Map Building Timelapse?

dpaynter26

My friend asked me recently and i decided to ask you guys, are there any videos out there like timelapses of someone building a map in udk, say they already have all the assets they need and they just build the map...he wants to see it so i thought i would ask

dpaynter26

nobody?

Wesley

I'd recommend buying the Introduction to UDK video from Eat3D. It's not a timelapse, but it is really good.

http://eat3d.com/udk

Also it's kinda odd that your friend has all the assets but doesn't know how to build a map... knowing how to build a map in UDK has a huge impact on how you create your assets.

And if you don't know how to build a map in UDK then he probably doesn't know much about UDK at all, right? I don't see how a timelapse will help...

dpaynter26

he knows how to build a map and has his own assets and such he just wants to watch timelapses to see peoples flow of building and such, same as a modeler or sculpter watching someones timelapse, just to see how other people do it.....

igi

The purpose of the timelapse would be change depending on what kind of map you're going to create.Indoors with close quarters? or vast open spaces with lots of foliage and terrain work? Indoor maps are more suitable to create interesting light/shadow forms especially if sci-fi is the title.Also first of all you need some assets to put in all together in a map.UDK has it's own assets and it might be useful to create a map by using existing assets to learn mapping.Don't know why but your request is a bit strange since UDK mapping has different aspects like material building,mesh placement,lighting,scripting(kismet).So I'm addressing the given link above.

Or do you only want to see how people arranges the assets in the whole map?I've never came across a video as you described.

Autocon

I thought it would be cool to do a timelaps of one of the DLC maps I am working on for Uncharted 3 after looking at some cool before and after pictures of blockout level to completion for my single player levels.

Problem is you have to stop working to take a screen shot every now and then since your not building the entire level in a few hours like most timelaps sculpts are done. And when working you just forget to do things like take pictures every so often. I defualted to taking pictures at the end of the day but after browsing through them yesterday I realized that wasnt enough. Ended up not having enough pictures and the jumps at the start are just super massive while the later pictures are super slow since its like placing small assets, so not much change is seen.

Realized too late that I would need more pictures for it to be a cool timelaps, ah well, maybe next time.

TrevorJ

The Koth Viaduct update immediately came to mind, very good video, to show just how much the layouts can change in the beginning.

http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=2754

WarrenM

I think mapping time lapses would be hard to come by because typically there's a lot of noodling and fooling around until you find something that works. Then you do some other stuff, look at some reference, go back, noodle some more, etc. Not exactly like a sketching or sculpting time lapse.

Artist_in_a_box

its a shame there arent more of these. There are lots of videos showing the construction of characters and props but for environments you have to dig pretty far to understand the workflow. I am on my second environment now and I think I am closer thanks to some threads on this forum but I still think there is not much out there regarding the process of getting an environment from concept to finished product.

Even the Eat3D udk videos dont really cater for this as, they focus on the actual process of importing, texturing and placing assets rather than the creative journey from concept to final.

Personally I would pay good money to see an environment concept taken from the original reference all the way to a finished product inside UDK.

Neox

Autocon, you could try something like fraps, and i believe there are other solutions taking screenshots every now and then, but i guess it would still be so ewhat strange. As on a char you are pretty much focussing on one piece, on env you jump around all the time, so to see progress you'd have to stage a cam which is beeing used for those screenshots, this might be harder to achieve, and will need custom solutions, but the picture taking every x minutes/hours should be fairly easy

haiddasalami

I've actually been trying to do something like Autocon said. Though I just keep saving and hopefully at the end of the project, do a gif/video from blockout to finished piece.

Wesley

dpaynter26 wrote: »

he knows how to build a map and has his own assets and such he just wants to watch timelapses to see peoples flow of building and such, same as a modeler or sculpter watching someones timelapse, just to see how other people do it.....

Ah okay, didn't think of it that way. Yeah like other's have said, you'll probably struggle to find any decent ones...

Wonkey

Silly question, but at the end of a project, couldn't you set up a camera take a pic, and just import the camera through all the old save files?
Time consuming and annoying maybe, but...

dpaynter26

well atleast the discussion is taking place and some people are thinking of it lol, thanks for the tf2 page, i hope this sparks some interest and people will try to do this

Y_M

I did some of making displacements in tc_strata, it took me about 10 hours total but I only got about 8 hours of actual recording.

That amount of recording only really goes nicely into a half hour video or longer so as much as I'd love to do more, I can't justify it unless I know I can get something done in a specific amount of time, that's only a few hours.

It slowed down my pc, ate vast amounts of hard disk space and just generally was difficult, the only saving grace is the end result is pretty cool.

Here's the (three part) video: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bJbhivdR98"]Timelapse Fortress 2: tc_strata - Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]

dpaynter26

Awesome

dpaynter26

Soo Good But Soo Fast! lol

Alberto Rdrgz

typically there's a lot of noodling and fooling around until you find something that works.

that's basically what it comes down to the only real rule is stick to the grid... as far as i'm concerned. oh and make it look cooooool!

dpaynter26

I've enjoyed the videos you guys have posted so far and Ive sent them along to my friend that asked the question, looking forward to seeing anymore if anyone else has any or knows of any

Habboi

Well not so much building but more an art direction. I made a timelapse ages ago of my corridor scene:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJyYhZOI0wY&feature=player_embedded"]New Life Scientific Corridor UDK Scene Timelapse - YouTube[/ame]

There's also this very old timelapse by General Vivi:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkJN2isCTx8&feature=player_embedded"]chells_legend_menu - YouTube[/ame]

dpaynter26

Great Thanks!