Environment Art Portfolio [WIP]

Valravn

Hi!

My name's Byron. I'm a game art student from a town called Wollongong, just an hour south of Sydney, Australia.

I'm starting to build my portfolio so that I can get a job as an environment artist, so I thought I'd post the progress on that here, maybe get some advice and critique from the great artists here. You can view my current (limited) portfolio on my art station profile - https://www.artstation.com/artist/blin_turn

I have 3 "dioramas" or vertical slices of environments that I'd like to make initially. 

1. A realistic, contemporary environment section. 
2. A sci fi environment section.
3. A medieval/fantasy diorama.

The software that I'll be using;

* Substance designer and painter
* Modo 10.0 Indie
* Unreal Engine 4
* Zbrush

I think I'll start with my idea for the realistic contemporary diorama. 

This image is an abandoned train tunnel near where I live. Inside, bright blue glow worms cover the walls and ceiling. And outside... well, you can see from this image that it is quite a beautiful place! 



This isn't my photo, just one that I'm using for reference. I'll be heading over there again this weekend to take some more in depth reference shots. 

I'd love some feedback on my ideas, and of course my progress as I go ahead with the project. 

Thanks

dosit

Hey man I'm from sydney myself Really like the concept, would make for an awesome looking environment.

furiouslul

Gotta love the Helensburgh tunnel!

Valravn

Hey guys! I'm heading there tomorrow for some in depth reference shots! Super keen

Valravn

Well, after going to the site again yesterday and getting some great shots (even though I couldn't get inside - there was a band filming a music video), I decided to take the plunge and start building this scene.

I decided to start with the hero asset - the tunnel. 



As you can see, I've already gone ahead and textured it. I created the brick material and the shiny moss material in substance designer. The other grunge textures are standard substance painter ones. 
The asset was modelled in MODO.

Next on the agenda is to create the train tracks. After that, I'll start on landscape with materials and finally foliage.

Meloncov

A big part of what'll make the materials look right in this scene is the contrast between wet and dry areas, and right now, everything looks wet.

Valravn

Meloncov said:

A big part of what'll make the materials look right in this scene is the contrast between wet and dry areas, and right now, everything looks wet.

Hey Meloncov, thanks for the advice! I'll tweak somethings in painter and see what I can do about contrasting that roughness.

furiouslul

I feel the bricks are too big too. The bricks that make up the helensburgh tunnel are a lot smaller and there are many more of them. The side areas you have also ramp out, getting deeper at the bottom (on your Z axis, that is). e.g. https://monosnap.com/file/rN6jQbZr3rOFQP3CXb3SOxVmIgJ6RY.png

Not sure how accurate you're wanting to go though. One last thing I'd point out is that top part of the tunnel are in small "steps" instead of just extrusions

CGXel

Oh man, I thought for a moment that the picture was actually your render, I was like "that's some AAA studio quality" lol.

Good luck, keep updates coming, I would love to see them

Valravn

furiouslul said:

I feel the bricks are too big too. The bricks that make up the helensburgh tunnel are a lot smaller and there are many more of them. The side areas you have also ramp out, getting deeper at the bottom (on your Z axis, that is). e.g. https://monosnap.com/file/rN6jQbZr3rOFQP3CXb3SOxVmIgJ6RY.png

Not sure how accurate you're wanting to go though. One last thing I'd point out is that top part of the tunnel are in small "steps" instead of just extrusions

You're absolutely right about those details. The site that I was able to go to to get my reference shots was a little different. It didn't have that taper at the bottom of those buttresses, I may do some remodelling on that.

As for the brick size, that was a conscious choice. I felt like I might lose too much detail in my main render with the bricks being any smaller. 

I'll revisit it when I finish with the tracks. 

CGXel said:

Oh man, I thought for a moment that the picture was actually your render, I was like "that's some AAA studio quality" lol.

Good luck, keep updates coming, I would love to see them

Thanks haha! I will keep it updated

Valravn

Update

Made and textured some modular tracks. Been playing around with layout in UE4, with some atmospheric fog effects.


Obviously just skeletal at this point. I still have to make rocks, plants etc.

stilobique

I like your ref !! I think you need modeling your cliff with a mesh, not your landscape. Your Wet effect are make with painter ? Why not used a vertex color system ?

Valravn

stilobique said:

I like your ref !! I think you need modeling your cliff with a mesh, not your landscape. Your Wet effect are make with painter ? Why not used a vertex color system ?

Ha! Funny you should say that - I was modelling cliffs and rocks this evening and will update tomorrow! 

About vertex colour, I would have used it if there were more than one of those in the scene, but since I only need one, I figured I'd just texture it the ol' fashioned way.  I'll probably use vertex colouring on the rocks abd cliffs. 

Michael Rosa

I would follow the reference more. It helps with the natural decay of that environment. This is in reference to the moisture/buildup/discoloration on that prop. Yours looks more random.

Valravn

Michael Rosa said:

I would follow the reference more. It helps with the natural decay of that environment. This is in reference to the moisture/buildup/discoloration on that prop. Yours looks more random.

Yeah, I can see what you mean. What I have is blending between a couple of different smart masks in painter. 
Would you recommend that I paint the mask for the wet moss by hand?

Michael Rosa

Valravn said:

Yeah, I can see what you mean. What I have is blending between a couple of different smart masks in painter. 

Would you recommend that I paint the mask for the wet moss by hand?

I'm still getting familiar with different workflows. Masks do sound like a solid idea because of how large the asset is. I'm also curious if decals would be a good fit?

Me, I would make this modular. I would paint everything in 3D Coat. And you can be deliberate with where everything needs to go.  

Valravn

Michael Rosa said:

I'm still getting familiar with different workflows. Masks do sound like a solid idea because of how large the asset is. I'm also curious if decals would be a good fit?

Me, I would make this modular. I would paint everything in 3D Coat. And you can be deliberate with where everything needs to go.  

Hmm modular is an interesting thought. How would you go about creating that tunnel in a modular way?

BTW, thankyou for the feedback, this is really helpful!

CGXel

Any progress since Nov. 5?

Valravn

CGXel said:

Any progress since Nov. 5?

None as of yet. I've been a little bogged down with a couple of assignments. I'll be smashing back into this environment next week!

Valravn

Ok, so I've done a little more, and after analysing my source photos a little more, Ive decided Im quite unhappy with the assets Ive made, and will be creating new ones. 

I've sculpted these rocks, but will be making new rocks that fit a little better. I think they need to be less round and have more hard angles. All in all, it was however a great test in sculpting technique and substance designer workflow for texturing. 

xhi

I was shocked for a moment thinking the photo was a render too haha.  Now you have to live up to our expectations.  Kidding.  Good start so far.  Gonna take a lot of tweaking later, just just get the temporary objects in.

Valravn

xhi said:

I was shocked for a moment thinking the photo was a render too haha.  Now you have to live up to our expectations.  Kidding.  Good start so far.  Gonna take a lot of tweaking later, just just get the temporary objects in.

Ha! I'll try my best to do so 

I actually sculpted out some more... photographically correct rocks this afternoon, and I'm texturing them in SD as I type this. Updates incoming!

Valravn

Ok, so I'm muuuch happier with my new rocks. In the interests of disclosure, I used a brush pack from Jonas Ronnegard in zbrush to help sculpt these. 

Im pretty happy with the texturing in substance designer. It could use some more green in the engine I think, but I'll probably use decals to get all that delicious moss onto the rocks. 

Valravn

Well, I have the scene put together. the landscape material needs some work, but I'll do that once I've finished the foliage and the vertex colour/decal system for the rocks. 

I know it looks really monotone right now, but hopefully all of the foliage will help that somewhat.

Valravn

Here is an update on the tunnel scene, and something a little extra - a screenshot from a game environment Im working on for my major project.

Valravn

Things are edging ahead slowly but surely.