UDK Realistic Arch Vis

A.Mehroke

This thread is for critisism, advice and to get a wide oppinion of how the project is coming along.

For my uni I have decided to try to accomplish a realistic architectural visualisation in the UDK that is fully playable in real time.

I have tried to analyse current 3D arch vis companies to get some appropriate reference.

The model I'm working with at the moment is just a test model to get a good feel for the engine.

I'm going to be modelling a different arch vis scene/getting some other models to work with.

Any advice you guys have are more than welcome.

I have currently got a super post-process chain for the antialiasing and desaturation, I have a render target for the reflective floor and I'm utilising an Unreal cube map for the windows to see the diferences. The flat textures currently don't have any normal maps or specular maps but they will by the time the new models are ready for the scene. There may also be some foliage added to the current scene just to see the effect.



Thanks.

Alex

Visceral

Change the ground texture. I really hope that is wip.
ALso your texture alignment on the bricks looks really off. The texture in a whole dosnt really fit in my oppinion. It looks moore like a game texture. If this where for a Arc demonstration maybe something cleaner.

What kind of references/mood board do you have for this one? Beacuse i cant find any newer style architecture with thoose kind of bricks.

The shape looks kind of boxy. But im assuming that is part of the design.

I would focus less on getting cubemaps to work before you get the modelling and textures completed, no idea starting yourself blind into details of the reflecting floor when the rest of the building looks pretty crummy.
I mean the shape is a good start and i would love to see it finished, keep going!

Hope that helps

GragGunslinger

Also the bricks on that one building are vertical, and I don't think bricks really work that way.

you've got got a good start, hope to see more!

A.Mehroke

GragGunslinger Yeah I know about the vertical bricks it's because the UV's are all really out of wack on this model but I'm not going to be using it for the final piece.

@ Visceral Cheers for the advice I agree the model and unwrap is pretty pants but the original plan for this project left a lot of time for getting to grips with the engine and less focusing on the modelling. But after getting to this point I really feel like I should attempt to create the rest of the scene myself that way I'll have a lot more control and the quality will hopefully be a lot better.

Thanks for your advice though and I'll try to keep you updated.

S2Engine

Cool idea, I kinda feel like since you're just using that model as a test, it might be better to use a flat white color for the diffuse instead of the brick. That way you can see more how the lighting looks and also keep focus on the reflective areas rather than the temp brick.

StuButler

I think S2Engine has a good idea there, strip the diffuse textures off the materials and take a look again, you may get a clearer example of how your reflective materials are working and a nice showing of your lighting...

A.Mehroke

Will Do.

RogelioD

This is a pretty cool idea- I'll definitely keep my eye on it, just keep at it. And if you could give us some insight to the companies you researched or contacted and what they said, that'd be awesome. I was interested in finding work in this field so any insight would be great. Keep it up!

-rad

A.Mehroke

Hey Rad,

Yeah I got in contact with a guy who works in London for Squint/Opera.

I spoke to him about natural deterioration in arch vis and the aspect of playability.

He said that deterioration would be specifically requested and normally isn't because arch vis is usually used for sales and advertising. On the subject of interactivity he said that the extra time spent creating it and the lack of post process available made it harder to use than something like mental ray in 3DS Max and then performing post process in Photoshop and After effects. Also the client doesn't really request something quite so inclusive, although things like Googles interactive street view have been utilised.

A.Mehroke

Hey Guy sorry it's been a while. I've finished the building model that's going to be used for the project it's competently modeled and unwrapped just trying to get it all into engine but here's the Max view so you get the gist.


Should be figuring out the import problems tomorrow so I can then get them all into engine and see how they look.

Just wondering do you guys think it's a necessity to model all the interior assets like couches and chairs and bookcases and stuff?

Cheers guys

A.Mehroke

Here is the building in engine.

it is all unwrapped but at the moment I have only applied a white texture to everything.

This way it it's a lot brighter and you can really get a feel for the spaces.

The glass and terrain haven't been added yet but they will come soon. Hopefully this weekend maybe.

A.Mehroke

Update:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLP2LadQ0KM"]UDK Arch-Vis Project WIP - YouTube[/ame]

Here is a video of a quick fly through the scene so far with Materials applied. I know it's still a bit rough at the moment there are a few light map issues and some of the glass hasn't got a Material applied to it but it's to give a rough idea of how far it has come and also what is needed to finish it off. The glass has got reflections on it but this isn't really seen in the video.

I'm thinking about ramping up the specularity and increasing the opacity of the reflections a bit to emphasize its presence.

If I get the time I'm going to try to get the remaining necessary assets and fixing the apparent errors.

Any advice you guys have would be great.

wolver

imo bevel a lot more of your sharp edges, the advantage non-realtime has over realtime is poly count, but because a lot of your architecture is simple and cubic you can splash out a bit more into polycount... also it just generally helps presentation and lose that ultrasharp edge lowpoly look.

the bricks in your latest vid are out of scale. grab a picture of a brick building and count the number of bricks vertically for one floor, make sure yours matches

A.Mehroke

Will do thanks man.

SirCalalot

I love the model of the building, but your UVs probably need a bit more work.
Are you texturing the building in Max/Maya before importing into UDK? That way you can really get the textures to line up properly and get the scale right.

Can't wait to see this progress.