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Fantasy Power Shrine - Zbrush/HandPainted/UE4

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Cremuss
polycounter lvl 12
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Cremuss polycounter lvl 12

Latest update:


Hello!

Here’s my new personal project I’ll be working on the next following weeks (months? :D) : a stylized fantasy shrine

Technical Goals :

- Try the Blizzard approach on hand-painting textures with Zbrush sculpt
- Add animations
- Learn UE4 Cascade particles to add fancy FX

Art direction :

- I’m not sure yet but I was really inspired by Michael Vincente’s Heroes of the Storm art dump, so maybe something going in that direction?
- Definitely something not too complicated and over detailed as I always do
- In the other hand, I liked a lot the Starcraft 2 art direction, with props a bit more detailed and busy looking, so who knows?:)

Here’s a first blockout pass






Replies

  • Elrinion
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    Elrinion polycounter lvl 2
    That looks excellent. I'm curious to see the texturing and baking on this.
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks Elrinion! Yeah, can't wait to start the sculpt and see how it goes :) Blocking is the easy step :p

    Anyway, slight update

    I’ve cleaned a lot the meshes so it’s mostly ready to be imported into Zbrush. I also fixed the roots not touching the ground/rocks in a lot of places and simplified them, broke some spikes here and there and made the chains a bit more random (added semi-broken links and made the silhouette a bit more goofy).

    Here is also a rough paint-over for the FXs I have in mind. I’m not sure about the reddish color yet. I guess it’ll depend on color scheme I end up choosing for texture of the shrine itself.



  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12

    Hello!

    I started toying with Zbrush and see what kind of magic stones design I would go for. I might try something more cartoony and blocky to check if that's what I prefer. For now I like B design. I'm taking my time with this project :)



    And here are some refs I gathered to get in the mood of fllyyyiiiinn' rawwkks :)


    cheers

  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    two new speed sculpt. I like E but the silhouette sucks.

  • ziikutv
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    ziikutv polycounter lvl 9
    Amazing progress so far!
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Hello everyone.

    Thanks Ziikutv!
    Here is an update on my shrine. I focused on the sculpt of the magic stones so far. I'm not sure about the cracks yet. It's time to start sculpting the rest and see how the overall piece reads.



  • Savannakhet
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    Savannakhet polycounter lvl 11
    Promising stuff, keep it up!
  • artstream
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    artstream polycounter lvl 11
    Really liking the direction of this, excited to see more!
  • Finalhart
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    Finalhart polycounter lvl 6
    Nice project! I am curious on how you are managing to make the LP since there are a lot of pieces going on here i believe the approach is to finish to "kitbash" your assets and then be creative with it. Looking good so far ;)
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Hello!
    Thanks for the comments and support, I appreciate it :)
    @Finalhart > I add an overall idea of what I wanted to achieve before starting the block-out, but a few things came along the way by toying with primitives and shapes and testing different options. Nothing fancy in the process, really :)

    Anyway, I speed sculpted/trashed most of the pieces the past two days. I wanted an overall view of the piece ASAP to see how it reads. Everything is sculpted on layers so I can turn off damage/cracks/ornaments and redo them at will, which I’ll probably do!

    I partially like what I have here but I think I seriously need to emphasize some of the details/damage/cracks so it can be read effectively from a certain distance.


    C&C welcome! cheers

  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Hello polycounters! New update.
    Resculpted some damage areas and a lot of cracks. I tried to make them bigger and emphasize them.


  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    cracks, I love cracks, I love everykind of cracks.


    not super fan of the stairs right now so we'll see if I redo them ! Plus I'm lacking definition here and there but I think it's good enough for baking.
    the carpet has strange folds because there is suppose to be some roots beneath.
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Hello! Moar updates! The roots are not finished yet. I struggled with the design but I like what I have here. I think I'm gonna add a bit of high frequency details here and there(cracks and wooden wavy thing) on the roots and it will be done.

    cheers !

  • Dethling
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    Dethling polycounter lvl 11
    Looks really really awesome, can't wait to see it finished.
    Would it be possible to show your workflow on the cracks and used edges?
    I always struggle with these.
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Dethling > thanks. Yeah definitely, I'll do a little tutorial once I'm done with the sculpt!
  • macoll
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    macoll polycounter lvl 13
    Looks cool, very ''darksiders-ish'' !! Curious ..."What will come next?   ;)
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    macoll > thanks!

    update! Finished the roots and started to sharpen the rocks. I'll also intend to sculpt the ground and make cracks where the roots emerge. I think it'll look cool.
    Otherwise I tried a custom IMM with cartoony grass blades but I'm not satisfied at all. I'll redo them. I have a pretty clear idea of what I want but I'm having trouble finding the correct workflow atm :)
    Sorry for the render too bright/wash out, I'm still trying to figure out what is the best way to show WIP out of Zbrush!

    C&C welcome! cheers
  • Tul_
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    Tul_ polycounter lvl 9
    Love it, man. Looks amazing ! My only gripe is that it feels a little bit squished horizontally, don't know if it's too late in the process but it could be scaled a little bit height-wise. Anyway, love the details, can't wait to see it finished.
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Tul_ > Thanks! Yeah I know what you mean. I thought about it during blocking and tried a few variants with more height and I found that it was mainly stealing the focus from the flying runic stones so that's why I ended up doing something quite flat. Plus the FX and vertical magic beams will help add height and depth I hope :)
    Anyway, big update:
    • redid the cracks on the flying runic stones
    • emphasized/sharpened damaged areas and cracks on chains
    • minor adjustements to ornaments near interpenetrating meshes
    • added debris and pebbles here and there
    • added minor surface details
    • fixed the resolution issue on spikes
    • retopologized the roots and cleaned the meshes to gain resolution and emphasized the veins
    • Removed the engraved runes on the stairs
    • First pass on the ground. Still has to fix the resolution issue near the major cracks
    • Deleted the grass for now. I’m not sure if it’s necessary for the bake anyway. Maybe on ground though ? I toyed with custom made toony alpha maps but I’m not happy with the result yet.

    I’m approaching the end of the sculpt! The bake is gonna be tough… Can’t wait to start texturing!! I’m little stressed though, the sculpt is starting to be a bit busy looking... I hope with good values and colors separations in the texture, it will more readable!
    Cheers
  • Faf
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    Faf interpolator
    It looks really amazing :D 
    My only comment would be to be careful about the amount of details you put in your scene. 
    I have the feeling that you currently have a lot of density and it starts to look a little bit busy. (roots, cracks, rocks, floating rocks, chains etc etc....)
    There is a point where if you put too many objects at the same spot, it becomes difficult to really appreciate your sculpting. 
    I think that at the moment there is no place to rest the eyes, and that would need some breathing spaces.
    But I'm being picky ! Can't wait to see it done :)
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Faf > Thanks! Yeah I definitely agree, it's one of my main concern right now. I've been struggling with that through my art for a long, long time. Hopefully with AO/lighting and good textures I'll be able to improve readability a lot. Otherwise, well I can always go back to the sculpt and reduce the detail density!
  • amirabd2130
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    amirabd2130 polycounter lvl 7
    niceeeee sculpting
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    amirabd2130 > thanks dude!

    It's been a while since I last showed any progress on my Shrine. I think I'm done with the sculpt. The hole in the center was a bit rushed so there is that but otherwise I like what I have. So I did a retopo which took a long time and baking (which needs to be improved greatly) and imported everything into Unreal Engine 4. I also toyed a lot with Cascade (so powerful!) to have a more precise idea of what the final colors and composition will be before going into texturing.

    edit : actually here is another shot with added curvatures/edges/cavity maps an rough ground color test. Still needs to tweaks those and add a top/down gradient map and other stuff (PLUS actual painting of course). I also baked point lights maps in Blender from hi poly but somehow although the light was in the center of the hole, one side is more lit than the other. Needs to be investigated! :D

    by the way tricount is ~13K. I'll post wireframes next time :)
  • spexel
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    spexel polycounter lvl 2
    Awesome work so far!
  • Brian "Panda" Choi
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    Brian "Panda" Choi high dynamic range
    The ground fissures are a nice touch where the tree roots are erupting from.

  • Sebeuroc
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    Sebeuroc polycounter lvl 13
    Great progress! This is looking really crisp and clean.

    I'd echo what Faf mentioned. The details are a little noisy. I think especially the center/floating bit is hard to read visually. If you could make the floating part pop a bit more it would help a lot. Maybe with some smoke or magic glow coming out of the crater?
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks for the support guys, I appreciate it! :)
    Sebeuroc > Yes, I agree, it's definitely noisy! (as usual with my art... :( ) I'll try my best to make it as readable as possible with the textures lighting and FXs.

    Anyway, not much to show here but I've made some progress. I've rebaked everything piece by piece to have maps as clean as possible (with 4K bakes and AAx4) so that took a really long time to do but the result is much, much better. I also spent some time painting masks here and there, isolating ornaments and such to facilitate the colour scheme creation and painting process so that took a while as well but it'll be useful! next update soon!

    cheers
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Hi guys! I was lazy so no wireframes yet and videos of the particles and animations yet but it'll come! I also promised some sculpting tips for the cracks. I didn't take the time yet but I'll do it, I promise! :)

    Anyway, work on the textures. A lot to be done still. The stone for instance aren't painted at all yet but I'm pretty sure I won't go into too much details on them. Forgive the crappy ground border, I'll redo it haha :D

    unlit shot


  • GravityBwlast
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    GravityBwlast interpolator
    This is awesome!
    I would suggest adding subtle color variations, like some red-ish areas in the grass and some blue-ish ones on the stairs/rocks.
    I don't have much to criticize, it's really good already, good job! It's eye candy :D
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks GravityBwlast! Yeah definitely gonna add a bit of colour here and there ! I'm also thinking about creating some quick env props to make a minimalist environment. I don't like having the ground cutout like that.
  • christopheduron
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    christopheduron polycounter lvl 2
    This is amazing, looks like something you could place inside heroes of the storm or diablo 3 directly. I really like how creative this piece is, being creative is something i find extremely hard to be! ;)
  • TomGT
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    TomGT polycounter
    Wow this is awesome! Personally I like the orange hues you had in the center of the crater earlier. This is great regardless, looking forward to your finished piece!
  • Pixelatedkiwi
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    Pixelatedkiwi polycounter
    This is coming along really cool! Looking forward to seeing more :)
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks for the support guys, I appreciate it :)
    TomGT > I liked the orange hues as well but it added a bit of evil feeling that I didn't want.

    I worked a bit on it today but nothing worth showing yet. Update coming soon though!
  • wangfa
  • lotet
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    lotet hero character
    Just saw this over at WAYWO, Beautifull work.
  • amirabd2130
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    amirabd2130 polycounter lvl 7
    really awesome
  • quockhanhlk
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    quockhanhlk polycounter lvl 11
    Really really inspiring work ! i think the flying rocks are a bit hard to spot at a glance at the moment, i'd paint the inner sides of those rocks brighter (affected more by the center light) and maybe brighter tip for all rocks-not just the center one, just to make them all pop and easier to spot, but other than that, really awesome work, cant wait to see more !
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Hello guys!
    Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it. Here is the latest update. I spotted a couple of minor things to fix here and there but overall I think I'm done with it. Time to move to something else hehe, it's been 40 days :) I'll do a quick breakdown to share a couple of tips and add wireframes as well.





  • Bluestemos
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    Bluestemos polycounter lvl 5
    I agree with @quockhanhlk , I find it a bit difficult to distinguish the hovering rocks from the shrine itself, especially in the first shot.

    Other than that, great work!  :smile:
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks for the critic and I agree. I tried to keep things as simple as possible but in the end there's a lot going on. Readability isn't great. Lesson learned I guess :confounded:
  • tda
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    tda polycounter lvl 16
    I agree that the rocks are a little hard to read in stills, but as soon as it's moving its not really a problem. Great work man, it looks sweet. You should totally make an evil version though! ;)
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    Thanks tda! I'm not sure about an evil version haha, I really want to move on to a new project :)

    Anyway, here are the wireframes and a little tutorial about sculpting stylized cracks. I want to do a few more breakdowns, hopefully people will find it useful! let me know :)


    FULL TUTORIAL HERE : http://cremuss.net/3d/wip/ShrineBreakdown_StylizedCracks.jpg

    cheers
  • Cremuss
  • kohg
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    kohg polycounter lvl 8
    looking forward for the complete tutorials
  • Cremuss
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    Cremuss polycounter lvl 12
    kohg > damn!! grr those images were supposed to link to the complete image. I think I fixed it now. Thanks for the heads up :)

    PS : somehow I think img urls are broken on this forum. The <a> url is correct in the code but it's doesn't open the url image. Can someone explain? I added url links for now :(
  • Benvox2
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    Benvox2 polycounter lvl 10
    Dude this has turned out epic. You have really nailed the style and thanks for the tutorials!
  • Wendy de Boer
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    Wendy de Boer interpolator
    This came together very nicely!
    Also, thanks for the tuts. Those are very useful. :)
  • Grusti
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    Grusti polycounter lvl 10
    Incredible visually! Stunning ... GJ! and yeah thx for in depth tutorial
  • Bolovorix
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    Bolovorix ngon master
    Awesome scene, Cremuss! Also, thanks for the quick tutorials, they're a nice refresher on just how powerful using masking in zbrush is. Sometimes I forget to use it effectively.
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