[WIP] [UE4] Mage's Chambers

Ali_Youssef

Current progress:

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Hello polymeisters ! I've damned missed you guys

[Irrelevant babble]
I've been failing to complete portfolio projects for so damn long ! I think I've jumped between idea after idea around 20-30 times since my last -now extremely outdated- released project.
So I decided 'screw it', I'm gonna start doing all my projects one by one, going down the list of ideas that I started like 3 years ago now.
It's so exhausting to have so many things to want to try, especially when they pop out mid-project and seem so good that the current project is complete dog-shite in comparison.. 20 times in a row.
Anyway, so starting from this one (hopefully), gonna document the entire process on this here site, which should help me stick to one thing after the other until I can have an actual finished environment on my belt.
[/Irrelevant babble]

So this project should be a simple one, a medieval room decorated by the stuff what a mage would use.
Here's the first draft

That's right, I also made a lighting pass, call the police if you must, but I really enjoy setting the atmosphere early on, to know what I'm working towards.

I've started splitting my blockout process about 5-failed-projects ago, the first one is a quick research of average sizes of stuff, which really helps creating the architecture after filling the room with boxes.
Then a second pass that goes into detail so you can recognize what each box is supposed to be, and also goes into more detail into the metrics of each prop. (these two passes can be seen in the gif below)


Then a THIRD blockout (that's right) for each prop, that's extremely detailed, but rough polygon-wise, to set the silhouette of the model and be able to have drastic changes in the design if it is required.
I honestly felt the difference this process had on my models afterwards, takes longer for sure, but for the purposes of a portfolio project it's worth it.

Anyway thanks for stopping by !
Next step is doing an architecture pass before I start pumping out the props.

Ali_Youssef

A little update for the architecture:


The textures are megascanian, I'd like to focus on props for this project so I decided not to spend even more time on architecture than I did, especially when I can get great textures for presentation sake.
I've actually spent way too much time on choosing a brick material that fit well and was 'organized' enough to make the wall corners easier, which is another thing I've spent too long on (and always have with details like this).

The method I ended up with is a simple and optimized one, it isn't perfect but I think it'll do for now, will probably improve it at the end if time allows.

Fiddling with the floor wasn't quick either unfortunately, but I think I've improved a lot on it since slapping the raw megascans material in.
One thing worth mentioning is getting rid of specular reflections where they shouldn't be (like when looking at a wall, the ground shines like it's under the sun). DFAO has specular occlusion, but since this project uses static lighting I decided to imitate it by baking the AO and using it in the material to increase roughness and decrease the specular.

The shadowy parts now look a lot more shadowy:


Next up is making some windows and a door !

Ali_Youssef

Whaddup !
A tiny update, but it took quite some time so I'll be sharing it and considering it a checkpoint.
Added windows and a door, but they didn't turn out great so I'm redoing them later.
Also made a bed, which took a looot longer than I wanted, but I'm hoping that it was the most complicated and time-consuming model in this environment so hopefully worth it.


Their lightmaps are a bit messed up, which is why the next shots are from Marmoset, I'll fix those later when I'm working on lighting.


The colours *are* a bit foofy, but I'm planning to expose those as parameters in Unreal, so I can tone down the foofiness.
Also I haven't made the little ropey things that hold the curtains, wanted to save up some UV space so will take those from a curtain model later on.

Anyway here are some more shots:


Let me know what you think !
I would love some feedback at this point

Thanks for stopping by !

Nuclear Angel

Hey nice progress on this, two things though stand out on a first glance for me. One is the ornaments of the bed. It looks to simple and almost box modely. If this is your centerpiece give it more ornaments and pzazz! Secondly the wood texture itself, I am no expert on wooden props, but something at a first viewing feels of and plastic about it. But the fabrics and the draping do look nice. 

Ali_Youssef

Nuclear Angel said:

Hey nice progress on this, two things though stand out on a first glance for me. One is the ornaments of the bed. It looks to simple and almost box modely. If this is your centerpiece give it more ornaments and pzazz! Secondly the wood texture itself, I am no expert on wooden props, but something at a first viewing feels of and plastic about it. But the fabrics and the draping do look nice. 

Thank for the feedback !
Two things I've always struggled with tbh, wood texturing and being lazy
I'll definitely need to work some more on both, since many other assets would be using the same ornaments and the same wood material (to save UV space and time)