The Bi-Monthly Environment Art Challenge | November - December (75)
ngon master
Hey everyone! Welcome to the 75th iteration of the Bi-Monthly Environment Art Challenge for the months of November and December 2021!
The
challenge is a way for real-time 3D artists to test their skills and create a piece of work based on concepts provided. It's open to those of
all skill levels and we do our best to provide meaningful feedback along the way so everyone can come away from the challenge with actionable points on which they can improve their craft!
Anyone is welcome in this challenge no matter your skill level! It's a test of your own ability not a competition between members. We're all here to improve as artists and learn from each other.
- ENVIRONMENTS -
HARD SURFACE ENVIRONMENT:Dead Space 2 & 3 concept art by Joseph Cross (Thanks for the suggestion in a previous voting thread @Łukasz )
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/28zWba
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/28zWba
- PROPS -
STYLIZED PROP:
Brazier by Paul Crafter
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yk9aYK
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yk9aYK
- RULES -
Please read all the rules before starting:
- Try to post at least one critique for every post that you make. This will make for a better learning environment and help us all grow as artists.
- Try your best to finish as much as you can in the time frame provided, but remember even if you don't finish by the end of the challenge we encourage you to keep pushing and finish your piece!
- Post what you are working on in this thread so that way it's a more centralized place for advice and critique. Please avoid creating a new thread as we don't want to spam out the forums.
- It is recommended to use a game engine to present your work. Unreal Engine, Unity, and CryEngine are very common engines that can be used but feel free to use any alternatives that you want. (Marmoset Toolbag for example.)
- Feel free to change up your chosen concept a bit if you want! Interpret these concepts to your liking, especially if your aim is to add storytelling elements.
- If you finish your project and decide to post it to Artstation, make sure you give credit to the concept artist in the form of a link to their profile. Additionally, it is recommended to ask a concept artist for their permission to post a 3D piece based on their work before doing so.
- RECOMMENDATIONS -
- When you are just starting out making a scene, it can seem complicated or imposing. Take your time planning and blocking out, it will set you up for success later on.
- Think about how you can re-use assets, re-use textures, break it down as simple as possible and plan it out. A lot of people will break it down in their own way when they start out their challenge. Gather some reference images as well for different parts of the scene, don't be afraid to make it your own.
- We strongly encourage you to go and look at other games and see how they make their assets as well as get concept art to give it your own feel.
The goal is to learn and grow both artistically and in your ability to both give and receive critique, but don't stress about it and remember to have fun!
Replies
for sculpting i always use zbrush.
so this is the main prop in the scene and i decided to finish that one first. Still some pipes to do for it. Next i will move to floor etc.
bit empty still
I think the poly count is still quite high for a game asset. Instead of beveling all edges, you can have the bevels in the normal map. Details that are not relevant for silhouette (screws/bolts, panel gaps) can also be baked into the texture - this requires sufficient texel density. You can put the geometry saved into a more detailed silhouette (e.g. rounded corners on handles).
I recommend using different types of bolts/screws for the different sizes (maybe 3 types? The large bolts at the stand having spax insets gives a weird sense of scale).
I agree with Pinkfox that the material can use some imprint from the environment.
Keep it up
I found a prop which you can use for reference here https://www.boysichterman.com/projects/58nYWW
I've been continuing to slowly chip away at the high poly of this section.
model
Split up the mesh into several pieces to get interior beveled edges and used some additional geometry for baking which would then get removed on export via a mask modifier.
Baked most parts on a 2k set leaving some space for details like bolts and plates, so that they can have a higher resolution.
Prop is missing finish, maybe I find some time next week to go over it once more.
I'm sure there are more efficient ways to use this method and to get better results - have to continue experiments
Hey! @blankz
Even I'm here for the challenge for the first time, wondering if I'm too late.
Regarding your stylized prop blockout : I feel like the proportions are a bit off as compared to the reference. You can make minor tweaks to get the same proportions of some parts as the concept and it will make the prop more appealing. This is just my opinion, if you've chosen to interpret it a bit differently then go ahead with the highpoly details and texturing.
Hey @Yahska
Imo it's better late than never so you should definitely join.
And yes I did realize after taking a break that the proportions need to be tweaked. I will try to match it better. Thanks for mentioning it .
@Yahska I agree with @blankz on this, you should join! Though I may be a bit biased. :P
Seriously though, it's not a race and it's not uncommon for people to finish after the challenge has wrapped up. Would rather see people finish late than never even try!
@Fabi_G Hope you get time to add the finishing touches. Some high contrast colour additions will go a long way.
Been having trouble with my bakes in Substance Painter for a while. My normal bake is casting shadows onto close objects like AO and I haven't worked out or found guides on how to avoid it. Any advice would be extremely helpful.
Thinking I might have to explode all the meshes to bake and import them into a new substance project file?
@atunnard Had a similar problem myself. Matching meshes by name worked for me https://substance3d.adobe.com/documentation/bake/matching-by-name-182256530.html
This is my Searchlight prop so far . Need to join together the textures somehow as I ended up with 20+ textures after exporting each piece from substance.
@Snackwacko Sounds like you've got a bunch of texture sets which would come from having multiple materials on the mesh. If you reimported the mesh with less materials, a single material for instance if you're hoping for one texture, you should get less textures output from Painter.
This is my textured Search light so far.
This is first time I am participating in the challenge. feel free to comment and to improve my 3d skills.
@trimurthy Looks really solid overall! I especially like the different roughness values you've got even along simple panels, makes the light dance over it in a much more interesting fashion. :D
I do think you could do a bit more with the textures in certain places. For instance, the electric box on the side of the light body has some great drippy streaks and it would be awesome to see that sort of detail around things like the bolts, handles, etc.
The only other thing I noticed is that the "Caution: High Voltage" sign on the back of the light looks like it's underneath the little hatch there. Might be good to move the caution sign over a bit so they don't overlap.
@trimurthy Looks well done the only thing don't quite like is that it feels clean and dirty at the same time. Like the age is shwoing in the rough/damage but there's either too much damage for its damage level or too little. I think you'll need to reduce the edge wear so its not applied throughout the mesh.
I figured I had some time to do the tiki prop. Any feedback on texture/presentation would be appreciated.
Thanks for the feed back I will do it when I done with Second prop.
this is my second prop...render
@GhostDetector Hi dude! The light setup is a bit too dark, so It's a bit difficult to see the textures. The metal on the top feels really nice though!
I don't have much experience with stylized texturing, but I made some edits in photoshop, which might make the scene better. I adjusted the brightness of the textures, modified the color of moss and added it on a few more areas.
Here is my incomplete enviroment for this challenge. It was too difficult as a challenge to create so i ran out of motivation to complete it. I did try to fix proportions tho. And i learned that hardsurface scifi is very difficult to create :D Maybe i should choose a prop for next challenge.
Hey everyone, hope you all had a wonderful time over the holidays! It's been great to see the fantastic work throughout this challenge and seeing everyone push themselves in their own ways!
With the new year comes a new challenge and I'm happy to announce the 76th challenge is ready to go. I do apologize for the lack of a concept thread this go around. Holiday times were crazy and in a turbulent end to the year some things just fell a bit to the wayside. The concept thread will be back in March so if there are any concepts you're thinking about definitely hold onto them until then. :D
https://polycount.com/discussion/228981/the-bi-monthly-environment-art-challenge-january-february-76
@PuuroMan Don't stress about it too much! You made excellent progress in this challenge and you're right that scifi is extreme difficult to do. Just remember that time you spent wasn't wasted and the next project you tackle you'll be able to apply those skills to it. If you're looking to continue to hone the scifi skill the hard surface prop in the new challenge is definitely worth a look, but don't shy away from tackling another environment just because there were some stumbling blocks in this one.
Rushed a bit towards the end and I think I need to focus more on keeping everything stylized. Hopefully learnt some things to take on to the new challenge.
@demigodssw nice job! I really like the fire you added, is it a 2d asset?
@atunnard Hi dude! That prop is from @GhostDetector that image is his render which I edited to include my feedbacks.
Your prop is looking great! The edges are looking a bit it sharp though.
Hey,
Sorry I'm late. Towards the very end of 2021 I decided to get involved into the world of challenges and contests. I thought, "It will take me maybe a couple of days. Eeeezzzyyy". I... was wrong. Starting on Dec 25th until Jan 4th I spent 36 hours total.
I would love to hear what you guys think.
Happy belated New Year.
(not sure why everything looks significantly darker)
@Rmakarov Great work on the searchlight! Love the extra bits you put into it to make it unique. :D
Make sure to consider how impactful an area will be to the silhouette of the object when deciding how many polys to give it. Cylindrical objects especially need more edges to avoid that jagged look when they get big. You could bump up the number of edges on the bottom platform, tires, and the searchlight itself without much worry and it would help the silhouette a ton. Wouldn't need to go over board just get it to a "smooth enough" point.
As an example, this Dishonored 2 spot light uses 40 edges for the main light body from what I can tell. It's not overkill, just enough to get a smooth look. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/WQkk2
Just something to consider for whatever you tackle next. :D
Hey, @Pinkfox, thank you for your feedback! Yeah, it does seem I "overkilled" the optimization part. I was worried it is going to become too heavy to use for video games.
I will apply your feedback later!
I wonder at what point the thread becomes "dead". Because I probably can't polishing a single asset forever... Can I?
Thanks again!
@Rmakarov It's ultimately up to you to decide when you feel you've gotten what you can out of what you're working on and to move on. In your case, I don't think I would go back to your current prop. Instead just take what you learned and apply it to your next project.
I am a tad bit late but finally got the sculpt done. What do you guys think?
@blankz I think you killed it with the sculpt! It's got excellent damage but it's not too heavy and allows the major shapes to shine even more.
A couple of minor notes I'd have is there are a few places where it seems like the damage should continue onto front pieces but it doesn't and the bowl at the top is missing. I just doodled some quick arrows to point out the areas I mean.
Hi everyone, I was away in December and could only get a few days work. I didn't want to throw this project out because of the dead line so I still decided to finish it:
https://www.artstation.com/trevorgallois a few more pics here
Overall i'm happy wth it, I think my color are a bit too much, especially the white, and the bloom is too much aswell (which I realised after rendering), but I saved a different file on top of the original file like an idiot 😭 I kinda had to do with the render I had, and tried to do with the mood I wanted in Photoshop. Also scale arent perfect compared to the original art, but I was spending way too much time on it lol ( as you can see on my first few post above ) Oh well! 🤭
I only wished I had done a better job for the vegetation and not use megascans, I really need to start doing it as I dont think i've done it manually before