The Bi-Monthly Environment Art Challenge | November - December (93)
ngon master
Hey everyone! Welcome to the 93rd edition of the Bi-Monthly Environment Art Challenge for the months of November and December!
This 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:// Work and Live there // by Marius Villard
STYLIZED ENVIRONMENT:
corner50% by ZC WANG
- PROPS -
HARD SURFACE PROP:Star Wars Outlaws | Sabacc Tables by Adrien Girod
STYLIZED PROP:
Moonlight Peaks - Prop Designs by Daphne Fontijn
- 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 Godot 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 something like 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
I am Leo, an Environment Artist from Shanghai. I decide to join in STYLIZED ENVIRONMENT part of this challenge and I want to recreate the concept: corner50% by ZC WANG https://www.artstation.com/artwork/aoQnqL. I can't resist the cuteness and beautiful color from the concept.
I have made a blockout in UE5. I will do lowpoly modeling next. In this project, I want to practice handpainting as much as possible. The car modeling will be a big challenge for me. So, finger crossed!
Hey everyone, nice to meet you all! First post on the forum here. I’ve been wanting to dive into one of these challenges for a while now. I wanted to make a sci-fi environment piece for my portfolio, so this month's hard surface environment theme, "Work and Live There" by Marius Villard, was a perfect fit. Concept gave me low-key Deus ex vibes, which drew me in even more.
I've started with a blockout in blender, then imported them to Unreal Engine 5 to set up the scale and proportions, and I’ll be making a few minor tweaks to get everything just right. Next, I’m planning a second pass to add more detail to the meshes. The goal is to finish the environment by the end of the challenge.
- finish the challenge
- learn more of Unreal Engine 5
- become better in hard surface modeling
- become better in environment art
- learn new tips and tricks
As GroovyDaft0 I have also done my blockout in Blender and then switched to UE5 to fix the scale etc. Good luck everyone and I am looking forward to seeing all your artworks and interpretations of given concepts.Nice to meet you all! This is my first time joining an online challenge~~
I decide to go with the stylised prop (Moonlight Peaks - Prop Designs by Daphne Fontijn) because I have not create any stylised 3D model before, and I wanted to try something new.
The UV mapping isn't complete yet; only some parts of the model have been unwrapped.
Everyone is doing excellent job here! I can't wait to see more and more.
As for me, I did some lowpoly modeling in Maya these days. I added some extra edge loop cuts on props to have a bit stylized look. The tris is under 1k for each prop. Pickup's tris is about 15k, crane is included. Then imported the meshes to UE5 and assembled them where they should be. I did lighting and post process setup for the first pass. It looks pretty well for me now.
ps: I am really happy I did pickup modeling, I was struggled a lot. But thanks god it looks decent now. I am so excited about the next steps.
Have a nice weekend, everybody!
Looks great! Scale and composition of the scene look correct to me.
I think in future you might like to spend longer on an initial blockout to match to the concept more closely. The truck is complicated, getting to grips with those shapes is going to take more than a few cubes.
Otherwise, good job on a pretty technically challenging model!
Painting the truck. I found that I needed to add a little more weathering, where it's feels implicit in the concept. It's a little off, though, and I'm not quite sure why. Might need some grading?
I have textured the pickup by using substance painter. I added some handpainted details, like rust parts and graffiti which I enjoyed a lot. I have always loved graffiti since in university. For the main prop, I gave it a 2k texture map generously as well as polycount over 10K. Some parts are mirrored such as rear mirror, wheel and the arch above wheel. I would appreciate a lot if anyone gives feedback of optimising polycounts! I have start working on the other props. The more I do on this project, the more joy I get.
Have a good weekend! Talented artists!
For past few weeks, I have been sick but thanks god I catch up the progress. Hope no flu in winter! Everyone is healthy!
I have created the props such as: Pickup/ Carton/ Aircon /Barrel /Crane /Bar&Ropes in the truck /Newspaper /Tape on the floor /Coke /Plank Kit /Pipe /Manhole Cover /Stairs.
The workflow is pretty normal, nothing special:
01) Make lowpoly in maya.
02) Import to ZBrush to make highpoly, the brushes I used are from stylized sculpt guru--orb, Michale Vincete. Brushes are for free.
03) Then bake and paint textures in Substance Painter. Export textures to 3 files, Basecolor/Normal/Merged Channels( I merged Metalic/Roughness/AO/Height if needed)
04)Import assets: Model/Textures to UnrealEngine5.
I also ceated some tillable textures in substance designer: Wall and Floor. They look well for me so far.
So here is the progress. All feedback is appreciated!
It is great and motivating to see everyone's progress. Good job!
Thanks for watching! Have a good day!
Also currently all surfaces look rather matte/unreflective, some more smooth/reflective bits could add variation/highlights - but matter of taste.
Keep it up
Your painting really helps me to understand what is the problem of my current environment. Thanks for making this!! I agree with what you said! The bevel part can be tricky but I will work on that! Thank you a lot! I am so excited!
I have tried making Moonlight Peaks - Prop Designs by Daphne Fontijni while doing it i have tried to combine with other tryouts from original creator.I am not happy with legs though, couldnt think of a way to make them something i would like so i left them basic.This is the low poly version of it, i will start high poly detail sculpting sometime.
@Sarp Cool that you're joining the challenge. I think each of the press designs has quite the distinct personality, so I'm not sure how successful one can mix parts without creating something new entirely. But hey, if that's the goal you're setting yourself, I'm curious to see what you come up with
@GroovyDaft0I think the scene is coming along nicely
In my opinion the blocky nature is also somewhat present in the original concept. You could divert from it in order to make it more comfy/lived in, for example adding an old, worn chair (leather perhaps) and a steaming cup would bring some more cozyness and contrast to the scene. While this changes the narrative somewhat (not as cold anymore), I think fleshing out the place (who lives there and what do they do) it's part of the fun and ultimately helps the 3D environment to exist on its own. Much success going forward.
Big thanks to everybody!
This is my artstation: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nJWXar
Note: did a bit color grading
I'm not wildly happy with mine at the moment.
It feels a little too cramped (I think my scale got away from the concept a little) - and I rushed a lot of the texture work, just wanting to get it out of the way. I'm going to give it a couple days' space, then either push on or call it finished.
The initial plan was to bake it all down to game-ready assets, but I just don't have the time or energy, I think.
@Fabi_GThank you so much for the feedback, super appreciate it! Definitely will be working on adding more personal elements, hope to bring those in soon with props, cloths, scattered small details, decals to make the scene feel more lived-in as time allows. Agreed on the nature concept being slightly blocky, Breaking it with coziness makes a lot of sense, and will be focusing on props to help move away from that! Along Also trying to aiming direction to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, with layered details and a slightly dystopian atmosphere vibes along grittines yet being sleek. I’ve gathered some references and in-game screenshots to guide the direction. I’ve also noticed that increasing sharpness somehow feels to help the general look, but I’ll see how it evolves. Hoping to have something tangible by the end of the month! Thanks again for the ideas and encouragement it really means a lot!
@LeoNexus6 Congrats on finishing it! lovely work + love the details on the wall
I like your modeling a lot! You mastered the shape! I am looking forward to seeing your updates!