WIP: Path of Wisdom

Limewax

Hello crew -- Just starting up a new environment to plus my portfolio and also to test a little bit of modular theory. I'm trying to take a realistic approach to Andrea Rocha's "Path of Wisdom" hallway scene that he's created. Technically, he created two versions of the concept, but I like elements from both iterations and I'm looking to combine them in to one real-time piece.





I'm pretty mindful that the perspective in his concept is a little wonky in some parts. It works well in 2D but there are situations in 3D where I just have to come up with my own solutions. For the most part, I feel pretty confident in my block-ins. Here's were the environment is currently sitting:

UE4


There aren't many models with proper lightmaps quite yet, in fact most of it is not even UV'd. Approaching this with the mindset of biggest pixels on screen first before getting down to some of the little details.

Feedback and insights welcomed and encouraged

Limewax

Sorry for the delay here, just got done spending a week on the Sucker Punch texture artist test. It was a 20 hour test wherein they give you a blockout of the space to texture with no UVs on anything. Unfortunately, I did not get the job. The results of the test I will silently post here: http://imgur.com/a/y5aYW#2

(updated in post#3)

Limewax

Alright back with another update. Bumping to try and get some feedback as I'm approaching the end of this project. I'm going to finish off by adding in the books of course... further down the hallway will have some busts kind of up against where the book cases are at, just to break up the space a bit. Mostly everything is UV'd, though the UVs for lightmaps on the left arch window need to be fixed (straightened).

ALSO! Does anyone know how to add lightshafts to the directional light in the scene without actually changing the lighting direction? I do enjoy the current lighting scheme I have, I just kinda want to have that shaft ambiance glow kind of lingering in the scene. I do currently have "light shafts" turned on, but it's not really yielding the results I was anticipating, even after messing with a few of the settings. Tips/tricks??


Open to feedback? Anyone *crickets*

ToffeeApple

Hi Limewax

I'm really liking how this is turning out. Nice textures. I kind of feel you need the bright yellow lighting from the first concept coming from the ceiling lights. Maybe even a tint of yellow in the light coming in also. Yellow lighting normally makes you think of enlightenment so puts across it being a path of wisdom. This would also get in that red, blue, yellow colour scheme Rocha has going on in the first concept.

Also on lighting at the moment I feel as though this is a corridor and on both sides you have the outside. Looking at the concepts in the second one there is an indication that the door on the left is from an internal room by the yellow artificial lighting. Even in the first concept I feel it could come from a room rather than the outside as the lighting isn't as strong as the light pouring through the windows on the right side of the room.

I prefer the glossy wooden flooring from the first concept to carpet. This is more of a personal preference.

I look forward to you putting the books in as this will really set the scene.

Limewax

ToffeeApple wrote: »

Hi Limewax

I'm really liking how this is turning out. Nice textures. I kind of feel you need the bright yellow lighting from the first concept coming from the ceiling lights. Maybe even a tint of yellow in the light coming in also. Yellow lighting normally makes you think of enlightenment so puts across it being a path of wisdom. This would also get in that red, blue, yellow colour scheme Rocha has going on in the first concept.

Also on lighting at the moment I feel as though this is a corridor and on both sides you have the outside. Looking at the concepts in the second one there is an indication that the door on the left is from an internal room by the yellow artificial lighting. Even in the first concept I feel it could come from a room rather than the outside as the lighting isn't as strong as the light pouring through the windows on the right side of the room.

I prefer the glossy wooden flooring from the first concept to carpet. This is more of a personal preference.

I look forward to you putting the books in as this will really set the scene.

Hi ToffeeApple and thanks for this critical feedback. I made some of the changes you suggested and really appreciate these notes, as I definitely agree with the new direction. I might try to push that artificial yellow light a bit further. I've also created an interior space on that left side now which will help later for some better shot angles (plus, more of an excuse to use my modular kits)

Also finally got around to fixing those lightmaps on the left archway.

Next up.... BOOKS! BOOK BOOK BOOK BOOK BOOKS

SeveredScion

Just a tiny bit of feedback here. Overall I think your scene looks really nice. It's a very aesthetically pleasing composition in the concept and you've kept that same layout well. However the value contrast in your model is much higher than in the concept. Not sure if your lighting is final, but the lighting in the concept (at least in the first one) looks kind of washed out, almost like you're looking through a fog. The front face of the bookshelf in yours is really bright compared to the concept. Though that's probably more realistic considering it's facing the window. You also have greater contrast in saturation. In the original concept most of the hues are pretty desaturated except for the red carpet and curtains and the yellow lights. I'm not saying your model is bad, I actually really like it, I just noticed those differences. I also really like your model of the hanging lights.

ToffeeApple

Really like the update - that extra interior space works really well and the yellow tint to the lighting is looking good. It's all feeling more natural and balanced. I agree with SeveredScion that the concept is more desaturated overall but the direction you've taken looks great also. It all depends how closely you want to follow the concept or whether you want to give it your own twist. I look forward to seeing more.

ToffeeApple

I just had a thought, perhaps that fog SeveredScion mentioned is dust. I had another look at the concepts but can't tell if that was the artist's intention. I'm not sure how old this room is. Something to consider though.

Limewax

ToffeeApple wrote: »

Really like the update - that extra interior space works really well and the yellow tint to the lighting is looking good. It's all feeling more natural and balanced. I agree with SeveredScion that the concept is more desaturated overall but the direction you've taken looks great also. It all depends how closely you want to follow the concept or whether you want to give it your own twist. I look forward to seeing more.

SeveredScion wrote: »

Just a tiny bit of feedback here. Overall I think your scene looks really nice. It's a very aesthetically pleasing composition in the concept and you've kept that same layout well. However the value contrast in your model is much higher than in the concept. Not sure if your lighting is final, but the lighting in the concept (at least in the first one) looks kind of washed out, almost like you're looking through a fog. The front face of the bookshelf in yours is really bright compared to the concept. Though that's probably more realistic considering it's facing the window. You also have greater contrast in saturation. In the original concept most of the hues are pretty desaturated except for the red carpet and curtains and the yellow lights. I'm not saying your model is bad, I actually really like it, I just noticed those differences. I also really like your model of the hanging lights.

Hey guys, thanks again for stopping by Yeah I am definitely trying to take the concept and put a little bit of my own interpretation on it. I've been watching a ton of NBC's Hannibal lately, so they typically use a lot of overexposure and contrast in their shots, and I think its starting to rub off on me.

So here are the updates! I've also got some new camera shots in there so that you can get more of a feel for the entire space. In the end, I may do a kooalalala-esque style slow-moving camera to compliment the scene and really capture some of the reflective properties you can't really define with a picture. I should also mention that I am using some of the koola lighting techniques (modifying my production lightmass info, but not using a bounce screen).







Now that the books are done, I'm moving on to getting some of those busts in there to help break up that bookshelf space. You can see the busts I'm talking about when you look at the Rocha concept #2 (the more dark one?)

Really looking forward to any feedback from here, feeling pretty confident with the direction though its not totally complete, as I am sure I could noodle away at anything.

Limewax

Wrapping up this thread with a "final" post. I've been coming back to this environment from time to time and finally decided to wrap it up this past week. I went back in and readjusted some of the lighting and post process. I also tweaked some of the albedos because they were far too dark.

Overall, I feel like I learned lot during this process. I don't feel super happy with the scene as a whole, but its at least a small step in the direction of my personal work and it allowed me to continue learning.

Personal critique is that the lighting is still not believable from a realistic standpoint. The image itself cannot decide whether it wants to be high key or low key, its caught in some sort of weird uncanny valley. The lighting isn't particularly dramatic, and in some parts it kills the mood entirely. Some of the material definitions are falling short of even telling you the surface type anymore, and I'm not sure if that's because of my lighting or if its because of the lack of proper roughness/albedo tuning.

I'm at the point now where I am moving on to fry bigger fish, but I'm still open to feedback for the future.