@aajohnny Haha I only noticed this when you pointed it out! Fixed1
I've added to the boat, made a hut (not finished) and tweaked the terrain. I should say the water is made by this talented guy, I am going to try and make my own though!
The reason everything looks weird for you now is that the mountains don't naturally build up to their top height over several kilometers. A mountain is considered a mountain if it's at least 600meters above sea-level or something like that. If you have a 600 meter high mountain going straight into sea over like 50-100 meters it won't look right.
Reference is key for this, the same thing goes for building villages and stuff like that.
If people create villages on hilly terrain they usually find flat-ground or create it themselves by making the village in different height-layers. If things get a bit tricky then yes they use a lot more support for the houses.
Sorry for the delay guys I've been away on holiday and didn't have much time to get things done! Started texturing the boat and finished dem lobster pots!!
Edit:
Should have critiqued your work, too! I must say this doesn't feel like a scene just yet. It feels like a collection of props. A month or two ago, I saw a scene that had the same issues, by someone else. It was just a mix between the 3DMotive foliage tutorial, and Choco's terrain tutorial, and you could tell, clearly.
Your trees are 3DMotive trees, just now. I'd suggest redoing them; maybe make them a different species, or something. Because everyone recognizes those trees now, and they just aren't impressive anymore, sadly. Same for the grass, really. Maybe play around with some other techniques. Take a look at the grass and tree meshes in Oblivion and Skyrim, and any other games. Combine the 3Dmotive techniques with some techniques of your own to make something truly unique.
About the boat. Well, I appreciate the Perfect Storm. I'm from a town over from where the movie was set (Gloucester, MA). But your texture needs to feel more real. Check out this picture:
Also, did you build a high, and bake it down? Your boat, at least in these small images, seems to be lacking a lot of the details that could make it awesome. If you're going to make the boat, really make it.
See these:
Of course, if it is going to be really far away, it should be ok. But in the pictures you've posted, it's pretty close; so it will definitely need to be one of the best assets in the scene, along with the house. I assume they'll be the focus of the scene?
Also, yeah, the mountains don't really look good. The scale is all over the place, in relation to the scene. I'd suggest scrapping those, and starting fresh with some new terrain. Are you still going to be modelling some meshes for the rocks on the mountainsides? I think doing that, and fixing the scale, would bring this scene to a whole new level.
Just some things to consider! I like it, and you've shown a lot of progress since the beginning of the thread.
Admittedly, I think the first concept has more direction than this one, though. Not sure yet how I feel about this scene's composition.
Keep up the good work. You clearly have a lot of drive. Something I need more of!
@Joopson Thanks so much for the help man, it's really appreciated. Yeah I feel like I've really lost my way with this now, it's SO hard to decide whether to keep going or to move on.
- Yes I did bake the boat, and agree with you about the details. I think I will go on and make all the extra things on the boat, it would make it look a lot better!
- About the trees, I think I might just use these ones on this scene for now, because I don't want to spend time changing them because I've been doing this scene for around 3 months, which is RIDICULOUS because it looks like a weekend job!
- I agree about the terrain, I think I have the process pinned down now and should be able to do it again fast enough.
I have a little bit of drive and A LOT of time on my hands xD
Woah, I go away for a bit and this thread is completely different!
Not a bad thing, but as @biofrost mentioned, be careful not to keep changing everything or you will never get anything done - I know, as I've done it myself and it's easy to do.
I think any valid critiques for the current iteration of the scene have already been made. It would really help to have a main focus with super detail, like the boat, and then build the rest of the scene around that.
Keep up the good work as your idyllic beach is looking pretty so far!
Thanks man Yeah Iknow, its just hard isn't it? Making these decisions all the time. I never know whats best.
Well I've called it done for now really, I need to move on. I feel like I've learnt so much and it's strangling me keeping working on this. I made a little video:
looks good. Only remarks I can have are that the water looks like ice in the still shots (not in movement) and that the house looks plain. It could use some wear and tear or signs that someone actually lives there. (A rocking-chair would be awesome)
Thanks so much guys! Sorry I haven't posted anything these past two days, been moving home from University to London and its been a bit hectic. Came home to a new kitten though
@choco Thank you so much That is so helpful, I just have one question. When I make the texture atlas, do I just move the different uv's onto the texture, or do I assign the material to the UV mapped face? Sorry if this sounds stupid! I've been googling stuff about it for the past hour and can't seem to get an answer. Thanks so much for recommending this though, I'm definately going to do it
It's common question from beginners.And yes it's hard to find clear explanation
There are two methods:
1. Multi-Materials. In max you create Multi/sub-object material and to each slot you assing unique material with unique texture (sheet of texture), and thenusing Editable Poly you assing IDs for materials. That's how gutek did it in tutorial linked by choco.
Then you unwrap for texture (remember if you unwrap going outside 0,1 space it just tile).
2. You first create texture sheet. Your texture do not have to be power 2, although it will be easier to fit them if they are. Just setup grid in your software to be power of 2, then scale textures to match.
After it you need to model over your texture. Best to put it on plane, slice it along textures, detach, and start building from parts you have. You can accordingly modify it. To match what you need.
Which to use ? Depends. In general first method provide higher quality (better texel density), it's easier to get working, it simplifies shaders (you don't have to do some crazy masking stuff to separate wood from concrete for example). Downside is that each additional material on single mesh cause additional draw call (at least one) and in UDK it causes to render mesh for material over again (CE3 do not have problem with last thing).
Second method is opposite to first. But it should be used for highly repeatable objects on scene.
I know you're done, but if you have time, take a look at how to add a Lightmass environment colour. It gets rid of those dark darks that make this a bit unpleasant to look at. There are no places so dark on a sunny day as they appear here.
The setting is here:
(This particular colour is that used in the default daylight scene)
[edit]: Looks like you are using this. It just doesn't look like it in the video. Compression. So....nevermind.... But, the shading on the grass and trees is sort of terrible. I can clearly tell they are planes, and they looks entirely separate from the surrounding light or shadow.
And you'd be doing yourself a favour to change the water quickly as well. Quick fixes that will make a big difference. Just make the water darker, and, as close to this as possible, really, haha:
dontcha think the elevation is a taaaad too much? looks odd and out of place to build a cabin with no stairs/ladder practically on the side of a mountain. feel like your terrain choice is dragging down the quality of the other stuff.
Replies
@Hugh Thanks, I shall do. I'll update the terrain soon.
@Low Boat has been lowered!
@teaandcigarettes
Thanks for the advice man I'll fix it
@aajohnny Haha I only noticed this when you pointed it out! Fixed1
I've added to the boat, made a hut (not finished) and tweaked the terrain. I should say the water is made by this talented guy, I am going to try and make my own though!
http://www.johnheeter.com/advanced-udk-ocean-tutorial/[/URL
Reference is key for this, the same thing goes for building villages and stuff like that.
If people create villages on hilly terrain they usually find flat-ground or create it themselves by making the village in different height-layers. If things get a bit tricky then yes they use a lot more support for the houses.
But then again, you have really freaky and cool sea-villages as well. Such as this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cherriepinkle/3807224023/
Oh well
Thanks for the reply Chris, I know what you mean. I was going for this kind of look with the house:
In the Lofoten Islands they seem fond of houses on stilts
-Made some reeds
-Made some Lobster pots
-Supports for the house
-Unwrapped the ship
-Made a low poly ship
Edit:
Should have critiqued your work, too! I must say this doesn't feel like a scene just yet. It feels like a collection of props. A month or two ago, I saw a scene that had the same issues, by someone else. It was just a mix between the 3DMotive foliage tutorial, and Choco's terrain tutorial, and you could tell, clearly.
Your trees are 3DMotive trees, just now. I'd suggest redoing them; maybe make them a different species, or something. Because everyone recognizes those trees now, and they just aren't impressive anymore, sadly. Same for the grass, really. Maybe play around with some other techniques. Take a look at the grass and tree meshes in Oblivion and Skyrim, and any other games. Combine the 3Dmotive techniques with some techniques of your own to make something truly unique.
About the boat. Well, I appreciate the Perfect Storm. I'm from a town over from where the movie was set (Gloucester, MA). But your texture needs to feel more real. Check out this picture:
Also, did you build a high, and bake it down? Your boat, at least in these small images, seems to be lacking a lot of the details that could make it awesome. If you're going to make the boat, really make it.
See these:
Of course, if it is going to be really far away, it should be ok. But in the pictures you've posted, it's pretty close; so it will definitely need to be one of the best assets in the scene, along with the house. I assume they'll be the focus of the scene?
Also, yeah, the mountains don't really look good. The scale is all over the place, in relation to the scene. I'd suggest scrapping those, and starting fresh with some new terrain. Are you still going to be modelling some meshes for the rocks on the mountainsides? I think doing that, and fixing the scale, would bring this scene to a whole new level.
Just some things to consider! I like it, and you've shown a lot of progress since the beginning of the thread.
Admittedly, I think the first concept has more direction than this one, though. Not sure yet how I feel about this scene's composition.
Keep up the good work. You clearly have a lot of drive. Something I need more of!
- Yes I did bake the boat, and agree with you about the details. I think I will go on and make all the extra things on the boat, it would make it look a lot better!
- About the trees, I think I might just use these ones on this scene for now, because I don't want to spend time changing them because I've been doing this scene for around 3 months, which is RIDICULOUS because it looks like a weekend job!
- I agree about the terrain, I think I have the process pinned down now and should be able to do it again fast enough.
I have a little bit of drive and A LOT of time on my hands xD
Not a bad thing, but as @biofrost mentioned, be careful not to keep changing everything or you will never get anything done - I know, as I've done it myself and it's easy to do.
I think any valid critiques for the current iteration of the scene have already been made. It would really help to have a main focus with super detail, like the boat, and then build the rest of the scene around that.
Keep up the good work as your idyllic beach is looking pretty so far!
Thanks man
Well I've called it done for now really, I need to move on. I feel like I've learnt so much and it's strangling me keeping working on this. I made a little video:
And a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUlP9cb1Hg
The water material isn't mine unfortunately, it's from this talented guy! http://www.johnheeter.com/udk-ocean-now-for-download/
good luck with your next project!
There are two methods:
1. Multi-Materials. In max you create Multi/sub-object material and to each slot you assing unique material with unique texture (sheet of texture), and thenusing Editable Poly you assing IDs for materials. That's how gutek did it in tutorial linked by choco.
Then you unwrap for texture (remember if you unwrap going outside 0,1 space it just tile).
2. You first create texture sheet. Your texture do not have to be power 2, although it will be easier to fit them if they are. Just setup grid in your software to be power of 2, then scale textures to match.
After it you need to model over your texture. Best to put it on plane, slice it along textures, detach, and start building from parts you have. You can accordingly modify it. To match what you need.
Which to use ? Depends. In general first method provide higher quality (better texel density), it's easier to get working, it simplifies shaders (you don't have to do some crazy masking stuff to separate wood from concrete for example). Downside is that each additional material on single mesh cause additional draw call (at least one) and in UDK it causes to render mesh for material over again (CE3 do not have problem with last thing).
Second method is opposite to first. But it should be used for highly repeatable objects on scene.
@iniside Thanks so much for the help
@dudealan2001 Thanks it's really nice to know that people can see some improvement!
The setting is here:
(This particular colour is that used in the default daylight scene)
[edit]: Looks like you are using this. It just doesn't look like it in the video. Compression. So....nevermind.... But, the shading on the grass and trees is sort of terrible. I can clearly tell they are planes, and they looks entirely separate from the surrounding light or shadow.
And you'd be doing yourself a favour to change the water quickly as well. Quick fixes that will make a big difference. Just make the water darker, and, as close to this as possible, really, haha: