Environment - untitled (updated)

adam · Sep 2009

I'll figure out a title later when I'm less tired.

This scene is mostly finished. I may make small changes from now until tomorrow, but I'd rather spend an hour or 2 gathering shots of the individual assets to show in here.

If I do go back in to the art to make changes, it'll be specifically on the water as I'm not 100% happy with it. And I may adjust the values of the lights hitting the robot. They're getting pretty hot on him.

I decided a few weeks ago to make a scene for one of the highpoly practises I did. I really wanted the scene to feel like new tech was added to our modern world, over time. As if we're seeing our world today as it may be in the future. And, with time being an issue, I wanted it to be something I could create in a timely manner, without too much stress. From that, a sewer was made and I slowly added to the environment over time.

Anyhoo, enough babbling. Here's the goods, straight out of Unreal 3...

Muzzoid · Sep 2009

Came out wonderfully

!

Well done!

ErichWK · Sep 2009

Man. This is really really rad. I applaud.

sampson · Sep 2009

needz moar texture flats

nrek · Sep 2009

The scene turned out great adam. Im glad you were able to get the robot to really pop with the rim lighting. I must say I love the dust sparkles coming off the lights, nice touch.

My only crits/suggestions would be to rotate that big blue pipe to hide that black seam line running down the length of it. And then maybe add a grunge card around the outer edge of the door to help connect it to the wall.

EDIT: If that seam on the pipe was intentional then I would at least soften the black, so it looks less like a texture seam and more like a metal construction seam.

adam · Sep 2009

Yea its not a seam. It's an easy fix so I'll go about rotating it.

Looking at this again, there's too much light hitting the robot. I'll address this in the Unreal scene some time tomorrow.

Ark · Sep 2009

Looking good adam, only nitpick would be what you already said about the robot being overlit compared to the rest of the scene.

Autocon · Sep 2009

Looking really cool adam. The lighting of the environment is really looking good.

One thing, what exactly is that smoke stuff near the robots feet? Dont really understand why there would be smoke/steam coming off its feet.

MoP · Sep 2009

Cool stuff! I like the colours and the way they change in the distance.

I have to agree that whatever it is at the robots feet/legs (supposed to be water splash effect particles? or something else?) just doesn't look good. I don't know what it's meant to be and it just looks a bit messy.
If you can make the effect look like whatever you were intending then it might help, but otherwise I'd just remove it.

Also, the small brown pipe texture on the ceiling is really stretched and blurry. I'd really sort that out, it shouldn't be a difficult fix.

I might also change the colour of the tentacle to something more red/purple - at the moment it's blending in with the background a lot when I think it should be a more contrasted focal point.

carlo_c · Sep 2009

You already said what I thought when I first looked at the scene; that there was too much light on the robot in regard to the rest of the scene.

I'm not sure why the robots legs are blurry too? It looks almost like motion blur but if it is he's not in a dynamic enough pose I think. It draws my eyes to it because of the brighter light at the end of the tunnel, so I'd try to get that part looking as good as the rest of the scene

EbolaV · Sep 2009

finally you finished it and it looks awesome

. but that the legs are so blurry looks strange and the watersplashes looks more like smoke

Taylor Hood · Sep 2009

Epic win, Adam. Even more reason for me to learn the unreal ED as I'm trying now : )
Rock and roll!

JasonLavoie · Sep 2009

Really cool scene adam.

I agree with what everyone has said so far (the splash is one of the biggest things for me) but also... that door could maybe get a bit more lovin' to it. I don't necessarily like how the corners are so hard, but the texture itself really needs a fix, kinda looks like you just slapped a metal texture on it and went on with the scene, which is disappointing, because that door is part of where your viewers eye will look right after the robot.

I'm digging the lighting though, it definatly sets the mood pretty well.

MoP · Sep 2009

Actually, I was thinking the same thing as JasonLavoie about the door, but I didn't write it up since I thought I'd already said enough

Basically there are hundreds of awesome heavy metal sewer door designs you could have done (I'd really make it in highpoly - check out Kevin Johnstone's massive vault door from GoW for inspiration), but it does kinda look "phoned in" especially compared to the rest of the scene.
And considering it's a fairly important part of the image, I'd definitely spend some more time on it. A highpoly door should take one evening, lowpoly / UVs and bake shouldn't take more than another evening, then texturing another few evenings. Time well spent, I'd say.

crazyfingers · Sep 2009

Spiffy, really dig the robot.

My main crit is with the top pipes just under the light, seems to me there should be a bit more bright blue spec on the tops of 'em where the "fog plane" is.

adam · Sep 2009

Heya, good feedback. I just woke up and want to get right in to address some of the points you made so rather than individually replying to you guys, I'll reply to the feedback.

-Lighting will be toned down on the robot
-The door *does* have a highpoly for it. It's a service door, not a grand entrance somewhere. I haven't any issues with its textures, so I'll see what I can do about its impact.
-The tentacle is second fiddle to the rest of the scene. It's there as a 'supporting actor' in my scenes story, if that makes sense. Making it another colour, I'm afraid, will give it too much focus. Which I don't want.
-The brown pipes are stupidly stretched. I wore my noob hat on that one. Fixed already.
-The 'smoke' is actually water, which I had a hell of a time will. I'll likely spend most of my time on making it look right today.
-The blur in some parts of his legs was to show action, to support the frantic nature of the splashes. That entire idea will be looked at and executed on differently. And hopefully better.

Thanks for the feedback. Paul I'm glad you dig the lighting, I loved working on it.

StJoris · Sep 2009

Been following this one for a while, nice progression.
I won't repeat the valid points that have been said already. About the water, when I saw the splashes first at the left foot, it kind of made sense. But when I was checking out the splahes around other feet it made less sense, especially the right one. As there doesn't seem to be water on the stones there is nothing to splash with.
At this glazing angle with some wild splashing around I'd really espect to see some more reflection going on with pools of wet stone. Might help with giving it a sense of continuity.

System · Sep 2009

Nice scene adam! about the door, for me it lacks just a bit of shadowing on the lhs. As it is opening against the frame there you would expect a bit of occlusion.

ae. · Sep 2009

JasonLavoie wrote: »

Really cool scene adam.

I agree with what everyone has said so far (the splash is one of the biggest things for me) but also... that door could maybe get a bit more lovin' to it. I don't necessarily like how the corners are so hard, but the texture itself really needs a fix, kinda looks like you just slapped a metal texture on it and went on with the scene, which is disappointing, because that door is part of where your viewers eye will look right after the robot.

I'm digging the lighting though, it definatly sets the mood pretty well.

Exactly what i was thinking :thumbup:

everything else looks top notch great job adam:)

jocose · Sep 2009

Top Notch Adam. Might be cool to see some slime or a green or blue light coming from inside that door. I think that might give you a sinking feeling like whatever that tentacle is connected to is pretty messed up.

Also considering how much motion blur there is on that hind right leg you would think it would be sliding and leaving a little but of rubber on the ground there.

adam · Sep 2009

He's just hiding in a service room. Nothing major

adam · Sep 2009

The picture in my OP's been updated. Here's the old one for comparison.

rasmus · Sep 2009

Looking good. I like how the robot pops out, and the color balance overall. The yellow haze in the BG is working well. Two suggestions: remove the darkness at the top of the door, I think it would read better as open that way; and maybe break up that insanely straight line formed by the edge of the curb on the right side? Lazertastically sharp atm! Blurry robot legs does not work btw

Ben Apuna · Sep 2009

Great scene Adam, I really like how it's telling a story. The water effects are much better in the updated version. I think the stuff trailing on the surface of the water leading up to the splash is a very nice touch. The lighting is very good as well.

The one minor thing that bothers me about this piece is the tentacle. I think the reaction pose of the robot doesn't quite match the pose of the of the tentacle. Right now part of the tentacle is resting on the ground and to me it sort of gives it a somewhat lifeless feeling. Maybe if you just flipped the tentacle vertically so that it isn't touching the ground it would seem a little more menacing like it's reaching for the robot.

nfrrtycmplx · Sep 2009

I like the update a lot. The only thing i have a problem with is the water effect... it doesn't read as a water splash to me. Perhaps it's the distribution of the weight of the machine, but it doesn't look like the machine is surpised or looking at the arm popping out of the door. but more like the machine should be falling into the water.

overall i like the render, it's very well executed and i think you did a great job on the texturing and the lighting. And the contrast between the different elements is great. Good job mang!

Cheers

adam · Sep 2009

rasmus, thanks man

I'm pretty happy with the scene, so while I won't go back to make the suggested changes I will remember them for next time

Ben Apuna - Bam! Thank you for the kind words

The idea of the tentacle was that it was slithering in to the room, not attacking the robot. 22WT (the robot) was on patrol when he caught it slithering in to the closet. Sort of 'out of the corner of his eye'. He's startled, not ready to destroy.

nffryrytytyrrrrrycomplex - Thank you! The machine is startled, yea. And its no telling how his legs would move in a situation like this, so I imagined his front right leg was planted sternly in to the water, pushing his other 3 legs up and over to his left slightly so he could get up on the side walk. No crazy aerobatics or anything, just enough to react & examine.

Pope Adam · Sep 2009

Wonderful render - some of the best I've seen out of unreal3! Great lighting Adam

Laheen · Sep 2009

my my adam, very inspiring env work you have here!

JordanW · Sep 2009

I guess it's too late to comment on this since you're pretty happy with it

but I agree with the comments posted earlier about certain elements of this feel "quick". The lighting and coloring of the scene is nice but the pipes and door look low res and gamey. I understand that it's just a simple door and they're just pipes but the door is part of a focal piece of this scene and the pipes really stand out. It doesn't help that even if you have a high res texture on that door, something about it still feels stretched non-uniformly.

I also think that the water is too opaque, I would expect to see some of the underlying geometry even if it's just up close and falls off at a distance. The fog plane coming from the hanging light also has a visual intersection with the pipe, you can easily fix this by using a depth biased alpha node in the fog's material.

adam · Sep 2009

Argh, my response was eaten by Polycount

Sorry if this is blunt, I don't want to waste time re-writing it.

Thanks Jordan for the reply.:thumbup: The glow on the light I can and will fix as its pretty trivial.
I'll admit the pipes are a product of poor planning. They were always meant to be within darkness and never quite caught by the light as much as they are. It wasn't until the last day or so that I increased the light value right in their area.
The door's resolution is a bit tighter than the wall it rests on. It's UV's are 1:1 and I just double checked the PSD, its not skewed or stretched. I will, though, try a couple things tonight when I go to fix the light glow. I won't be doing a new door model, so it'll be purely texture based.
Thanks again for the reply, meant a lot. :thumbup:

EDIT: Oh ffs. I just realized the white splotches on the door ARE lower res than the rest of the door. I knew this before and never f'ing addressed it. I'm an idiot, will fix. I may even tone the door down a bit more to be more in tune with something like this. I wanted the door and lights to have this sort of 'future upgrade' look to them and I think that idea for the door overshadowed my sense of its textures.

EarthQuake · Sep 2009

the pose of the robot itself looks pretty odd, he seams to be floating there, with not all of his legs touching the ground. The water there doesnt really help, because its hard to tell how deep it is, and it makes the leg in the water look totally disconnected, or like he's falling?

overall everything but the robot is too low res geometry wise, i think its too easy to get into this old-school polycount mentality that less polys is always better, but i really dont think that is the case today, with modern hardware that could push way more geometry in a scene like this, and the fact that its a scene specifically created to be shown off in stills, it just seems a little lazy that its this lowres, i mean it doesnt take much work to turn cylinders to 12 or 16 sided instead of 8, or round out some corners a bit better =D

adam · Sep 2009

I spent triangles where I'd normally spend them on the games I've worked on. The handle on the door is as round as it needs to be vs. the density of the pipes, IMO. If I were to update anything it'd just be the roundness of the top of the sewer but even in this shot its not very noticeable. I've never thought less poly's is better, especially if my past work is any indication. I do believe that the right amount of polys is better than spending polys for the sake of spending polys. Sure the pipes could have been more rounded, or the wire transfer modules could have some more detail cut in to them, but they're so secondary to the scene it wasn't worth my personal time. You say lazy, I say effective use of my time & interest.

Certainly a difference of opinion on that one

.

AS for the robots pose, I don't know what to tell you. He's suppose to be pushing up and out of the water, with his right front leg spending most of that energy. Not a huge, quick push. Just enough to react to being startled. Few commented on his overall pose so I think I'll let it be. Thanks for the feedback homes.

JasonLavoie · Sep 2009

I have a question then (this is not to start shit, I'm actually just really interested) was this for a show piece, or was it more for just fun? I'm getting a bit confused here because although (i think personally) you have been given some great critiques that would clearly bump the scene up in quality, for the most part it seems like you are brushing them off... not in a bad way (you're explaining your reasons why) but... I just understand why you wouldn't take the small extra time to really make this scene shine.

You're obviously really talented man (big inspiration for me) I just can't figure out why you wouldn't give the extra time to the scene instead of taking that time and defending its current state.

Again, I'm not trying to cause shit... I just think it needs to be clear here what kind of scene this was (for fun or show piece).

adam · Sep 2009

Haha, no worries Jason

I'd never do personal work if it wasn't for fun. Just as you, I love what I do.

Certainly there was fantastic criticism given, but it's my job (and really the job of anyone posting work here) to weed through what I think would improve the scene versus someones personal opinion. Hope this helps

And for what its worth, I am at this very moment making changes to the scene I feel will improve it, based on the feedback I was given.

Good question, glad you asked it. :thumbup:

il Duce Primo · Sep 2009

I think small detail props such as random trash/paper laying around and floating would be awsome. It bothers me how the background is just empty even though it's not the focus of the render. It just pulls you away from the environment as a whole. You have pallets down there but they are just randomly there. Add more to make those pallets feel like they were there for a reason.

Other than that it's awsome! Inspirational work you have here.

adam · Sep 2009

*Updated final shot with slightly updated door & pipe textures. And for shits and giggles, here's a close up of the robot, supersampled & unedited.

Thanks again for the feedback everyone. Now its time for a little break before UC 2009 starts :poly108:

osman · Sep 2009

It looks great adam, nice work.

rebel · Sep 2009

Turned out really nice Adam - Great lighting, and that robot is awesome.

Firebert · Sep 2009

ah man... dangit... comin' into this late... everything looks really great man... seriously... we can nitpick this guy to death all day from artistic to technical and everyone has made some great points on both those fronts as well as your explanations.

the only single thing that makes it not work as well is the idea that he's jumping back. i think the idea works and adds a sense of "character" to an object you wouldn't expect to be surprised by such a sight of slimy tentacle insanity lurking out of the door, but it isn't being conveyed that way. until i read back through some posts did i realize that he was supposed to be jumping back in shock or climbing backwards... i always thought he was just stepping into the water to investigate the scene at hand... the main reason why is the splash.

there shouldn't be a splash at the bottom of the foot that is fully submerged... it adds the weight on that end and makes it look more like he's stepping into the water and is conflicting with the water trail you kind of have going for the foot behind it, which is where the splash should be originating. there should be some rippling or waves going on around the foot that is fully submerged, but the action correlation is just in the wrong place.

okay... i'm done... wall of text end

edit: okay i lied... not done... just wanted to say that it works either way, but if your intention is to have him feel like he's lurking backwards, then i would consider making the minor change. k. now i'm done. promise.

adam · Sep 2009

Ah good point on the water, and noted for next time

I guess I saw the front splash as him planting his foot in the water to push the rest of his body up and over, while the splash coming off his back leg is from when it left the water during this transition.

And thanks again everyone. Glad you've liked it

(Fun ride!)

McCaber · Sep 2009

Looks great man

JasonLavoie · Sep 2009

I just got a new desktop background

Thanks for explaining as well Adam.

Edit: Mccabe... you have arrived

Mark Dygert · Sep 2009

Full on awesome.

adam · Sep 2009

I just updated my OP with some construction images. I'll repost them here for ease:

Microneezia · Sep 2009

really nice pallets, my favorite part. really looks like they were under a tunnel near water for a while. Thanks for posting constructions!

nfrrtycmplx · Sep 2009

The assets look fantastic. Maybe this will help explain what i mean with the pose of the robot.

It looks like the robot is further down the tunnel than his focal point suggests... it looks like he's looking at the blue dot just to the left (screen left) of the door.

The biggest problem with the pose is that his foot isn't actually planted in the water... the perceived ground plain under the water is much lower than where it looks like his foot is supposed to be planted.

This is a difficult thing to do with the elevation change I'm sure.

Just a suggestion... something to think about. It's a mighty fine render without any changes done at all. And the assets are done to perfection.

Great work man!

adam · Sep 2009

Ah awesome, thanks guys. nrftycomplex - great paintover, totally see what you mean now

Environment - untitled (updated)

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