support!
@Tobbo: One of my new favorite quotes! Its perfect. thanks man!
@MrRik: Thanks dude!
@Dazz3r: Thanks!
@ladyknowles: Yes, I know, after staring at if for a couple minutes I began to notice things about the painting that would make it hard to translate exactly into 3d. the foliage is floating on the cliffs, the perspective is odd, lighting is crazy, houses are boring, etc. It could be done it just wouldn't look as good as the painting.
@Jeff Parrott: Yeah pre production is an important step and I dont think people spend enough time doing this on personal stuff, myself included. I think if we took a step back and started with a good strategy projects would go a lot smoother.
@Alphavader: haha Thanks!
@ParoXum: Thanks Vincent! Please feel free to share any intel on terrain when I get there.
@Jessica Dinh: Jessica! you know the secrets, tell me all of them. haha Thanks!
@urgaffel: You are correct! and thank you!
@chrisradsby; thanks man! I really want to emphasize the verticality in this piece.
@David-J: Thanks Dave!
@tristamus: Every last one of them!
@KyleJensen: You have awesome textures, feel free to chime in when I get there!
@jk_virginia: Thanks Jake, good luck with your last few weeks of school!
@choco: Thanks! Really like your work, feel free to tell me what I'm doing wrong with terrain. haha
Things that are not in the blockin!
- Mine cart rails
- walkways/small scaffolding
- props and details
I don't think its worth spending the time putting these things in since this is a large picture type block in and the walkways/mine cart rails are going to be dependent on a more final version of the terrain.
Speaking of terrain, I'm going to look at my options and try and figure out whats the best possible way to make it. As of right now, my plan is to make the entire terrain out of custom meshes. The thing is 90% of my terrain is cliff face, so i don't really see the point in using udks terrain/landscape tool.
If I am thinking completely wrong please let me know.
Areas of concern, the side with nothing on it, I'm debating on what to put over there. Original idea was to leave that side to the mining. Im thinking the best way to approach it is to create a narrative of something that happen over there.
Also more unique structures for the town.
Anyways Block in.
If you see something that's not working or need something explained let me know.
Thanks for Looking!
Reminds me of this, sort of:
Edit:
Oh, DudeAlan, maybe it is there only way to make a living, and so they are willing to risk their lives for it. Not unlike real miningtowns where people risk their lives every day to make very little pay; but enough to live.
Edit*
@Joopson LOL I kinda relized they put there lives at risk anyways. But what I was getting at was why have a house in a rockslide zone as well as entering mines that could potentially cave in. XP Ye old thrill seekers I guess.
@dudealen2001: Yeah I know its not the most practical place to build houses. My main reason for this is because the location is cool and I think if might help push the fantasy aspect of it? My goal is to create a sense of crappy living conditions. Part of the idea that it is far from safe to work and live here kind of appeals to me.
I do like the idea of accidents/rockslides. Ill be incorporating that in for sure. Thanks!
Someone's planning! My god! It's like these ideas and stuff come from nowhere
Do you think it might be a bit much? You're willing to do a rendered walk though or flyover the entire environment or just multiple shots? Im nervous that you might be "loosing the forest in the trees" -- Chris Metzen, Sorry I thought the quote was appropriate
<---Rookie 3D guy
It has been far to long, since an update. I've been Struggling with things here and there on this beast of a project, But that's to be expected. Also school has been kicking my ass. I thought senior year was supposed to be the easiest?
Anyways...
So I've been messing with a few things. First the cliffs.
I'm still not sure how I want to go about the terrain/cliffs.
Here is a lovely screen shot of WoW, and the cliffs are similar to what I want mine to look like. It seems like they are using a tiling texture and stretching the uvs to an extent I didn't think possible? It works, but I'm looking for something that's a bit more detailed and more next gen since I don't have restrictions per say.
So what did I do? I was like "I'll just create a texture and not stretch the uvs!" well I did it and it kinda worked but not really. Its really the textures fault. My cliff texture doesn't really read like a cliff. Crit about the texture is welcomed.
Here is the texture applied to the cliff/terrain test mesh.
So Now I'm thinking about redoing the tiling cliff texture and creating some meshes to stick in the terrain/cliff mesh. Maybe having the two combined would give me a better result?
Moving on, The houses! or tiny dangerous living spaces.
I want them to look dangerous and scary as $&*@. I also want them to have the feeling of being built up, but not all at once. As the population grew in the town they just kept adding on and on, safety being the least of their concerns.
I started blocking in the house/building things. Since I didn't have a direct concept or solid idea I played around with them a bit.
Early on I realized they were far to boxy and I had a tough time getting around that. I decided to treat each level as a unique living quarters instead of being an apartment type building. That seemed to help, at least to me it now feels like single additions rather than being one large building.
So here is my current block in of the houses.
Since the player will be primarily beneath the houses, I want make sure there is amble detail near the bottom of the structure and underneath the platforms holding the houses up.
Now, Silhouettes or "wonkyness" are obviously super important and I did my best to create some buildings that have some nice Silhouettes but still have that middle age European vibe.
Some questions, Do the houses feel fantastical in this early state? How do the Silhouettes or shapes feel in relation to Blizzards work? Does is look cool or stupid? Can you see a bunch of these houses together like in my teal and orange block in?
I'm breaking the houses in modular pieces and textures so I can quickly make variations. Above I was just playing around and seeing what I could do with reusing the individual pieces. Like in my earlier teal and orange block in.
Alright that's about it for now. I am really going to buckle down and get some serious progress done on this. My personal deadline is in 60 days. Well see if that happens or not. :O
Thanks for the comments and looking!
Love the house though. Looking forward to seeing the textures you paint for it.
I think your cliff texture is turning out fantastically - when you pull out some of the ledges into geo it's gonna look great. Looking forward to the next update.
The Cliff textures make a good start, but in this composotions way to flat, if you ask me.
I like the new building style - all the wires and stuff - keep it up !
For the cliff, I think it looks good, and as others have said, once you start pulling geo out from it, it's going to look a lot better. That said, I'm tempted to suggest breaking it up a bit with larger shapes. Right now the majority of shapes are roughly similar in size, which makes the cadence a bit monotonous.
It's great to see so much planning in the process, really nice to read your progress.
The stack of houses looks good and I think the cliff will come nicely as well. As for the whole scene, it could be cool to have some special building like a temple or the leader's place. The place seems well thought, I imagine there's already a big old community well developed. Having some sort of special building might help with the storytelling and the composition.
Keep up the good work.
I like the design of the haphazard buildings - but when you place many of these next to each other there won't be much to differentiate building from building -
depends whether you want the city to appear as a homogeneous pile of houses or a set of individual towers, but maybe they could use some unifying element such as a central superstructure?
The composition of the whole scene is looking great, but as Madwish suggested, a more compelling centerpiece that complements the elevator might be a better focal point. variously sized rock chunk meshes will help the cliff wall too
Keep up the good work and ignore the naysayers!