Bierdstadt Inspired Landscape (UE4)

Meloncov

Still have to do ground textures, a ton of shader work, and finalize lighting and composition.



Getting the material definition in Unreal as clear as in the 3Do previewer has been a struggle. I have a thread in Technical Talk where I got the worst of it sorted out, but it's still not quite there:



At least part of it is 3Do's sharpen filter, which I don't think can be replicated in UE4. Maybe a detail normal map would let me get the right feel?

Meloncov

Filling in the foreground. Really need to get a good foliage shader set up, and a texture for the background mountains.

Tobbo

I'm liking what you have done so far. Looking forward to seeing this evolve!

Cheeky_Pickle

Love me some Bierstadt, look forward to your progress

Meloncov

Thanks Tobbo, Holly. Got the glaciers in in the background, filled in the foreground a bit, and some not particularly successful messing around with lighting:

Spoon

This is gonna be great

Meloncov

Thanks Spoon. Worked on a bunch of shaders today. Foliage is looking better, but still isn't reacting to shadows quite like I'd expect.

Right now the big thing that's bugging me is the forest floor. It's somehow simultaneously feeling too busy and rather empty. Gonna have to figure something better out.



Also, despite messing with it every day all week, the trees still aren't looking nearly as good as in 3Do.

Meloncov

Ok, looking at my last two posts side by side, my tweaks changed the final image quite a bit less than I thought they had...

I looked at some reference, and realized what I needed to do to get the forest floor right was add a bunch more stuff, but keep distinct areas of plants/rocks/pine needles.



It's kinda emphasizing the shortcomings of the foliage shader right now, but I think it's headed in a better direction.

Mr Significant

Add some specular, to make surface variation. Its really flat now.

Meloncov

Worked on material definition and lighting:



I'm reaching the point where it's not super clear how to push it further, so any feedback would be extra appreciated.

Meloncov

Added in some moss and ivy on the suggestion of some people on LunchCrunch. Might be done now.

skodone

ah youre here too
will sub that its easier to check out on things here than facebook :P

fab-camp

the trees in the front are looking better now.
but maybe you should add some vegetation like bushes to the ground on the other side of that lake - or rocks. the way the trees stick of the round right out right now takes down the overall impression of the scene to me.

fab-camp

...your rocks and farns look sweet

Fwap

I'm really digging those tree's dude.

Meloncov

Thanks all. I added a little more moss, a little more ivy, and a bunch more foliage on the far shore.

skodone

i think you can add 4times more ivy to make it more real maybe even spam some branches of it on surrounding trees

Meloncov

I have no clue what the biology behind it is, but whatever species of ivy it is that grows on redwoods isn't as thick (technically it's probably not ivy, but some other type of vine):

DWalker

There really seem to be too many rocks for a forested region. The should be the exception rather than the rule. Don't be afraid of dirt; it's fairly important to those green things that grow outside. In an evergreen forest, there will usually be a fairly thick layer of fallen needles.

This image seems fairly close to what you're going for; notice the very clever way he did the shallow water along the shore:
Note the very strong lighting, with portions that are well lit and those in deep shadow. Lighting - luminism - is an important feature of the Hudson River school.

Meloncov

Thanks, DWalker. I actually did try to add translucency to the water, but I ran up against the edge of my ability with shaders. I was able to create a shader with nice transparency and refraction, and I was able to create a shader that gave the clear reflections in the background I wanted. but I couldn't figure out how to get both right in the same shader. If anyone has any good resources on that I'd be very grateful.

As for the rocks, I was thinking that one area was a rock slide, and the rocks in that area was why there was a clearing giving the view of the mountains. I'm not actually sure if the slope it's on is steep enough to justify that, though, and it is true I've been hiding a bit from large areas of bare dirt or pine needles because it's hard to make look natural. I'll see what I can do on that front.

Cube Republic

Thanks for introducing me to Albert Bierstadt, his painting are amazing!