Mass Effect Environment

pangarang

Hey guys, been awhile but I've started on a new piece. This environment is based on a concept art from the Mass Effect art book that I don't believe was used in the final game.

Here's the image:


And here is my gray block.


Current state to date:

Alex3d

Keep going, nothing to comment on yet... If you are going to render out of Max/Maya(or wherever you did your blockout), set up the lighting right away to set the mood.

pangarang

Cool thanks for the tip! Going by the lack of critiques, I'm guessing the grayblock stage is going pretty successful so far. I was concerned about the depth of the composition, whether or not it matched the concept and the relative size of the tables and chairs compared to the height of the railings.

I'll throw in some lights, as per your suggestion. Update tomorrow, with some actual props on the side!

Sandro

That's a sexy concept.

Signature major shapes of this particular piece seem to be circular thing on the ceiling mirrored by hexagonal suspended walkway and circular or hexagonal yellow pool of light on the floor where tree stands. Your room is rectangular in shape and does not seem to capture this correlation.

Also, make sure you are not too heavy-handed with shapes. Architectural pieces (railings, suspended walkway, support pieces) are pretty slim and sleek allowing for lots of open space. Block-in feels a bit claustrophobic at the moment.

sketch81

Hey pangarang,

Nice start and there's a few things I'd like to point out that may need adjusting. I might be nitpicking, but these are things I'd personally change to match the concept art.




1. At the moment the stairs seem to be going in the wrong direction and I've indicated an arrow showing the rail going down, whereas in your blockout the rails are straight.

2. The distance between the floor and balcony( or second level) is too narrow. Possibly increase the distance by at least an extra half of what you have.

3. I know it's only a block out, but you could increase the amount of stairs, making them higher than what you have.

4. The sign looks a little small and could do with an increase in it's overall height.

5. The distance between the center circular opening is too wide. You could bring in those large structural beams to help shorten the distance.

6. The distance between the circular opening and second level is narrow and I'd recommend raising the roof with all it's elements to make the environment less claustrophobic.

7. Increase the the width of this area to better match the concept and the structure that is surrounding the light source. This will also allow you to spread out the props a bit more, so that they aren't too close together. It looks like a meeting area and people need to move around freely.

I'd also recommend throwing in a basic shape with the approx height of a human (1.8m). This will help you with your measurements and scale of certain tricky sections. Good luck and I hope I've been of some help. Keep it up!

pangarang

lol the moment I say everything is going fine, people jump in and tell me it's not! This is the kind of feedback I was looking for, so I should try boasting my non-existent perfection a little more often Thank you Sketch81 and Sandro.

So today, I did 3 things.

1) I switched up the scale and proportions to match the concept more closely.



2) I threw in some basic lighting to capture the mood.



3) Started on some props



Thanks, and keep the feedback rolling, guys!

Alex3d

Oops, forgot to say that that oval shape you have there connecting 3 horizontal roof beams, is actually circular and is only attached to the 2nd beam :P Also your environment doesn't match the length of the concept(that explains why your horizontal ceiling beams are closer than they should be). The problem is, you are missing that big booth-trailer looking thing. Good start on lighting, however the mood is yellow-green in the concept. To match the concept, make the yellow a bit brighter and turn purple closer to green (dark purple-green). Keep it up!

sketch81

Nice improvements pangarang. I've manipulated your render in Photoshop (New after!), by scaling different sections non uniformly to try and match the concept a little better. It's not perfect and a first at trying this method, but I feel your environment is still a little squashed. I've also moved the center area ( at the bottom where the yellow light and seating area is located) forward because in the concept it almost looks like it's directly underneath the second level or a little further back.

I hope this helps and sheds some light on what I'm trying too explain. Keep at it!

pangarang

Thanks so much, sketch81! Yes, i can see the difference and will be making the adjustments accordingly.

In the meantime, I've started building the individual pieces and loosely placed them in the world based on the grayblock. Any adjustments made to the grayblock can be easily adjusted with the placement of the higher poly assets. Let me know what you think