[Critique] San Francisco - Unreal Engine 4

Will_B

Hi everyone ! So happy to post on PolyCount for the first time ( I should have done this years ago xD )

This is the first big solo environment I do in UE4. It was supposed to be a Sonic Adventure 2 City Escape fanart environment but it ended up being just a more personal project for now. Built in Maya, textured in Substance Painter (Yes, did my tiling materials in Painter too ^^' ) and rendered in Unreal Engine.
Was experimenting with a lot of things here (Texture Atlasing, Trim Sheets, modular assets).

It's still a work in progress and I feel that there is definitely room for improvement ! This is a first draft and I really want to improve this scene.
I want this environment to stay colorful that way, but increase the realism of the overall scene (which means pushing forward the quality of the materials / assets first of all)

I'm a bit stuck right now. Feedbacks and pieces of advice are truly appreciated ! Thanks guys

Brain_Slave

Hello there! Your modeling and texturing work is looking good here, the only thing that I'm noticing is that lighting can be greatly improved.

There's a lot of awesome tutorials on UE4 lighting and post process, you might want to check them out. And again, everything else on your scene is very well done. I'm looking forward to see more of your progress!

Will_B

Thank you for your encouragements 
And yes, you're right. This is one of my greatest weaknesses right now. I've already watch tutorials on the matter but I need to practice more, obviously. I was going to update materials and assets but maybe lighting is more important for the moment ! ^^
Thanks again !

Ashervisalis

I just ran into this post on ArtStation the other day! Nice

My biggest issue is the water/puddles are so evenly spread across the street and aren't really pooling in any dips or streams, plus the sidewalk looks pretty dry in relation.

Super cute environment, good job.

Will_B

You're so right for the puddles and sidewalk ! That's why I'm starting to learn Substance Designer and after that, I'll do some masks and vertex painting here and there ^^ Still so much to learn !!

@Brain_Slave : Do you have some tutorials to recommend ?

Thanks again for the feedbacks guys!

Brain_Slave

@Will_B For the lighting and post processing? I can certainly recommend these series:



It's called Unreal Lighting Academy. In my opinion, these are one of the best in its topic.

I'm familiar with many paid courses, but none of them was not as helpful as these free series.

Will_B

" I'm familiar with many paid courses, but none of them was not as helpful as these free series. "
I know the feeling ! I've already been disappointed by gnomon workshop series which is such a shame ! x)

I'll check the ones you suggest ! Thanks !