Attic - Portfolio Critique Requested

ChristenLA

The idea for this one is: "Recently damaged, light and rain leaks in through the broken roof of a 1920's attic."
I was really excited about this project, because it's the scene that finally helped me get comfortable with substance painter. Attics are pretty common for renders, but I'm hoping the light and period specific theme will make it a little more memorable.
Rendered in Unreal, all textures and models made by me (minus the Unreal dust mote particles). I made so many kinds of procedural wood in substance designer for this that I'm beginning to twitch every time I see wood grain.
Feedback would mean the world to me!

ChristenLA

A singer sewing machine, 1915, with Tenor instead of Singer because puns are better than infringing on copyright. A little higher poly than I would normally go for, but I just loved the curves on the metal base.

Tetranome

The chair in the first shot is blown out and blends in with the wall behind it. I also think the level of grunge on your flooring is a little overbearing, especially in the first shot (some studios love it, some don't). Maybe think about giving the viewers eyes somewhere to rest and keep heavy details for special areas of focus.

That said, your materials are really nice and have a good attention to realistic detail. And I like the composition of your second shot - my eye is lead to a mirror that bounces it back and reinforces the cool light rays being cast. The placement of props around that area is nice. The first shot could benefit from the care put in here... something interesting placed where the eye is lead.

Hope there's something helpful here for you
Will be watching for future shots!

ChristenLA

Tetranome said:

The chair in the first shot is blown out and blends in with the wall behind it. 

The placement of props around that area is nice. The first shot could benefit from the care put in here... something interesting placed where the eye is lead.

The blown out lights were something I worried a lot about. In one of the early passes at lighting I changed it, but got a few recommendations to change it back because without it, the scene lost a lot of the drama. Do you think there's any way to balance the dramatic lighting with an object set where the light is brightest? I really liked the simplicity and composition of the first shot better than the second, but now I'm second guessing it.

I also think the level of grunge on your flooring is a little overbearing, especially in the first shot (some studios love it, some don't). Maybe think about giving the viewers eyes somewhere to rest and keep heavy details for special areas of focus.

I probably went a little too water damage crazy, just because I loved the roughness contrast (a lot of my style reference was Bloodborne's floors which are just water everywhere). Very good feedback for the future and sure to help with my compositions!

Hope there's something helpful here for you
Will be watching for future shots!

Thank you so much for taking the time!

ChristenLA

EDIT: message sent twice

Tetranome

One thing you could try is lowering the light intensity there in order to reduce the over-exposure, and then bring back the light shafts using a faked effect rather than the volumetric fog. This would still give you your spotlight effect without the blown out colours. You can also add some cool scrolling textures across the light shafts and concentrate your little particles here to add focus.

Ashervisalis

You've done a really cool job. I think my main critique would be the construction of the roof. Usually roofs have shingles or something, they're never just 2x4's stacked on top of each other (that I know if).

ChristenLA

Thanks for all the comments!
So the first one is the original, and the second one is the same lighting conditions, but with the diffuse light effect on the key light turned down. The 2nd one is better in terms of blowout, but I feel like it loses some of the drama. It looks like the chair is just floating there, almost. Thoughts?

As for the 2x4s and roof tiles you are 100% right. I need to think of a way to balance that without causing strange shapes in the lighting.