Hello! I'm looking to finalize a scene I'm working on but thought it would be a good idea to stand back and have some new eyes look it over, maybe get some feedback or opinions. So post away.
looks like a solid scene but there seems to be a lack of material definition and generally flat specular eg the metal isnt shiny and there is no subtle detail like a very dirty area of the room or a wet spill etc?
agreed with Ged. Although that red i am not feeling it and it draws too much attention to it rather then the panels in the back. That red is too strong saturated.
@ Ged
I'm not exactly clear what lacking material definition means, can you please clarify what it refers to? I can see your point about adding a few more details on maybe the concrete floor and such.
@ nicafornica
I'll see what it looks like with a less saturated red and repost.
I like it Ged has a point with the specular of your metal. Also I think it needs some kind of a centre piece "hero asset" to focus it all on. Anyway good work
What Ged means is none of your materials are defined, your metal doesn't look like metal and everything looks like its made from the same thing! Spec really helps to sell the material the texture is meant to be more so with metal. None of your metal reacts with the light. If its meant to be clean you to get some nice reflections in there but its looks like it should be a bit more dirtied up so have your metals shine more. Do you have specs on them at the moment? Can we see?
But I agree about the materials. They remind me of the old Half Life stuff before spec maps where the norm and tile textures covered piles and piles of intricately arranged BSP brushes.
Almost all metal reflects to some degree, especially painted metal, which means you need some kind of spec/reflection map to pull it off. spec maps are just a cheap and easy way to fake reflections but getting the shine right is a pretty big part of making metal and painted surfaces to look correct. Of course bare metals reflect light a bit differently so then you enter into a new realm of trickery and technical shenanigans. But for what you have a little spec will go a long way.
If you're using an engine with bloom, you can get spec to glow a bit it adds a lot of depth and "next gen" to your levels, but using it sparingly because I say "next gen" as a tongue in cheek way of referring to games that are now 4-5 years old and hardware that is about to be refreshed =P
@ Patrikwindahl
I used an emissive map and ran it through a material shader I built in UDK.
@ SaferDan
Ok, so it's not being able to differentiate between the metal, concrete, plastic, etc. in the scene and that specularity could help with this? And I'm a little confused when you say more shine if it's a dirtier feel.
@ Mark Dygert
The dull look was intentional and I assure you I go have specular maps for everything. The fact you think to the contrary leads me to conclude that I should probably bump up the spec power in my shader and have a look around.
For an environment scene such as the one above would it be prudent to have a wireframe shot to accompany the textured shots? I think it would be a benefit but I'm still new to this and cannot find a clean way of doing it in UDK.
ok its improved a little but not enough, bump up the power of your light sources but turn down the light radius that should help the scene look a lot less flat and reveal those speculars! if you still cant see the specular shines much then maybe try multiplying the spec with a constant as a test? also interesting to remember is concrete doesnt have much specular and metal has quite a bit of specular but its often coloured.
cool, keep keeping on that red doesn't attract that much attention anymore. This might help you a bit with the reflections or the spec. http://www.manufato.com/?p=902
Replies
I'm not exactly clear what lacking material definition means, can you please clarify what it refers to? I can see your point about adding a few more details on maybe the concrete floor and such.
@ nicafornica
I'll see what it looks like with a less saturated red and repost.
I have one question, how did you create the glow around the lamps?
But I agree about the materials. They remind me of the old Half Life stuff before spec maps where the norm and tile textures covered piles and piles of intricately arranged BSP brushes.
Almost all metal reflects to some degree, especially painted metal, which means you need some kind of spec/reflection map to pull it off. spec maps are just a cheap and easy way to fake reflections but getting the shine right is a pretty big part of making metal and painted surfaces to look correct. Of course bare metals reflect light a bit differently so then you enter into a new realm of trickery and technical shenanigans. But for what you have a little spec will go a long way.
If you're using an engine with bloom, you can get spec to glow a bit it adds a lot of depth and "next gen" to your levels, but using it sparingly because I say "next gen" as a tongue in cheek way of referring to games that are now 4-5 years old and hardware that is about to be refreshed =P
I used an emissive map and ran it through a material shader I built in UDK.
@ SaferDan
Ok, so it's not being able to differentiate between the metal, concrete, plastic, etc. in the scene and that specularity could help with this? And I'm a little confused when you say more shine if it's a dirtier feel.
@ Mark Dygert
The dull look was intentional and I assure you I go have specular maps for everything. The fact you think to the contrary leads me to conclude that I should probably bump up the spec power in my shader and have a look around.
-Desaturated reds by 40%
-Added dirt/water stain details to concrete/steel
-Roughly doubled specularity throughout the scene
Thank you very much for the input thus far!
http://www.manufato.com/?p=902
I'd just like to know if I'm on the right track thus far.