[Student] Final Semester Project
polycounter lvl 4
Edit:
[x]1. Picking concept
[x]2. Breakout
[x]3. Blockout
[ ]4. Modelling
[ ]5. Unwraps
[ ]6. Textures
[ ]7. Lighting
[ ]8. Renders
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Hello Polycount!
I'm starting today my final semester at school and I need to create a final project and eventually use it to build a portfolio and get a job. My semester is 15 weeks long and I plan to update everything I do on this topic. I would like to get as much feedback, comments and critics as possible to improve my work. I know that most of you already got some good expertise in 3D domain and it could really help me.
I would like to eventually work as an environment / props artist, so I plan on building a whole environment for my final project. Today, for day one, I did some research to find some good concepts. I found some, but I'm not entirely sure on what I will do. Here's what I got so far :
It would be great if you could give me your opinion on which one I should do and why. Also, if you got some environments to suggest, I would be happy to see what you got.
Thanks guys! I hope that you will be able to help me with my workflow.
Latest update :
[x]1. Picking concept
[x]2. Breakout
[x]3. Blockout
[ ]4. Modelling
[ ]5. Unwraps
[ ]6. Textures
[ ]7. Lighting
[ ]8. Renders
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hello Polycount!
I'm starting today my final semester at school and I need to create a final project and eventually use it to build a portfolio and get a job. My semester is 15 weeks long and I plan to update everything I do on this topic. I would like to get as much feedback, comments and critics as possible to improve my work. I know that most of you already got some good expertise in 3D domain and it could really help me.
I would like to eventually work as an environment / props artist, so I plan on building a whole environment for my final project. Today, for day one, I did some research to find some good concepts. I found some, but I'm not entirely sure on what I will do. Here's what I got so far :
It would be great if you could give me your opinion on which one I should do and why. Also, if you got some environments to suggest, I would be happy to see what you got.
Thanks guys! I hope that you will be able to help me with my workflow.
Replies
As for the top left, it is my second favorite. If no one propose any other concept, I will probably do a breakout with both concepts and chose which one I'm more confident with.
Also, SP3, about the question where I'm aiming to get a job, I live in Montreal and I think that there is a lot of studios, from indie to international, where I could apply and maybe get a job. I'm not too stressed about it.
I will probably decide which concept I will use on Wednesday, in aprox. 2 days.
It's best to make something smaller and make it very high quality.
I think the top left one is your best bet, its interesting as a full environment & will give you a chance to practice multiple aspects of not only modelling but composition and lighting.
The top right one would be great if you haven't been modelling for too long and just want to produce a quality piece of work, although not as interesting as the others in terms of elements; it could still be a nice portfolio piece.... the lighting and atmosphere is really nice in that one and will make you stand out from the crowd a bit more.
I personally like the top two, and the last one. The first one has some interesting, contrasting lighting as others have said. The second one, although simple, I think still has somewhat of a "cool" factor - I'd love to actually go explore a place like that. It is rather boring to look at, though.
I think the last one would be a great learning experience with the addition of the water and various fire/smoke particle effects etc. Depending on how closely you want or have to follow the concept, I think there is also a lot of wiggle room in there to adjust the lighting and colors to really make it your own. (Unless you already love it the way it is!)
KrisLW, thanks also for your input. You made me realise that indeed the particles in the bottom right concept could really be intresting! I was planning to do the environment in UDK, but I wonder if I should try to do it in UE4. Never tried it before though, I don't know how long it will take me to become used to it.
After all your feedback, I tried to blockout the top left concept like many of you suggested, but I realised that I really didn't like it because of the fact that it is really blurry and not defined! I tried to visualize the details that were missing but it looked like a pretty big job itself! : / Afterwards, I decided to pick my first choice, the bottom right one. As mentioned, the fog, the fire, the water and the smoke add a lot to the scene and that's why I really enjoy it. Also, you can easily feel the gameplay possible in the scene just looking at the concept, something that I didn't feel as much in the other concepts. Also, There is a lot of props and materials that could be used really often in this concept, something that should help me a lot!
I also had been thinking about the whole ' hand painted ' texture-thing and realise that it might be too big of a challenge for a first time. I think that I will go with a semi-realistic look, not 100% sure yet. Someone told me to take a look at the art style of Dishonored and Thief to inspire myself a bit for the textures which are indeed really good references . I like how the textures are not totally realistic but still easily believable.
So, after all that, I started gathering some real life references of objects and textures that compose my scene. I gathered quite a lot of them, but I will probably need to look for a bit more. Here is a photo montage :
Then, I did a Breakout of the concept. I've never really done this before, but I've seen it many times on other's project on Polycount. I tried to divide my breakout by modelling elements ( barrels, boxes ) but also by material elements ( metal, bricks, stone floor and stone wall ). If someone got any comments, advices or criticisms about it, let me know! But I think that this simple Breakout will help me a lot.
Thanks a lot for reading. Also, the C/C are really helpful, keep them coming! : )
I've discussed this whole environment project a lot with many friends, school colleagues and teachers and obviously with some of you guys. After talking with one of my teacher, I decided to give a go to Unreal Engine 4. I've bought it the other day and been looking through it a bit. I've watched some tutorials to get a bit how it works. I will only do my environment in it, so I don't really think that I need to learn a lot about Blueprints, at least for now. The Material Editor will probably be very useful! I need to check some tutorials about lighting, ambiance, cameras, water shader and particles too though! If you guys got some nice tutorials to suggest me, I'd be glad to take a look at them.
As for the project itself, I've started to block it out roughly in 3ds max! Nothing too complete for now, just placing some stuff to get a quick feel of how it will look in 3D. I'm obviously not 100% done with the blockout yet, but I plan to finish it by Friday and place everything in UE4 to start putting some lights and probably fog in. Here is what it looks like for now.
Hopefully I won't have too many with the proportions and the camera settings once I finalize it in UE4.
Thanks for reading, C/C are always appreciated!
The slope of the stairs is much too shallow - those in the reference are close to 45 degrees.
You really should try to match the FOV & camera position to those in the reference; the current proportions overall don't seem to match, and you'll have a very difficult time progressing if you can get the basic proportions closer.
Thanks for the feedback mate. I worked on the problems you pointed out. I also tried to match the FOV, angle, etc. of the camera, but I think that it really stretches some of the props in the scene ( like the stairs on the extreme left. They are pretty much perfectly 45 degrees in orthographic view ). The barrels are a bit skinnier now, but I noticed that in the actual concept, some are larger than others, which isn't really a big problem.
I know that the camera ( or the proportions of buildings/props ) is not perfect yet, but I would like to place everything roughly first, then get it into UE4 and then fix everything once in the game engine*. Someone knows if the camera works exactly the same way in 3ds max and in UE4?
I sent you a private message, I'm not entirely sure what you were asking.
Haha, thanks man. I didn't know until like 3 days ago that this was an actual official Fable 3 concept art! I would be really interested in seeing what you did with that concept! I will send you a PM
As for the progress for the last day, I tweaked the FOV and position of the camera again, but it's really hard to get on the exact spot. I will keep on placing some doors, windows and probably things like the boat and maybe chairs, but how far do you think that I have to go before bringing this blockout in UE4?
New update, ending of week 2. I worked more on my blockout. I pretty much placed everything I wanted to place. I think the FOV is pretty close to the one in the concept. The FOV is 99 degrees so there are some stretching of the actual size on the sides of the screenshot. I didn't place the boats, but it won't be a problem to place them later.
I decided to change a big some proportions. Most of the doors in the concept are really big compared to the humans( 2x, 3x the height ). I also noticed that the windows have a lot of different sizes, but I will probably stick with only 2 or 3 different models for the sake of staying modular and light.
Like I said, I still don't know if this is considered a good blockout, but I think that this is pretty much enough for me to get a good feeling of how the scene will look. I will eventually enlarge the scene by doing some back alleys, maybe more buildings in the background and obviously something behind the camera.
If you guys think that I should keep working on it or modify some parts of my blockout, just tell me, I will try to fix the issues. Else, I will start bringing this is UE4 and give a go to some basic lighting and ambiance for the scene.
Thanks a lot for reading.
If you don't mind me asking, who's the artist of that bottom left concept? or what game is it for?
The jungle concept is by Bryan Sola. Here is his DeviantART profile : http://bpsola.deviantart.com/
Thanks btw! ^^
I have been working 50/50 on two different projects recently, including this environment, and I didnt find my progress worth posting on this topic yet. Now its beginning of week 4 and I need to keep up to date and get more feedback!
I started by moving my blockout into UE4 to see how it would look in a game engine. It was basically my first time really importing assets in UE4 and I had some problems so I had to do it 2 times. I tried to get some of the lights / fog / sky right to give it some ambiance, but I had a lot of problems. Somehow, the sky really doesnt want to change color. I tried using the Details Panel to control it, didnt work. I found the Sky Material in the Engine folder and it also doesnt apply to my scene for some reason.
Anyway, this is what my scene looks like for now :
I also started 2 assets : the barrel and the wooden crate. I began with them because they are used really often in the scene. Im not too sure if this is the perfect approach, but I will roll with it anyway!
I almost finished my barrel, except for the normal maps that I will do in nDo2 a bit later, but I got some feedback saying that the shape was too boring, not interesting enough. The problem is that I worked so much on the diffuse that it would really be a pity to re-do it all over again! So I just moved some of the polygons on top to break the perfect line. Ive put my old version and the one slightly modified one beside the other, you guys can tell me what I should do. Keep the old version, keep the new version or re-do it all over again.
Left = new Right = old
As for the wooden crate, I started the diffuse but its not 100% done. I got the same critics as my barrel though : Shape too simple, texture too boring. I indeed understand that the shape is boring, its a simple cube pretty much, but how could I make this more interesting?
Here is a screen shot of the box in Mudbox and my diffuse at the moment :
I did my texture in a way that I can use 1 texture and 1 mesh and still have some different crates in my scene. I will have 1 mesh by multiple UV channel to get some variations in the textures. Im still in the process of adding some kind of decals on some of the faces.
That is pretty much it for now, I would really appreciate some comments and critics and if someone can help me with UE4, it would also be appreciated! Just post here or send me a PM.
Thanks a lot.
Here are screenshots of my 3 objects in Marmoset 2.
(forgot an AO on this one ^ )
With that now done, I need to start working on other assets of the environment. I also did some research about some architectural style for the buildings. I gathered some references that I will probably use to inspire me for the designs.
I will probably edit sometime soon with my new assets integrated into my scene in UE4.
As always, C/C are really appreciated. Thanks.
I was thinking the same thing. Make those corners really pop..
Thanks mate. I was thinking about adding a BIT of decals, grunge, etc. on the 3 props, but I want be 100% certain of the theme that will have my scene. I also want to add some logos or brands decals, but I need to figure one out first : P
You mean, scaling some of the planks to break even more the silhouette?
The barrel and crate look much better after you redid them.
One suggestion would be to add the bridge and some more buildings like the reference image(where it is a bit blurry) They don't have to be detailed because they are too far away to see details. Would add that because the image uses perceptive and directs your eye to that point(the end of the canal).
Those objects certainly look way better than before now, althought i doubt the barrel will be practical, since there isnt a straight bottom and the planks dont create a watertight area.
Would you mind linking the original art pieces, i see some nice concepts i might be willing to try.
Good luck with your project!
Yes, I was planning on doing that eventually, but I was seeing them as some sort of metal trash can though.
Thanks. And yes, I was planning on doing the environment a bit bigger than what I first blocked out, I just decided that I need to start some art as soon as possible to start seeing some progress on the scene. But I really would like to enlarge both ends of my blockout and also fill the back alleys too.
Thanks a lot. The bottom part of the barrel is indeed not totally straight, but I made it a bit more straight than the top part.
I don't mind sending you the art pieces, but are you talking about the concepts? I will send you a PM.
Thanks all for the feedback, really appreciated.
yeah the ones you pasted all in a image together.
During the last couple of days, I've been working on a tileable brick wall material for the buildings in the environment. This is what it looks like :
I think the tiling is pretty good, it's pretty much impossible to notice the seam.
I also placed all the props I have done so far in my scene. The building on the left is just a quick test of the brick material to see how I could set it in UE4 material editor. I still need to work a lot on the lighting and the fog too. Still a lot to do!
I am starting a wooden ladder for the environment and I am wondering if the silhouette and the details of my ladder are too simple? And if they are, how could I make it more interesting?
Since the last post, I have been working on multiple small assets. The ladder, some metal rings on the wall, a dock cleat and also a small wood plank to place a bit everywhere.
Also, the stairs, which I am not sure if I will keep them that way. The tiling looks a bit wrong and I don't know how I will be able to tile the side stairs to the brick wall itself, so I will probably have to re-do it all.
I've been working on the small brick bridge too, but I'm stuck with some unwrap problem. I will have to see how to fix that too.
Today I have started the modelling of the buildings. Here is a small WIP screen shot.
More updates to come soon!
I didn't update in a long time but I still kept working on my scene! I didn't think that the time put into posting every day was worth the small amount of feedback you guys were able to give me at such an early stage of my environment. Now, I finished my course but I'm still planning on polishing and finishing entirely my scene for an eventual first portfolio piece.
These are my latest screenshots that I presented at the final week of my school program.
I got a couple of new goal for this environment. I really want to polish it until it's really adequate for an environment artist's portfolio.
- Vertex painting some moss and more damaged bricks on the walls
- Modify the scene's shape from an '' l '' to a '' T '' so I can get some more immersive shots out of my renders. ( I don't want to see the environment end in the middle-far background. )
- Really improve with lighting. I don't know much yet, especially in Unreal Engine 4. I would like to use the new Distance Field Ambient Occlusion from Epic, but I'm not sure how to exactly set it up. If someone would be willing to help me with that, just send me a private message, or post here.
- MORE PROPS to fill the scene. The walls are kind-of boring right now.
- Fix the boat... It is really unfinished right now.
- etc.
*btw, particles and floor material are not mine, they are the originals from UE4. I will probably make my own floor material and try to custom the particles a bit. Anyway, the fire particles and too big and bright right now.*
Thanks for ready. C/C is welcome!
A little interesting fact - when we put light sources in our set for filming, they are there to look good and usually needs to be dimmed down a lot to the point they barely affect our set at all. Other wise they'll be over exposed in our shot which looks terrible.
We still need to create illusion that those light sources are lighting our set, so we set up spotlights to fake that.
Something to get you thinking when placing light source in your scene