Made the suggested changes from my fellow polycounters..
1.changed my lighting and lit those buildings..
2.blended the color of the bottom of the grass to match the ground better..
3.changed the sign text to look more painted and not like graffitti..
4.added a road from the foreground to the houses to lead the eye there..
5.moved the background rocks further into the background so that the distance from the houses to them is greater..
@Sgt Nasty: could you give me a visual example of what you mean by framing the houses with the background rocks?
Personally i think there is no "direction" in your image. I tried to show that with the red lines. I would give the composition more definition for example in form of the crossed lines (green). I think the picture gets more depth.
@Justin_Meisse: i blended the color of the ground with the bottom of the grass ... however i wasn't too sure what you wanted me to do...
This is what I'm talking about
this is to combat the way the grass is shading, now I'm not sure how these normals will look in UDK, I've only done this in Gamebryo.
1.changed the background elements to what was suggested
2. i changed the normals on the grass planes and they look worse so i decided to leave it like this..
overall im calling this one done..comments welcome..
I like it !
Just one last thing : the houses, it's too bad that they are the same. Why don't change a little one of them ? (They have the same windows, the same number and type of chimney)
not sure exactly now what style you're going for.. seems a bit of a mix of tf2 and somewhat realistic.. anyway, if ur going for a more toony tpye of look you may want to bump up your scene diffuse boost.
Or maybe you should think about to bring one of your houses in the foreground...i mean the detailed objects of your scene are in the background...not that good for presenting them
You could play around with "brown" fog a bit, so that the background get's touched a bit from it. Or play around with the sky, maybe you can achieve more interesting cloud formations.
Here you can see how the background is supporting the foreground:
In your case cou could maybe ge inspiration from that picture. I DONT like the look but i think if you add a direction to your clouds like this, you support the direction of your image - as you did with the ground.
p.s. what i don't like is, that the dark side of the right house has no contrast to the rock in behind of it. Maybe the fog-thing can help you there...
@Froyok: yes the "get out" sign is floating but in this image its connected to the ground but you don't see it ... visual trick... let me know what would be a better fix.. if that is bothering you..
@SimonT: yeah the sky is still weak... ill create a better sky to support my environment..
Didn't even notice the sign the first time I looked. Where is the shadow? The angle of the light tells me I should be able to see it (or is it a more extreme close up than I thought?). I think that would help ground the sign a bit.
1. changed the sky... better cloud formations..
2. the house on the right was too dark and blended in with the mountain rock behind it... i lighten that up..
3.there is a shadow for the GET OUT sign in the foreground to further ground that object..
ok if i put fog in the background it will change the time of day and the scene will be darker ..ill post variations of fog colors and see what looks better... as for the foot steps ill get on that..
ohh I really love the color palette in the top-right screen! I think it could look even better if you increased the fog density so it starts closer to the camera. That would create interesting mid-tones between the brown and the blue!
I like the left/down version of your color version the most! uhh yes, you should rescale the objects. Just create a dummy human and make sure that all objects fit to it's size
1. added more visual elements to help with this scene's story...
2. scaled down the grass,the ropes and poles...
3. adjusted the hue of the rocks in the middle ground..
I agree, atm the scale is totally off. What are those poles doing? Keeping people out? Then if the door is a persons size, we can assume the pole/rope things are wice as long as they should be.
Also, "GET OUT"??? That makes no sense... Why put a sign saying get out before you even get anywhere...? KEEP OUT would make much more sense.
I'm really digging this scene. It definitely is giving me an idea for my next game environment that I do based on the basic layout and plan for it.
I feel like there should be more in your foreground. I'm thinking maybe not a full building, but the start of one or the ruins of one? It's just an idea and depending on your story it may not work out terribly well. I agree with roosterMAP, things seem very far away.
@ p442 : i see what you are saying ... however this is a desolate encampment as you will. it's not big enough for town status. if you look behind the bridge in the background you can see other rock structures that i put in there to create depth. if i put more buildings in the background i will take away from my idea in the middle ground as you will. the sign and the middle ground are my main focus .
Dang Sam, people are still keeping this thread alive! Well, none-the-less, I really like how it turned out. Looking forward to more environments from you my friend, et to work! ;-)
thanks man ... i was starting that swamp in a cave environment .. i have many pieces modeled and ready to be processed in zbrush but now i have an internship and have to learn more MODO... it's gonna be slower mang!!! i will put more effort to improve cuz i think i see what is keeping me from standing out in the pile of email resumes... i will post updates soon...
I really love this scene! Very unique and the composition is great.
I agree with what someone said earlier though, the grass alphas need work/variation.
How did you do your rocks? Did you follow a tutorial and then do your own, or just crank them out on your own? I would love to see your workflow on them!
Replies
1.changed my lighting and lit those buildings..
2.blended the color of the bottom of the grass to match the ground better..
3.changed the sign text to look more painted and not like graffitti..
4.added a road from the foreground to the houses to lead the eye there..
5.moved the background rocks further into the background so that the distance from the houses to them is greater..
@Sgt Nasty: could you give me a visual example of what you mean by framing the houses with the background rocks?
other then that ..
Cheers..
and a quick paint over (its not perfect, and its just a little recommendation, take it or leave it):
This is what I'm talking about
this is to combat the way the grass is shading, now I'm not sure how these normals will look in UDK, I've only done this in Gamebryo.
1.changed the background elements to what was suggested
2. i changed the normals on the grass planes and they look worse so i decided to leave it like this..
overall im calling this one done..comments welcome..
Just one last thing : the houses, it's too bad that they are the same. Why don't change a little one of them ? (They have the same windows, the same number and type of chimney)
@Oniram: ok ill mess with the diffuse boost and see what i can do..
Cheers..
Good work
You could play around with "brown" fog a bit, so that the background get's touched a bit from it. Or play around with the sky, maybe you can achieve more interesting cloud formations.
Here you can see how the background is supporting the foreground:
In your case cou could maybe ge inspiration from that picture. I DONT like the look but i think if you add a direction to your clouds like this, you support the direction of your image - as you did with the ground.
p.s. what i don't like is, that the dark side of the right house has no contrast to the rock in behind of it. Maybe the fog-thing can help you there...
@SimonT: yeah the sky is still weak... ill create a better sky to support my environment..
will post an update soon..
2. the house on the right was too dark and blended in with the mountain rock behind it... i lighten that up..
3.there is a shadow for the GET OUT sign in the foreground to further ground that object..
any more suggestions welcome.. Cheers...
as fog reference:
i like how the background has this fine overlay of fog..
2.added color variations for the fog in background..
Cheers..
You should try to work on more qualities which shows the wear and tear and usage of this area. It doesn't feel very alive right now.
@moof: ok so more objects that gives this scene more character and story..
@Torrrtilla: ill break up the colors more... having a hard time... that's an area were i lack ... ill get to cracking..
2. scaled down the grass,the ropes and poles...
3. adjusted the hue of the rocks in the middle ground..
Cheers..
Also, "GET OUT"??? That makes no sense... Why put a sign saying get out before you even get anywhere...? KEEP OUT would make much more sense.
that's the feel i went with this it's a personal feeling i wanted to vent out...
I feel like there should be more in your foreground. I'm thinking maybe not a full building, but the start of one or the ruins of one? It's just an idea and depending on your story it may not work out terribly well. I agree with roosterMAP, things seem very far away.
Cheers...
I think the composition needs work. The lines point my eye to the question mark area, but there is nothing there.
quick demonstration of what i mean
Cheers...
I agree with what someone said earlier though, the grass alphas need work/variation.
How did you do your rocks? Did you follow a tutorial and then do your own, or just crank them out on your own? I would love to see your workflow on them!