Urban Environment

Ibi

This is the setting for a gritty, urban environment - a ruthless playground for criminals and low-lives.

The total scene comes to just over 77,500 triangles.





This is currently the main piece in my portfolio, but having seen some of the work from recent graduates, I think I've got a long way to go, before landing my first job as a junior 3D artist.

More pics - http://www.ibrahimwahab.com/gallery/pitcher.html

Ben Apuna

Looks pretty good. With all the triangles you're throwing at this scene you might as well add a few more loops to the cables so you can get smoother bends.

It might just be me but some of the posters seem a bit too high up on that wall next to the stairs.

The repeat of the brick texture on the back wall is quite noticeable you might want to find ways to tile it a bit better.

Since you are going for a gritty low life area, I'd say put more trash and graffiti everywhere, maybe some homeless people "nests", abandoned shopping carts, urine stains, broken bottles, maybe a chalk outline of some random murder. Perhaps break the glass in some of those windows/doors.

I think the overall lighting could use some more deep shadows. Maybe knock out some of the lights, those criminals don't like to be seen.

Overall I'd say you've got this scene pretty far along, just needs a few tweaks to really push it to the "awesome" state. Keep it up

Logan5

Hey man, cool scene. Id say you just need to grunge it all up a little bit more, still a little clean in places. Go overboard with the dirt and grime, add more rubbish and see what that looks like. I wouldnt worry too much, I started as a juniour artist about 2 yrs back with more basic stuff than this in my portfolio. Just keep pushing yourself and NEVER give up.

danshewan

Ben Apuna wrote: »

Since you are going for a gritty low life area, I'd say put more trash and graffiti everywhere, maybe some homeless people "nests", abandoned shopping carts, urine stains, broken bottles, maybe a chalk outline of some random murder. Perhaps break the glass in some of those windows/doors.

Agreed. Nice looking scene so far, but it's way too clean. Dirty it up some more! I like the poster textures over the stair's handrail, but Ben's right - it'd be more hassle than it's worth to get the posters on the right up where they are. Maybe relocate them to above the handrail towards the upper stairs?

Looking forward to seeing some updates - good work so far.

EbolaV

yep looks nice maybe some blood would be cool and everything more dirtier and maybe some damaged lights. keep us updated

adam

What makes this true? "a ruthless playground for criminals and low-lives".

What about your scene says that statement?

nfrrtycmplx

"The Wire" is great reference for things like this... The city streets in that show aren't particularly "dirty" sometimes... but they scream "please don't shoot me"

nice attention to detail on the "Pia o" sign and the assets look good. Keep it up.

Mark Dygert

Those criminals and vandals, always leaving the street lights intact and their cables askew all over the place, not to mention their total disregard for proper pallet placement in the designated areas... What's wrong with them after all they took the time set down a perfectly good TV. Which can't they could have easily put through one of the big plate glass windows. They obviously care... just not about pallets.

But seriously you're off to a good start.

Grime in cracks and corners, overlays if you need to.
Water stains and a general unclean pass are much in need.
Break a few lights, create some shadows, some dangerous dark areas.
Park benches in a high crime neighborhood would probably be secured to the ground in some way.
Dig up some slum ref, you'll have more ideas than you know what to do with.

Jeremy Lindstrom

this peice looks familiar.. could of swore I seen something just like this last year...

Ibi

Cheers for the comments all. So the gerenal jist is - more stuff! That's what I've been told last time, but clearly it's not enough. Time to think of more crap to add to this.

@Mr. Apuna: I like the idea of having homless nests in some parts. Also regarding the lighting issues, I always can't seem to get it right. I try to have deep shadows, but then people complain that it's too dark - need to work on that aspect a little more.

@Logan5: Perhaps 2 years ago I may have had a chance at getting a junior role, if I had a piece like this, but it seems the games industry is moving so fast, i can't seem to keep up with the new graduates that are creating some amazing work these days.

@Danshewan: Cheers man!

@EbolaV: Wouldn't blood be a little overkill? Although that give me an idea to add some bullet holes perhaps..

@Adam: Erm.... that "Police Line Do Not Cross" line across the stairs....and also that someone's stolen the "E", "R" and "N" from the sign above the bar. That's about it, lol - but I get your point, more criminal undertones in the scene.

@nfrrtycmplx: The Wire! - good call. I'll be getting some ideas from that show for sure... thanks for the tip

@Vig: You know... all this time I've been working on this piece, I've neglected to use any references other than the photos I've taken of the building, which is a nice, pleasent area... This feels like a "DUH!" moment.

@Dekard: Ye, I think I posted this up on my sketchbook, but an older version of it - which I don't have to show for comparison - but take my word for it, it's an emprovement :P

OBlastradiusO

Looks like a good start. More lighting and shadow contrasts should really bring more drama to the environment. I saw a great lighting tutorial on someones portfolio website here that talked about colors and mood in level design. Anyone know this sites name?

Ben Apuna

Was it the Resistance: Fall of Man lighting tutorial/portfolio?

EDIT:

Another great one by Vig Lighting Basics and You...

OBlastradiusO

Ben Apuna wrote: »

Was it the Resistance: Fall of Man lighting tutorial/portfolio?

Thanks! But nope I already have that bookmarked. That is a excellent site though. This site i'm talking about a site that really explains color moods and color theory for environments in detail.

EDIT: I remember one environment example that explained color theory. The example was a shipwreck in the middle of a dark jungle area. This was on the site I cant remember right now. Oh well...

Ben Apuna

Sounds like a good read, I don't think I've ever come across it yet. I think I'll go spend a few minutes on google...

Ibi

Update:

Mainly on the lighting, a couple of busted up windows, rescaling the ground texture and also removed a couple of pieces that didn't really add much to the scene.




Too dark?

Zack Fowler

Definitely too dark. You will probably want to check your monitor calibration; mine seems to be a bit brighter than most but the majority of that image is extremely difficult to make out. I imagine that halfway between this new render and your first posts would be best, or with an extra nudge in the direction of the first posts.

In terms of composition I think this would work a teeny bit better if you had the other dock light lit (to the left) instead of the one that is now. Right now it's like three evenly space vertical stripes which isn't compositionally engaging.

Mark Dygert

Good improvements so far.

I agree with Zack I think you sling shot the other way. Which is good you're finding the middle ground. I think you need to adjust the color of your lights a bit. One thing to consider is that since this is an urban environment, you get a bit of light pollution along with regular pollution. Adding a bit of atmosphere to the scene will also help boost the dirty gritty look a bit.

Maybe crack a door open a bit and have some light from inside spilling out. Like there is something going on that shouldn't be. This would help the composition, give a little story and add some detail to a pretty dark area.

Also adding a few details behind the scene can help hint at a larger world, they don't need to be big and extravagant maybe a few simple silhouettes of buildings, or maybe just some orbs from distant street lights. You did a good job of this in the foreground, on the dock with the wires and the water, just need to carry this over into the background.

One thing that helps when doing composition is to squint at your image. This allows you to see you're major pools of color and what kind of impact the lighting has . If you only pick up a few blips and its mostly washed out it might be too dark.

Hope you don't mind but I did a quick paint over.

Ibi

Cheers for the paint over, Vig

I've added a few pieces in the scene, which still require texturing, but how's the lighting now? Still too dark?

Raider

Looks cool man, however that doesn't even come close to gritty in my views.. you've basically got a few torn posters and some random bits of paper lying around, where's the chipped concrete, missing poles, busted ladder, cracked planks, huge time worn spray paint etc etc.

Atm it gives me the feel that the area has been abandoned for like about a week

Ibi

Thanks for the comment Raider. You're certainly right about the level of gritty-ness in the scene and as I keep making changes and adding props the more I realise what it lacks.

The tri count is just over 80k - though still some unfinished pieces and textures, which are currently on hold as I'm having way too much fun playing the lights




There are dark areas in the scene, which I want to remain dark, even though it's difficult to make out some of the assets (they are all litter props anyway) and tried to brighten up specific areas of the environment some stronger lights. Also the focal point of the scene is supposed to be the piano (which needs further work) and also the barrel with flames.

Mark Dygert

I like the new lighting nice mix of colors and brightness. Now you're starting to get it nailed down and play the colors off each other, nice work.

The shadows around the can where a little crazy at first, i wasn't sure what they were from. Light from flames cast flickering shadows, this can sometimes be hard to pull off or costly in real time games. Someone a bit more in the know might be able to help with tips and trick on getting that to work properly, even if his was a scene you're rendering you might want to look into the ways that is done.

Ibi

thanks for the comments vig - I was trying to create a sort of flickering shadow with barrel fire, but I guess you can only pull them off in an actual animated scene. Anyhoo, here is some updates.

Update:




so, what do you kids think of it?

whats_true

Is this in a game engine? Why such harsh shadows?

Ark

Yep shadows are way too hard for a nighttime scene, also your indirectly lit areas are very washed out with no variation in shade. Some AO would help here, or you could add some negative lights.

Ibi

@whats_true: it's all rendered in Max using a software render (boo, hiss)
@Ark: I've tried to put some colour back into the scene.




More images here - Ibrahim Wahab

Thoughts?

Mark Dygert

Good improvement in the lighting. The shadows might be a bit too soft from some of the lights now but you're moving in a good direction. Whats the story on the blank black areas above each of the doorways?

Ibi

Cheers, Vig. Those areas above the doorways are windows, they have opactiy maps on them, but i'm guessing the dark interior is not showing up very well.

Bruno Afonseca

I think the hues from the lights from the post and the fire drum should be more different from each other. Right now it looks that you just copied the light entity over and it doesn´t look interesting as it could be. Maybe make the post light a bit more focused and bright, and the fire a bit more diffuse with a lower range.