[UE4] Alley Environment + Substance Materials

Nano Pixel

Hi everyone, just wanted to make a start posting my projects online as I develop them. Looking to improve texturing and lighting with this environment, so if anyone can crit my work as I go it will be very helpful, thanks.

What I have so far is a small delivery area between 2 shops, and alley leading off behind. I have used a few assets from an asset pack I currently have on my Cubebrush store page, which are the gas bottle's, traffic cone, bollards and the fence and gate.

I am currently working on materials in Substance Designer, and texturing the bins in Substance Painter. I am creating everything myself from scratch, and will try to get the most photorealistic result in the end.

The warehouse door will be the focal point, with mist and lots of light emitting from behind the partially open door. The setting will be similar to Homefront, it is an abandoned town with the older buildings being used for other purposes by any remaining people.

I will be working on this a lot over the next few weeks, and hope to have it finished around the end of that time too so I can add it  to my portfolio.

Nano Pixel

Just a quick update. I have been playing around with materials, and getting a better idea for how i want the floor to look. I am focusing on this angle to take the final render from, so am looking at having low frequency detail areas on the ground, as the walls currently have a lot of detail in the amount of bricks.

I will give a breakdown of my assets and Substances as I get them closer to my desired end result. 

If anyone has any tips for creating a slightly varied floor material similar to what I have already. it would be greatly appreciated. The material there is a unique texture set painted in in Substance painter, just to get a rough in engine look. I will be looking at vertex painting it with my own materials, as the current ones are in Painter.

Nano Pixel

A quick update. I have been working on materials in Substance Designer, and creating a set of blending masks in Substance Painter for blending between different brick textures, and floor textures.

I have also been playing around a lot with different lighting, and have used for the first time volumetric lighting, which gives me a nice effect with the light behind the door.

The bollards, trafic cones, gas bottles and fences are all on my cubebrush store page, and were the starting point for this project, i wanted to create an environment which could utilise these assets, and allow me to create a new set to go with them.

The bin is still work in progress, it needs more normal and roughness details, particularly on the wheels and the lid. i will the be working on litter and a set of cardboard boxes and wooden pallets.

Nano Pixel

Here are some renders of the substances i have been working on. I have learnt loads in doing this scene, and I aim to keep attempting new and interesting materials. The moss materials towards the bottom are my most recent substances.

Nano Pixel

Another update. I have been tweaking some materials and textures, and adding the boxes and the pipes coming from under the door.

I have also textured the manhole cover and the door with an initial texture pass, I will need to go back and edit some of the materials, specifically the door to add the rust in areas that make more sense as its a bit too random at the moment.

I will be looking at adding all the air conditioning and ventilation assets to the walls next, along with drain pipes and looking towards adding a range of litter to add some micro details to the scene.

Any feedback will be useful and help towards my next environment.

Nano Pixel

Just another quick update on the scene so far. Got a some materials to mess around with, the wall for the fence, and the floor piece that the bollards retract into to model and texture. Then i should be on the polishing up stage, and might add some bits of rubbish lying around to break the floor up, just a little bit because its starting to get a little full from this angle.

I will be doing some breakdowns of some of the assets, and will be making some of the models for sale on cubebrush.

ChristenLA

My first thought it that a lot of the assets look way too clean to be in an alley. Some seem perfectly grimy but other like the light poles seem brand new. Certain assets like the dumpsters, the box, and the pipes all seem pretty well-used. I especially like the texture you made for the box, very nice. I'd suggest extending what you used for those to other elements in the scene.

It's also important to think of not just whether or not something IS dirty, but how it GOT dirty. On the garage door you have what looks like a basic noise of rust, but rust tends not to behave in repeating patterns. It centers in certain areas, and drips down in other areas. Some spots are even different colors. The same with the fence, you can see the repeating pattern, but it doesn't match up with where real rust would form.
Roughness variation would also do a lot to help create interest in the textures. Don't be afraid to exaggerate a little if you have to.

As for the lighting, pick where you want the key light to be. Right now it's the three light poles which aren't very interesting and don't draw back the eye to the really interesting parts of the scene. Behind that, the door light or the garage light both seem to have key light potential but they're fighting with each other a bit.

I'd suggest turning the lights off on the poles nearly completely off and to a cooler color, turning the light coming from behind the camera off, then pumping up the light behind the garage door so that it spills light out all over the alley. You've got the pipes going into the area, which has a fantastic sense of mystery and creates a compositional focal point all on it's own.

Can't wait to see what comes next!

Nano Pixel

Hi ChristenLA, thanks for the constructive feedback, its been really helpful and I have looked into what you suggested. I think changing the lighting has helped focus the scene a lot more, and changing the textures I made for the 2 doors has made a big difference too, it looks a lot better now I have looked at reference more. I will definitely be gathering lots of references for the next project, and trying to get something even more realistic as an end result. 

I am trying to get into the games industry as an environment artist at the moment, so I am trying to give my portfolio a big refresh and start launching CV's out again.

Nano Pixel

Here is my final update on this project, im happy enough with the current scene to leave it here. As with any project the work is never really done though. There are always more things that you want to add or change and I could work on this for a lot longer, refining assets, materials and expanding the level to the interiors. But I want to take what I have learnt from this project and apply it to an new more ambitious and interesting environment.

Below are some final renders from slightly different angles and locations, and a few breakdowns of the assets used, showing the wire frames, triangle counts and textures used.