SHOKUDAI Temple - CRYENGINE Environment
Hello everyone,
I would like to introduce a portfolio piece on what I worked these last months!
My goal was to create a scene like it was part of an actual game level, this means that I have created the assets to be reusable, the level is quite large for this kind of exercise and I spent a lot of time on the optimization.
However, my main focus on this scene was the materials and the lighting, especially with all the changes made by the PBR techniques introduced in CRYENGINE 3.6.
Also, I don't wanted to replicate a concept art or a photo, but rather to build, piece after piece, the whole picture; this gives me a lot of liberty but it was also pretty challenging to get everything right especially with this mix between indoor and outdoor environment.
I have made all the 3D models with Maya and some of them have been white-boxed in engine with the Designer tool. On the textures side, I used DDO on some key objects, helped with the good old CrazyBump for the normal maps with everything else made directly in Photoshop.
In the meantime, I developed a tool specifically designed to improve the import workflow to the engine that I have enhanced with a live connection feature between the new DDO and the CRYENGINE. The Katana model wouldn't be as nice without it!
For the record, here is some stats: I have modeled 64 objects, created a total of around 252 textures, 146 materials and I placed 127 lights including 83 ambient/bounce lights and 4 HDR environment probes.
I worked on this environment since February, but since I didn't had the opportunity to work on it every day, thats hard to say how much time I spent on it.
In addition, I wrote a really detailed 9 pages breakdown where I explain how this environment have been created, the switch to PBR and my philosophy regarding the lighting and the environment art in general.
I would like to introduce a portfolio piece on what I worked these last months!
My goal was to create a scene like it was part of an actual game level, this means that I have created the assets to be reusable, the level is quite large for this kind of exercise and I spent a lot of time on the optimization.
However, my main focus on this scene was the materials and the lighting, especially with all the changes made by the PBR techniques introduced in CRYENGINE 3.6.
Also, I don't wanted to replicate a concept art or a photo, but rather to build, piece after piece, the whole picture; this gives me a lot of liberty but it was also pretty challenging to get everything right especially with this mix between indoor and outdoor environment.
I have made all the 3D models with Maya and some of them have been white-boxed in engine with the Designer tool. On the textures side, I used DDO on some key objects, helped with the good old CrazyBump for the normal maps with everything else made directly in Photoshop.
In the meantime, I developed a tool specifically designed to improve the import workflow to the engine that I have enhanced with a live connection feature between the new DDO and the CRYENGINE. The Katana model wouldn't be as nice without it!
For the record, here is some stats: I have modeled 64 objects, created a total of around 252 textures, 146 materials and I placed 127 lights including 83 ambient/bounce lights and 4 HDR environment probes.
I worked on this environment since February, but since I didn't had the opportunity to work on it every day, thats hard to say how much time I spent on it.
In addition, I wrote a really detailed 9 pages breakdown where I explain how this environment have been created, the switch to PBR and my philosophy regarding the lighting and the environment art in general.
Video
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Screenshots
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Screenshots
Replies
In fact this is one of the difficulties I have faced. This architecture have been specially designed to protect from the sun so this was quite difficult to create interesting shadows in the indoor. This prompted me to set the sun very low as you can see and making it even more low will be killer for rest of the environment so I think I have found a good balance here.
For the AO I have used both SSDO and SSAO techniques in the same time (I needed this combination for the grass especially) and for the indoor I placed some manual decals for faking the AO but I agree it wasn't enough.
For the exteriors, I would suggest more variation in the grasses you are using, right now it looks also very flat and uniform. Some decals could also really help to break up the stony path you have outside as well.
Its interesting because actually I really wanted to archive a clean look in the indoor.
I believe that everything needs to make sense and in that case adding dirt/dust isn't relevant even if that can add some extra details.
But in fact there are already a lot of decals! There are around 90 decals in the indoor alone but all of them have a really low opacity, maybe a little too low I give you that
However Im curious to know what is your take on this. Do you guys think making a destroyed/dirty look only for adding extra details for the visuals is a good practice or the practical fidelity is the most important? Maybe a balance between the two?
For the stony path its hard to see in the screenshots but in-engine (and in the video as well), there are moving shadows coming from the clouds, a lot of flower particles colliding with the ground and so on.
For the vegetation I totally agree with you. I'm not really a 3D modeler so these types of task takes me a lot of time but I would love to add more variation on the vegetation for sure!
- Floor not completely flat. They're wood, after all.
- There could be different in specs caused by marks left behind by people walking.
- Imperfection on columns cause by old age.
- Imperfection where the floor meets columns.
And etc. Those could breathe life into your scene. Give a story, hint how the space is used.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W_EIfmCqG7c/TW9DCVibnxI/AAAAAAAABBA/V_bBSUG6Qrw/s1600/DSC02153.jpg
This sword stand for example is clean and new, yet you can still see the unevenness of the lacquer and irregularities on its surface and so on.
http://www.toukenkomachi.com/image/C020514-2.jpg
@misswang123 Thank you
Following the feedback I have received I have made some changes and additions in the indoor part of my environment!
First I updated to the CRYENGINE 3.6.5 (who prompted me to make some changes on the particles), I have added even more ambient lights and reworked slightly the color grading as well as reworked the floor material and added some wear marks on where the people can possibly walk.
And more than that, I have added a junction between the beams and the floor and two fire torches who add more dynamism on the environment (who sadly can't be really seen in the screenshot) and help to justify the brightness of the indoor and the presence of light shafts.
It still work in progress so your feedbacks are welcome
I finally finished my environment so I updated the first post of this thread with all the screenshots and the video of the final version. Thanks to everyone who gives me feedbacks in the past months, this really helped me!
In the meantime, I wrote a pretty detailed breakdown document where I explain how this environment have been created, the switch to PBR and a lot of stuff like my philosophy regarding the lighting and the environment Art in general as well as some specific points regarding the CRYENGINE.
So I definitely recommend you to check it out here: http://www.guillaume-puyal.com/shokudai-temple-breakdown.html