Ok so I fixed the lighting, er got it working more, so now I think my scene is a little more clear what is going on. Took all your guys advice, fixed most of the textures, though they all have tweaks. I think the concrete is reading a lot better now, same for the car. Not sure where to place the barrel (just a udk mesh palceholder for the moment) or where I would put a lamp. But I think to add a focal point I'm gonna go with some concrete barriers, with an electronic sign, saying something about zombies, or city evac. How do you like these apples?
Edit: O and I changed the road, so the part that is cracked, and split open is facing the camera so you can actually see it now.
Yeah, I had the same idea about it looking like a bike track, then I kind of convinced myself it was a one way car lane on each side.
I would probably put the fire drum between the column and the gutted VW. So the bums have a little enclosed area to get warm. Yeah I think about stories like that
The textures are really looking good! Nice job on that. One thing you might consider is using either decals or vertex painting for your concrete damage, or just use larger mesh chunks. The damage repetition is a bit obvious, and I think you'd benefit from having more variance in it. I'll agree with sltrOlsson that the damaged bits could stand to be lighter, and possibly more layered. It's not bad as it stands, but a bit more love could make it pop.
I really like the idea of a 'warning: zombies crossing' type of sign. Maybe add a bit of black humor to the scene? I dunno, it'll be fun to see what you come up with.
SltrOlsson: I was going off rooster map's rubble library, his exposed concrete is darker, and it looks kick ass, but you're right, it is normally lighter.
jimmypopali: Who doesn't think of a bum when they think of a trash can fire? And that placing seems the most logical.
Artifice: Yea I will go back once everything is fully textured, and add more variance, as this is a school project with a time limit, and for my demo reel I have to get it finished, but I agree some decals could help a lot to break it up. As for the sign we must be on the same wave length... I was thinking exactly that
NAIMA: Thanks This is made mostly in softimage, a little bit in maya (just to keep my maya knowledge up), and then recently it has all been brought into udk.
So I didn't get much done today, sculpted the barrier quickly, seemed pretty easy, threw down a VERY rough texture just to get an idea of how it would feel. Changed the lighting a little. Also what do you guys think about the idea of adding rain to the scene? Would that be too much of a gimmick for a student demo reel piece, or would it add to the gloomy feeling?
Looking good! I know you can't go back to the HP all the time. But something that would be nice to see is some more minor details in the concrete. Like you go in and destroy it with you brush of choice, really small, and then you go back with the morph brush just leaving small cracks and stuff. This you could be added to the larger damaged areas to.
Can't show you course my PC just went down, but yeah
The barrel is like 1.7 meters atm, looks kinda strange :P But the placement is good.
As for rain, fucking go for it! Though, no light shafts please :P
I also think the concrete stops need some texture loving (:
SltrOlsson: Ya I agree the concrete would look much better with some small cracks. And ya, as I said, it was just a rough texture I threw down on the barriers to get an idea how they worked :P
So I added some rain, wind, ambient lightning/thunder and some plant life (all from EAT3D tutorials. These are still screens, I can post a video if anyone really wants to see it, but otherwise it's just a down pour with lightning occuring every 5-10 seconds, and wind blowing mist/the foliage. C&C would be great as I'm running out of steam on this and not sure what else to do (beside's the texturing that is clearly missing).
So I fixed the ground, and threw down some texturing on the piles, added more foliage added some lighting from the fire. However I am getting some really weird shadows on my ground and I have no idea why. It looks fine in the content browser, anyone know what would cause this?
I think i looks a bit awkward with the rain if nothing is wet :P
The wierd shading you have is bad smooting groups/Hard soft edges. Go back and see if you missed a soft edge on o there..
I think you should do a rubble static mesh that you can place here and there around the scene. Or something small like a pill of shit, shit as in rubbish :P Maybe some gravel?
SltrOlsson: Nothing has a spec map on it yet, so I'm thinking that will help quite a bit. I'll check the edges, but I don't know how to set soft edges in softimage, only hard. A static mesh could be a good idea, add some breakup on the ground.
reiro: Will do
Due to time constraints I may be looking at re-arranging the scene, not to sure tho, it just seems like there is no real focal point, at least not in the middle, not sure if this is a bad thing or not. Either way I'll post an update later, hoping to texture the barrell and the electronic billboard, thus completing all textures, or at least the base, and move onto specs and finishing normals.
Ugh... getting so burnt out... must finish! So I recomposed the scene for a couple of reasons. Here is where I'm at, I plan on adding some sleeping bags or something to show someone was living under the bridge, and some more garbage. I guess my ambient passes of the whole scene will show off all the destruction? Kind of getting sick of it and wanting to finish with one nice beauty shot and move on.
Dismembered: I will try and add some run off, mud is a good idea, I'm trying to think of stuff to add to the scene, but I'm running and out of steam and having troubles.
This is due in a week or so, so I'm adding the final elements and putting on the finishing touch. What do you all think? (the wires are from UDK, I still need to replace them with my own) Also any tips on how to upload to the web without the image getting so damn dark? It looks so much better on my screen
You need to understand how color management and embedded color profiles work. Basically, most displays are calibrated for 2.2 gamma, but sometimes the default behavior of software is to output or render at 1.0 gamma, expecting that the correct color profile will be assigned in post. I don't know about UDK screencaps.
You should calibrate your display to 2.2 gamma, re-adjust the lighting in your project if necessary (it will look different if you weren't working under 2.2 before), then embed a 2.2 gamma color profile into your images before uploading it to the web. Then it will look the same on everybody's display.
That's a very rough and possibly erroneous explanation, maybe just look it up on wikipedia.
You need to understand how color management and embedded color profiles work. Basically, most displays are calibrated for 2.2 gamma, but sometimes the default behavior of software is to output or render at 1.0 gamma, expecting that the correct color profile will be assigned in post. I don't know about UDK screencaps.
You should calibrate your display to 2.2 gamma, re-adjust the lighting in your project if necessary (it will look different if you weren't working under 2.2 before), then embed a 2.2 gamma color profile into your images before uploading it to the web. Then it will look the same on everybody's display.
That's a very rough and possibly erroneous explanation, maybe just look it up on wikipedia.
thanks for that tip !! even though it wasn't intended for me but im going to apply this to my screenshots !!
Yeah, you need to turn the DOF down a bit. I think this works pretty well as it is now, but you definitely got some material definition to get back to later on. Mainly the car.
If you have time later on i think you should finish this with your initial camera angle, with the truck.
And oh, if you want a decent image and file uploader i can strongly recommend dropbox.
Alright all, I think the time has come to call this one done, as it's due in about an hour. I am very happy with how the final render turned out, and as always I've learned A TON! So here is the final shot/package, if anyone can spot anything that's off I would still like to fix it up
Wow, it's really nice to see where this ended up! Overall, I think you're really capturing the mood, what with the lightning flashing and graffiti. I do agree that the car could use a bit more texturing love. Some rust and dents/scratches would make it look a bit less CG.
Also, I'm not sure your shot is particularly flattering to the scene. I see the idea of blocking the frame with the concrete barriers, but they don't read as such in the shot unless you already know what they are. I think a higher angle that displayed more of the ground would be more effective.
I do really like the sign in the background. It's not immediately in your face, but is a nice touch when you notice it.
Thanks for the feedback guys. Fmnoor and Artifice you're both right about the barries, I added those as a last minute, cheesy way to frame the shot. I'll try raising the camera angle and increasing the readability. Also some camera shake could work As for the car I'll try and get around to re-texturing it, kind of burnt out on this project, but I'll get around to it sooner or later!
Replies
Edit: O and I changed the road, so the part that is cracked, and split open is facing the camera so you can actually see it now.
I thought that someone seeking shelter would have made that fire - under the bridge?
Keep it up!
I would probably put the fire drum between the column and the gutted VW. So the bums have a little enclosed area to get warm. Yeah I think about stories like that
I really like the idea of a 'warning: zombies crossing' type of sign. Maybe add a bit of black humor to the scene? I dunno, it'll be fun to see what you come up with.
Not if its there since lot of time and may be darkened by an explosion or somethig I guess...
Anyway very cool job , reminds me of fallout 3 that I loved really ... is this made entirely in 3dsmax or you are making it in anther engine?
jimmypopali: Who doesn't think of a bum when they think of a trash can fire? And that placing seems the most logical.
Artifice: Yea I will go back once everything is fully textured, and add more variance, as this is a school project with a time limit, and for my demo reel I have to get it finished, but I agree some decals could help a lot to break it up. As for the sign we must be on the same wave length... I was thinking exactly that
NAIMA: Thanks
So I didn't get much done today, sculpted the barrier quickly, seemed pretty easy, threw down a VERY rough texture just to get an idea of how it would feel. Changed the lighting a little. Also what do you guys think about the idea of adding rain to the scene? Would that be too much of a gimmick for a student demo reel piece, or would it add to the gloomy feeling?
Can't show you course my PC just went down, but yeah
The barrel is like 1.7 meters atm, looks kinda strange :P But the placement is good.
As for rain, fucking go for it!
I also think the concrete stops need some texture loving (:
So I added some rain, wind, ambient lightning/thunder and some plant life (all from EAT3D tutorials. These are still screens, I can post a video if anyone really wants to see it, but otherwise it's just a down pour with lightning occuring every 5-10 seconds, and wind blowing mist/the foliage. C&C would be great as I'm running out of steam on this and not sure what else to do (beside's the texturing that is clearly missing).
The wierd shading you have is bad smooting groups/Hard soft edges. Go back and see if you missed a soft edge on o there..
I think you should do a rubble static mesh that you can place here and there around the scene. Or something small like a pill of shit, shit as in rubbish :P Maybe some gravel?
reiro: Will do
Due to time constraints I may be looking at re-arranging the scene, not to sure tho, it just seems like there is no real focal point, at least not in the middle, not sure if this is a bad thing or not. Either way I'll post an update later, hoping to texture the barrell and the electronic billboard, thus completing all textures, or at least the base, and move onto specs and finishing normals.
Looking good.
This is due in a week or so, so I'm adding the final elements and putting on the finishing touch. What do you all think? (the wires are from UDK, I still need to replace them with my own) Also any tips on how to upload to the web without the image getting so damn dark? It looks so much better on my screen
You should calibrate your display to 2.2 gamma, re-adjust the lighting in your project if necessary (it will look different if you weren't working under 2.2 before), then embed a 2.2 gamma color profile into your images before uploading it to the web. Then it will look the same on everybody's display.
That's a very rough and possibly erroneous explanation, maybe just look it up on wikipedia.
thanks for that tip !! even though it wasn't intended for me but im going to apply this to my screenshots !!
If you have time later on i think you should finish this with your initial camera angle, with the truck.
And oh, if you want a decent image and file uploader i can strongly recommend dropbox.
http://vimeo.com/22587594
Maybe put some more detail on that broken down car? It looks a little clean.
Also, I'm not sure your shot is particularly flattering to the scene. I see the idea of blocking the frame with the concrete barriers, but they don't read as such in the shot unless you already know what they are. I think a higher angle that displayed more of the ground would be more effective.
I do really like the sign in the background. It's not immediately in your face, but is a nice touch when you notice it.