Abandoned Vegas
So I decided that it would be neat to do an abandoned post civilization Las Vegas. I thought it would be a nice opportunity with the lights. Here is the first set piece for it, this will determine if I go any further with the idea. The blocks, the steel beams and the sign on the right have diffuse normals and spec, and the sign has a glow, the sign on the left has not been touched yet, I am going to go back and add some more detail to the beams, maybe some rust.
Replies
@nathanPreston: the idea itself is fine... it's about execution... that being said, a single asset isn't going to provide much insight into what you're thinking of with this environment.
Suggested course of action:
1. Reference collection/concepting
2. Blockout prototype/paper design
3. Lighting/mood tests
4. More reference/concept
5. Refine blockout with more silhouette objects
6. More reference/concept
7. First Pass on all geo (really hammering down the proportions/forms of things)
8. More lighting/mood/atomosphere tests
9. High Poly Rockification
10. Low poly/texture
11. Lighting/material setup (spec/other effects)
12. VFX
13. Polish the turd
If you were trying to simply make a sign... that's great... but the sign doesn't seem to have a purpose... what is it pointing to? usually a sign like this has "PEEP SHOW" or "2$ Tacos" written on it... or another sign above it "HOTEL!" or something...
if i were to critique the sign by itself i'd say nice try, but you have I Beams hanging out where they shouldn't be.. they're not really supporting anything... nor do they look attached. Your other beams look like they have a tiled texture on them and no normal or spec... so it doesn't read as metal. The sign itself doesn't look constructed as much as it looks glued together.
why is the concrete base seperated into 2 parts... and why is there a metal band around the concrete base, was someone worried about it falling apart under the weight of the sign?
as far as the lighting test... that's cool, but lighting tests are only really interesting in scenes with multiple objects... this says, "i can make something glow in max" which is kinda cool... if you're into that.
If you're going for abandoned, it looks too clean... and if it's an abandoned town, why do the lights work anway? It would be cooler IMO if the city was lit mostly with natural light sources (fire and whatnot)... raiders probably aren't electricians and likely aren't running power plants...
I'm out of steam, but I'm sure there's more I could say about this piece.
Do a blockout, and get a feel for the environment you're creating.
I'm interested to see the abandoned city, i just think you need to put a little more thought/planning into it before getting feedback on assets.
Cheers brohammer, and good luck! Post those designs/concepts/reference
I am just using it as a lone asset, and there are more pictures and a video on my website link above.