Hi Polycount,
I recently finished a draft version of an office environment in UDK. The art assets are designed around a georgian style, but with mahogany and wallpaper substituting painted panels. The environment draws its inspiration from and is loosely based upon this photo, and others like it.
The desk and chair are reproductions based upon the (far superior) work of a fellow Polycounter. His name escapes me and the reference material appears to have been deleted. Apologies to the games artist concerned, if you know his name I will update this thread and give him mad props and credit.
This environment is being prepared for a portfolio, so any crits or tips are gladly welcomed. I'll include some break downs later
I'm not sure how to deal with the outside environment. I don't have time to create any worthwhile buildings for the background.
Replies
The scene does look really red, but it has a nice atmosphere...feels warm and cozy. I really like the ceiling too.
The ground is throwing this off for me. First of all, there are no shadows. I mean, I can see the light coming in from outside, but there is no shadows cast from the pillars, under the desk, chairs, or anything. That makes everything feel floaty.
Also, some slight reflection and a tiny bit of spec on the wood floor would help quite a bit. Hardwood floors usually have a lacquer coating to protect them from getting damaged...the lack of this makes the wood appear worn, and in bad condition.
I think you should consider putting something outside the windows...the plain blue is an eyesore...make this look finished. If you don't want to spend a lot of effort on it, drop a skydome in there and make some low quality buildings and place them very far away...or only in silhouette even.
i would also say the floor needs something else - like a rug or small carpeted area - just to break it up a little bit
but keep at it - its looking really good !
I would check your lightmaps/ resolution as other than the shadows from the window blinds I can not see any shadows really. It may even be worth turning off lightmass and creating the lighting completely yourself.
Oh and as gsokol said - Get a skybox in!
The Georgian office also looks very collaborative. what i'm getting from your piece is that these are all separated work stations. I think what you need to try and convey is that space where they do research, collaborate and have meetings. Very classical and less modern.
Observe more and I think you can execute this nicely.
Using a combination of emissive lighting and spotlights. The left upper lamp has the spotlights, the right upper lamp has only emissive lighting.
I've still yet to propogate this scheme throughout the rest of the environment. I just wanted to get some crits before I move on to the next task.
Also I think the finish on the wooden table could have a bit more shine to it maybe a slight reflection.
looking good though keep going!!
Similar to these. The wooden table does have a cubemapped reflection, only it's not showing as much as I'd like, and the cubemap isn't capturing the scene as a whole.
Here's a shot inside UDK, it appears that it's only capturing the front, the rear of the cscenecapturecubemapactor is black. This is puzzling me. If anyone knows why I'd really appreciate a heads up! It's also not captuing the sky environment
Some issues with the lightmap on one of the desks, will have a look at that.