[UE4] Gates of Horizon

FullSynch

Hello everyone!

I'm taking this summer off school and work to put together a portfolio and maybe get my foot in the door somewhere when I move back to the bay area. I'm aiming to be an environment artist. I've done a few in the past, but none that are portfolio worthy.

I want to work on an environment that will allow me to tackle many different aspects of environment art. After a long search I found this concept by Matt Gaser:

"The information sphere just inside the gates of Horizon will tell you how to reach your destination" Matt's Website

Not only is it fantastic, but it contains a range of material from foliage to industrial aspects. It is, however, a little vague in areas so I've done some reference collecting and interpretation. I'm aiming for an Astral/Floral theme.

Decor ( ToDo: Floor tile reference)

Spheres

Foliage (ToDo: Flower reference)

Basic Floor Plan


Tonight I'll get started on the blockout while I await Matt's approval.

All comments and critiques appreciated!

FullSynch

( Reserved for future updates :poly121: )

Most recent update:

DanielR17

Hey FullSynch,

You've picked up a challenging concept art. But a great one! How much time do you think you'll need to complete it and what softs and tools are you going to use? Thanks!

sorayahya

Really nice, can't wait to see more

FullSynch

Oh yeah!

I'm versed in both Blender and Maya, so there may be some hopping to take advantage of certain tools while I do the base modeling. From there I will be sculpting and creating tileables within Zbrush. Xnormal and Photoshop for texturing, and finally I will build it all in Unreal Engine 4. I expect my biggest obstacle to be getting to know the intricacies of UE4, as I've only learned the basics so far.

As for a time estimate, it's a little early to say, but ideally a month. I know that sounds optimistic, but as I said I'm free to work on this for the summer. If my bubble needs bursting then please do.

Matt's given me a speedy reply, it's a go!
Plus bonus material!

"When I was creating this environment it was designed to be a lobby area to a fantastical planetarium. The red floating ball and sub orbiting balls are Mars and its moons "

Good to know! I didn't think of that.

DanielR17

Oh yes, concept artists can help a lot with their words too, that's important to ask them as many questions as needed.

One month seems doable. Please don't hesitate to share with us your progress!

FullSynch

Thanks Daniel

Yeah I've been back and forth with Matt, he's great! He also gave me these two parallel pieces for more context and helped me define what's going on here.




Here's where I'm at so far with the block-in. (Cycles Render)




Tomorrow I may start the morning light with some paint over and see what needs to be added/changed.

Cheeky_Pickle

Subscribed looking forward to what you come up with

FullSynch

More block-in today, think I'm happy with the proportions now. Tomorrow I'll drop it into UE4 and start replacing the stand-in models.



What do you think?

MisterSande

solid blockin, are you using modularity in your scene ? subbed for progress.

FullSynch

Im trying my best to keep it modular, it can be a little tough at times with a circular building, the snapping isn't always perfect. If anyone has any tips on that I'de be grateful.

Today I worked on the floor material. I can blend between a pristine floor and a more scuffed up floor with shoe marks.
(Gold material not mine)


Here's my node setup if anyone has suggestions on this materials.



Thanks!

Dvids

This looks very interesting. Subscribed and curious to see your progress.

Have you done an environment piece in UE4 before?

FullSynch

Nope, I've started a few and messed around in UE4 a bit, but I think it's time to buckle down and produce something portfolio worthy.

Oh and here are my maps.



I'll downsize to 1024 when I'm comfortable with it.

I'm hesitant to do the centerpiece just yet, I don't want to get to the end and feel like I have to re-do it. Think today I'll start in on the walls.

FullSynch

Whoops slacked a little on updates

Here's what's new:
- Adjusted floor color/value to try to match concept
- Created wall texture/material
- Created first trim texture/material/geo

Big thanks to Paul Tosca and his marble brushes!
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152882

Still need to flip some normals here, bear with me.
(copper globe material not mine)


Mars themed trim


Any comments/critiques appreciated

pixelpatron

Need to clean up that seam in the middle of the arch....I like it otherwise...

The softness of the concept art is very appealing, are you going to attempt to capture that in your final scene?

FullSynch

As in that soft glowy diffused lighting? Yes I really want to capture that, if only I knew how.:poly136:

I'll see about cleaning up the seam, or maybe even just making it look like the natural cut in the marble. Thanks

ZacD

To capture that same lighting you'll want little directional light, and a lot of skylight/image based lighting.

FullSynch

Thanks zac!

Alright I've tried my hand at tweaking the lighting, as well as created a sheet of trims. Still a couple more trims to make/place. I've also added a stand-in skylight cage.



Might need some help from someone experienced in materials there

Comments/Critiques always appreciated

FullSynch

Little more progress, toyed with lighting, new plain smooth marble material. Most of my time was spent reading up on lighting and material instancing.

(Once again still some place-holders ie: copper globes)


UE4's HighRes Screenshot function is giving me this weird darkened sectioned to the right............................................................^Here^

Critiques/Comments always appreciated.

ZacD

I've given up on the HighRes screen shot option, it's always buggy, and it doesn't work with a bunch of features like SSR. The current lighting does match the concept much better. Looking forward to seeing more detail.

Digita1hound

Looking great, can't wait to see the finished product.

mrgesy

I think the scene is not looking warm enough as the concept, throw in some yellows maybe? The sphere is too dull compared the the concept, needs more red and surface depth.

FullSynch

@Digita1hound Thanks

@mrgesy I think you're right, I've sampled the concept on the left and my screenshot on the right. Looks like I need to tweak some stuff.

Kid.in.the.Dark

I agree with mrgesy, the contrast of the overall scene could be adjusted as well... your scene is too bright and your concept follows more of a yellow blend with a soft blue sky light/bounce light from the bottom that's giving off that browny/green tint in the shadows, I'd have one spotlight from directly above the sphere with a harsher intensity to give off that solid highlight and then one more that illuminates most of the scene with a soft fall off..

Also, what might make it easier for us to read your scene off the concept is maybe the same angle as the concept because I was going to comment that the floor wasn't reflective until I saw the edge of it on the right.

-EDIT-

Having another look at this... I think you should reconsider the design of your center piece under the sphere... it's your main focus and throwing a generic concrete texture all over it screams dull to me... you've generated some nice designs on the slates on the walls and such... It would only make sense to have something more complex in design in the very center of the room.

Keep going (Y)

FullSynch

@Kid.in.the.Dark Thanks! I'll try implementing your suggested lighting set up. Currently it is a faint directional light, a strong skylight, and a big point light sitting close to the ceiling.

I should make clear once again, the centerpiece ( fountain/globes ) is in fact just generic geometry/materials for block-in purposes. It'll be replaced entirely. I haven't done it yet because I'll inevitably learn a lot along the way and I want to apply all that to the focal point.

DanielR17

Hey,
The blocking phase is looking good.
About the weird artifacts with the high-res screenshot option, it's often the case with some lighting parameters. Is your current lighting static or dynamic?

FullSynch

Dynamic, static seems to give ugly results.

DanielR17

Okay, when we choose the default static lighting option, we have to check our lightmaps carefully, that's why sometimes the results are bad.
In a dynamic lighting environment, I corrected this kind of hi-res screenshot artifact by making sure all the lights were set on "movable" and by adjusting the shadow bias function of each light. It can help.

FullSynch

Thanks Daniel, I'll try that out.

Birthday weekend separated me and the computer for a couple days, but I've made some progress.

I've played with lighting a bit and trying to pull more color into the scene. Screens now have a stand-in blue glow for lighting. Still stand-in centerpiece.

Spent like two days trying to figure out how to make a spiral pillar. :poly127:

Also replaced the large archs.


Comments and Critiques always welcome.

Ged

the models look good on thier own but the scene looks very washed out, perhaps its lighting or fog or post process making it look so white/gray overall. I would expect some darkness and some highlights. AO loos a little heavy in some places.

FullSynch

Thanks Ged, I stare at this for so long it becomes hard to catch these subtleties. I've played with my materials and tweaked the lighting a bit, I've also dialed back the fog a bit.

(Maybe too green now?) :poly127:

FullSynch

It's now a month from my original post and my original estimation was to be done by now. And I am not. Woops.

Here's where I stand.
Changes:
- Lighting
- Inner Wall Monitors/Surrounding Assets
- "Fountain" Base with Animation
- Water material

Here's little video:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJR-y1MZfBI&[/ame]

When I try to record through matinee at 1920/1080 it lags pretty bad. Any way to have it take it's time and render out a smooth 30ps?

To do list:
- Better Globes w/ Animation
- Foliage
- Tapestry
- Skylight
- Finish other monitors
- Spruce up stair wells
- Entrance/Exit Doors

So another week at least. :poly124:
Thank you all for your support.

Comments/Critiques always appreciated.

amirabd2130

looking forward to this.

SanderDL

This should be helpfull for recording a video frame by frame:

https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/33030/is-there-a-way-to-render-high-res-videos-out-of-ue.html

You might still need to process all the frames in a video editing program though.

DanielR17

Hey this is coming along nicely. I really want to see the next steps, foliage and lighting especially. And maybe try to frame your shot exactly like the concept.

Ged

looking really good now

FullSynch

Posting my progress before I head to Boston for the week.

Learned lot's of new stuff, first time creating foliage and first using substance painter for the copper planets.



A little video to show the orbits:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfN9JZ_HBRU&[/ame]

I tried adjusting the camera aspect ratio so that I could frame it like the concept but that seems to cause a crash every time? :poly127:

Comments/Critiques always appreciated.

DanielR17

Hey!
Glad to see all the work you've done. Good progress! The foliage helps a lot selling the piece.
By the way, what was your process for creating the vegetation? Did you use SpeedTree or did you make it by hand, only with modelling and texturing applications?

Ged

the flowers/plants look really good, the palm trees look a bit pale and perhaps a bit low poly, are you using the foliage shader on the palm leaves as they dont seem to have any sub surface scattering?

amirabd2130

I like the overall look
the flowers are great
as @ged said the tree needs more attention

FullSynch

@ DanielR17 Thanks! Idk what SpeedTree is :P. I took a snap of my kit. I basically just modeled/baked/textured those four objects at the bottom, the vine is tile-able. Then I placed and tweaked those to make small/medium/large bunches. I create the skeleton of the bush with the tiling vine formed to a curve. After that I place my S/M/L bunches to make the final.

@Ged Thanks Ged I actually forgot all about subsurface scattering, now that you mention it I think that's what I'll look into next.

@amirabd Thanks! Yeah I agree, I'll give it another pass.

FullSynch

Still working away at this, lot's of fiddly changes and refinement, but here's the majors.

New foliage shader with subsurface scattering.

Hanging Banners

New display thing in the back with scrolling Mars topography.

New front entrance



Next on the chopping block is this placeholder door.


Comments/Critiques welcome as always.

FullSynch

Look's like I'm coming to a close on this. Other than a couple more breakdowns and renders or a tweak or two I think I can call it done.

It's been an amazing learning experience and everyone's input has been so valuable. Here's a couple shots I've taken with a little post processing in PS.








Any comments/critiques still appreciated.

pixelpatron

Dats hot! Nice work!

Ged

it looks good! I think you could bring a little bit more atmosphere and style with some nice colour in post process or lighting to make it feel closer to the concept

FullSynch

Thanks guys! I've still got the project files so I'll play around with these more.

Mathew O

Turned out nicely, good work man Onwards and upwards!

amirabd2130

turned out great man. well done :thumbup:

pixelpatron

Where dem breakdowns?

FullSynch

:poly136:

I didn't get to them in time before having to move back for school. This weekend though!