Medieval Environment - WIP
polycounter lvl 8
Hey everyone,
I'm currently working on a small medieval diorama scene in UE4. Most recently I have been working on set-dressing, the trees and adding in decals and I'm yet to add in some smaller foliage and grass and work on the lighting properly. My aim is to create a quaint environment that feels very lived in.
I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts or feedback at this stage on ways I could improve the scene? I think I may be finished populating assets in the scene other than some smaller foliage, but perhaps someone has a suggestion of something else I could add in to make it feel more complete.
https://tommartyn.artstation.com/
I'm currently working on a small medieval diorama scene in UE4. Most recently I have been working on set-dressing, the trees and adding in decals and I'm yet to add in some smaller foliage and grass and work on the lighting properly. My aim is to create a quaint environment that feels very lived in.
I was just wondering if anyone had any thoughts or feedback at this stage on ways I could improve the scene? I think I may be finished populating assets in the scene other than some smaller foliage, but perhaps someone has a suggestion of something else I could add in to make it feel more complete.
https://tommartyn.artstation.com/
Replies
For the scene I have gone for a moveable directional light and have been playing round with Distance Field Indirect Shadows for the assets. Alongside this I have tweaked the trees to make them look less clumpy and dark. The Opacity Mask Clip Value has really helped to break up the trees a bit and I've been playing with the specular, opacity and SSS values.
I will use a HDRI which I will use as a skysphere and also plug into the skylight to further define the lighting more. This is a technique I discovered in the brilliant UE4 Lighting Academy tutorials.
Over the past week I have added in some foliage and tweaked the materials a little. Alongside this I changed the terrain so that it is an earth clump with depth rather than a simple circular plane. I have also added in tree roots coming out the bottom of the terrain which I made using and breaking up the tree meshes and I will add in loose floating earth clumps around the roots too.
Small bit of progress working on the tree roots popping out beneath the terrain adding in mud/earth clumps and vertex painting on the roots to add dirt to them.
My plan is to now add in a Skysphere with a sunset HDRI and do a full lighting pass on the scene. I also want to add in a little bit of fog into the scene - I may use fog cards for this as I feel it will give me more control but will see.
I'm now calling my Medieval Diorama finished. I've learnt a fair bit working on this project (especially about dynamic lighting in UE4) and had a lot of fun working on it!
To me, though, the lighting is letting down all the hard work put into it. Not that it's bad lighting, but it doesn't feel as polished and thought out as the rest of the scene, and it's all pretty dark and orange (without feeling stylized and dramatic).
I personally would love to see some more range in the lighting— brighter brights. I'm no good at lighting, so I can't really offer specific ideas, and I'm curious if others agree with me.
I think I get what you mean - I guess one problem with sunset lighting is it can be quite dark and too orangey which can mean the colours and details can be lost. It's been a bit of a practice and learning project in terms of dynamic lighting so think it could potentially be a lot better.
I am considering doing an alternative lighting setup with midday static lighitng.
But you are on a great path and this will be awesome once you nail it.