Rail Track Diorama

Hannah

Hi there!

I've been working on a small piece lately to get better at realistic texturing and thought I should start posting where I am up to.

I've been working with Max and zBrush. I've only been working on the sculpts and normals for the textures so far (with the exception of the rail itself, which was me learning the metalness workflow!) to make sure they all work together in the scene.

I recently finished the brick texture:



And a close up of the clamp things, I finished these a little while ago:



And now I am working on the texture for the surface platform. I've sketched a plan for the texture layout. I've done the tactile paving slabs (the yellow ones) and I'm now working on the larger pebble-dash concrete slabs.

Texture layout sketch:



WIP:



Thanks for looking! I'll be posting most updates as this is very much a learning process for me. Any feedback would be appreciated.

JamesTKirk

I love the idea of such a minimalistic diorama! Though I would add an object to break uniformity and act as a center of attention. Maybe some grass or even a litter.

A-N-P

I would suggest breaking up the edge where the gravel meets the wall. Just something a little more organic and interesting instead of the straight edge you have atm.

Other than that, it's coming along nicely I like your brick texture so far, too.

Hannah

Long time, no update - but I've been continuing work on this when I have free time. I've moved cities and started working full-time so it's taken longer than I would have liked to get this finished.

Here's a WIP shot of how the railtrack is now. I'm currently working on the wood and platform textures simultaneously.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated I've still got a pretty big to-do list for this project, but it's been invaluable learning so far.

Sebvhe

This is pretty good so far, especially the textures.
The gravel texture seems a little strange, I feel I can see a line, maybe it has to do with the tiling. It is not apparent in your previous shots though.

You could also add a border, a kind of underground texture. The purpose is to make your diorama look like a volume instead of a surface. I think a surface like that looks a bit unfinished.

Something like this

Poinball

The line is effectively strange, But i dont think you need to add a border. An other mesh `Like a wall` can be put at the end of the rail to cap the hole.

Will you make more than 1 model to have some variation ?

Hannah

Hey all, 

Thanks for your replies! I agree that the scene would benefit from an extra wall or border. However, I've already spent longer than I'd like to on this project and adding a border and/or extra models would extend it even longer due to my bad planning at the start. I've decided instead to polish off what I have, present it as best as I am able to, and then start another project with better foresight, composition and initial planning! I've learned a lot from doing this mini-project and am keen to apply it to a proper scene in UE4.

Here is how the diorama is looking currently. I've re-done/polished a few of the textures and adding some mini-props. Feeling that I need something on the right-hand side of the platform wall now though - looking a bit bare!






Ideally I want to get this finished off after work this week, so as always any feedback would be greatly appreciated

BetaRazer

I like it so far. Bit of a shame that you're wanting to call it a day on this one. In terms of modularity, you've got this part right; an entire modular platform asset that's usable.

If you planned on taking it further, you could build an entire train platform, complete with a building at the back.

Which station are your references based from? I can see you've planned the textures on this one well from the start, and you seem to have a good grasp of material detail for the bricks. There could be more details that could go on the brick wall as well as junction boxes; only by looking at more references will be able to tell you that.

The gravel looks a little too clean and light (very slightly) for my taste. Either darken down the colours just a fraction or ensure it's lit well. Gravel in general is a very dull looking material.

Otherwise, great job so far. Was in a way expecting this to be taken much larger and further. But that's your call.