[WIP] Skull Temple

Nattyoop92

So I have been working on this for a couple of weeks now, and I have realised that sharing is caring and its great to get a second set of eyes on things. I am currently trying to recreate the scene here loosely based on the concept art of Andrew Palyanov here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/W2aywX 

This is my first attempt at a large exterior environment. I have worked on several interior scenes varying in scale, but by setting this outside, it will really push me to improve my lighting and organic modelling and sculpting skills, 2 areas where until now I have lacked in practice.

There's still an awfully long way to go with this, but I was hoping to post regularly on here, take on board peoples feedback and try and make this the best possible portfolio piece I can. I have already learned a lot about substance designer and landscape tools in UE4 but there's still a hell of a lot to go.

Below is where I am currently at, the next step will be my first pass at the big spooky trees, any advice on sculpting trees would be great and any critique and feedback is hugely appreciated!

Benjammin

This video has some good tips and techniques for doing trees without the likes of speedtree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR7s_pFqVWo - possibly more of a realistic look than what you're going for, but it might be useful. All of his videos are worth a watch.
Good luck, and keep posting updates, even if you don't get a lot of replies.

Nattyoop92

So first posted update, I haven't had a huge amount of time, but I have already made several improvements:

1. Built Tree base meshes.
2. adjusted lighting to brighten the scene and match the colour profile of the concept better.
3. Adjust the camera angle and the colour of the moss.
4. I have created a simple fog shader that I have placed down on the floor and I have pushed back the volumetric fog back and have used the shader to add some texture to the fog in the background.



The next step is going to be for me to author the texture for the trees and to also add plains to the tree base meshes. I will then use the plains to project the illusion of hanging moss. This coupled with vertex painting and a Z aligned moss material, similar to what I have used on the rocks this should effectively replicate the old trees in the concept.

Nattyoop92

Update time, so I have worked on the trees. This involved first modelling a base tree in Max and unwrapping which was easy enough, due to the size of the trees and their use in the scene as a frame not a focus I decided to capture as much information in the bark material as possible to avoid having to do a sculpt. I am then going to overlay with various vines and hanging moss yet to be modelled. The tree, material and composition can be seen below.



This material was made in Substance Designer there are some areas I will want to re-address, namely the large flat areas of all white in the height map, I will dial this back so I can add more noisiness over the top of the bark to give it a more natural feel.

Due to the distance from it in the scene it works well as a current placeholder texture. I have used the same normal blended moss shader from the rock simply swapping in the bark parameters. I have also modelled some small flat semispheres to add some texture to the moss and to allow me to paint it with ease.



This now leaves the current compositions as below:



I am now working on some smaller details for the trees such as hanging and dripping moss, smaller branches and some vines which will also have uses elsewhere in the scene. From here t will then be on to sculpting the skull!

Nattyoop92

Since my last post things have started to come together, I created some more basic assets for hanging plant life, and I will continue to model some more assets such as vines that can be used to dress the building and the trees. I also created a firefly particle to offset the blueness in the scene and to add a bit of motion to it, coupled with adjusted lighting the mood is starting to be captured.



Here is a little gif showing off the firefly particle and the light function material working in the scene.

Nattyoop92

Update time!

So I have adjusted the lighting to really push out the light shaft in the centre of the shot to improve the composition, I have also pushed more foliage into the scene in order to add the the sense of life, but darkness.I hav

The last big thing I have done is to model and texture the skull. Although there is a bottom jaw in the concept, here I think having the entrance open works slightly better in terms of being able to guide the player.

The shot is below:


Barring some minor texture modifications, I think I am about ready to call this piece done, I am experimenting with a couple of other shots to show off the skull and the temple a bit better. I will update those and let everyone know when its up on ArtStation. Any feedback before I go to publish on this would be much appreciated!

Nattyoop92

So, here it is, complete and posted!!

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/DxN3Z0