[UE4] Fish Tank Living Room

sirHelix

Hello everyone!

I have started working on an environment and I'm 100% sure it will be a complex learning process, so I want to document the whole process.

The concept comes from Julio Dionizio , and most of the inspiration I have in this scene comes from TLOU II. 

This is going to be my first environment, because although I have a base in Unreal I have never finished a complete project, so I am new to all the concepts of lighting, color, creation of materials, optimization in UE,... I've already had time to collect all the articles and references that can help me make the project, but nothing else would be more useful than some feedback from you.

My main goals in this project are:

Transmit storytelling

Learning to illuminate in the UE

Make a couple of materials with Designer

Learn workflow with Megascan and UE

Get an art style similar to Naughty Dog's studio

Learning to use vertex painting 

And motivate more "beginner" people like me to get their first scene done. And to motivate myself to finish it  

This is my PureRef right now: 

My first steps have been to collect references, have a list of props I need and be clear about the storytelling. Then I got down to basic blocking and basic lighting. Then I started looking for assets in Megascan to do a blocking v.2 and see a little better the mood of the scene. I started to test materials and learn the interface and workflow of Unreal. Then I took out a lot of reference to make a version 2 of the lighting. And I think now I've reached a point where I've finished all the blockout phase and I'm going to make the final environment + main materials (wall, floor) and later I'll get the main asset which in this case is the fish tank. 
And this is how the blockout looks like, I'll be glad to hear any feedback on my composition, or something I didn't realize, Thanks!!!

Ashervisalis

Composition looks rad. This looks like it'll look cool!

sirHelix

Hi guys, these last few months I haven't been able to work on the project as long as I would like, but I've been back full time now. And I hope I can finish it before the end of the year.

At the moment I am making all the props of the scene. When I finish I'll start with the lighting, since I'm not happy with the way the props are looking, since you can hardly see anything. I guess this is the main difference when you make environments, because I am used to do props in which I always control all the angles and the lighting so it looks the best possible. I think that when I finish all the props I will create a new scene and start all over again with the help of some tut. 

The main problems I'm currently dealing with are:

The glass of the fish tank, I'm not happy with the opacity (it's the first time I work with it). The materials are in blend mode: Translucent and lighting mode: Surface TranslucencyVolume. If you tell me any way to improve the materials with opacity I would appreciate it.

I also have to redo the "water". I don't like the way it looks. Any article - or info that talks about how to achieve that water effect? I haven't found anything useful at all.

And well, some lightning tips to improve is always welcome. So that when I get to lighting part, the props give a level up, and look better.

**This is the info that seem I'm losing in the way to substance to Unreal with this lighting i have now.

Another question I have is why this direcctional light goes through the wall? How can avoid this effect?




My next steps are:

Hanging lamps, Wooden beams, windows, AC, carpet and walls. The last props i want to do are the little ones that transmit storytelling.

The fish tank

Thank you very much to all, the next update I hope it will be already with all the props and starting to light. 
All kind of feedback is highly appreciated

sirHelix

Hello again! Update with the new windows, carpet, pillows, ceiling lamps and beams. And I have reworked the water and glass material. 


I'm still working on the general lighting and the last props. 

When I finish the props and have a decent illumination i will get on the walls and vertex painting. I hope to have everything finished before Christmas 

sirHelix

New update with more props and lighting. It seems that there hasn't been much change from last week, but between the skirting board, the storytelling assets and the tutorials "how to lighting" it has taken me all week. Tomorrow I start with decals and vertex painting for the floor, walls and ceiling.
To the next "version" I want to adjust materials better, such as the orange of the fish tank furniture, try the sofa in yellow, and give more brightness to the carpet. 


 By next week I'll have it 90% finished so there's not much left . I'm following lighting tutorials from Ryan Manning on youtube, but any useful material is welcome. 

Stay safe guys 

Shounak

The lighting looks really nice   
The wood planks are really standing out from the rest tho

sirHelix

Shounak said:

The lighting looks really nice   
The wood planks are really standing out from the rest tho

Thank you! I also hope to make the walls more interesting with vertex paint 

sirHelix

Okey so half of the week already passed. Finished the decals, adjusted materials, and lighting theoretically finished. Now I am playing with the Post process volume, and I would only have to adjust some prop and uvs that I have wrong, and prepare cameras to render and finish.

I would like you to help me with 2 problems. The first one is that I don't know if it is better with directional light entering through the window as if it was the moon. Or leave it without any directional light. 

1-with
2-without - What I like most about this one is that the light outside is no longer so bright, and it looks more "realistic" to me 

And the next one I am doubting with the LUTS profiles, I have several adjusted but I do not know which one is better. 
1 - more contrast 
2 (below)  more blue
3 ( right) more purple

Thank you very much. 

sirHelix

Last update before publishing I have adjusted the lighting ( yes more again xd), and prepared the cameras to render.

I thought that since I have a lot of "step by step" material I will make a small entry in artstation with gifs and explaining step by step when I upload the project. 

Jacob Lubinski

I like it a lot. I'm guessing you are baking lighting? 

Did you try playing around with "Diffuse Boost" in the "World Settings" ?

If you are finished with it, though, bravo!

sirHelix

Jacob Lubinski said:

I like it a lot. I'm guessing you are baking lighting? 

Did you try playing around with "Diffuse Boost" in the "World Settings" ?

If you are finished with it, though, bravo!

They are stationary lights, this is the first time I've dealt with lighting and I've learned a lot with all the material online. Next time it will be better ^^

Not at all, I have the diffuse boost in 1. I will try to play around the value to see if I get better results. I had to adjust the Specular Scale of the main light of the fish tank to correct the hard shadows I was making on the floor as you can see from the previous update to yesterday.

And thank you! 

sirHelix

It's done guys! 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/w6BmDZ

Ashervisalis

Nice work!!!

Rhemi_

Came out amazing! I'm curious to know how you fixed the light bleed through the wall? ive had this issue before and would love to see your solution.

sirHelix

Rhemi_ said:

Came out amazing! I'm curious to know how you fixed the light bleed through the wall? ive had this issue before and would love to see your solution.

My solution was setting "Shadow Two Sided" on the wall. I have also read that setting the material as "Two sided" can solve the problem aswell.

Hope it helps you, and thank you !