Scenario

veteehrri · Dec 2007

Hi guys, this is my last work, it's a test for 3d artist from the company Playlore, i'm a freelancer and i've donne this for portfolio and who knows if they (or other company) hire me..... or not.

Programs: Max, Zbrush, Photoshop and Crazybump.

Comparison to sketches:

Complete Scenario "Turn-Around":

Individual pieces:

Joshua Stubbles · Dec 2007

Individually, I think all of the assets look fantastic. The scene as a whole sort of lets me down, though. The lighting completely kills it, imo. There's not a lot of contrast or shadow to make it pop, so it all seems rather flat.

MoP · Dec 2007

Looks really cool, although I don't think having so much harsh lighting information painted into the diffuse map is a good idea when you're using normal maps.
Unless you know that your lighting is always coming from above, and the models will never be rotated from their upward-facing angle. Even then it's a bit unnecessary - the normal map and lighting setup should be providing the shading/highlights on your models, not the diffuse (beyond some generic ambient occlusion).

Either way, I think they look great!

veteehrri · Dec 2007

Vassago: yeah lighting isnt my best skill and i never did it on max (i'm maya user), just tried it to render this scene, next time i'll try do it best, if someone have some tips for the lighting i'll appreciate that.

Mop: hi, tks for the tips, i did it thinking the scenario will use the light/shadow information from the lights in the engine, and i didn't paint it in the diffuse map, but i can do it. I'm not work in game industry yet so i've a lot to learn and i really appreciate the comment. tks.

Mark Dygert · Dec 2007

Looks great, the statue is top notch as is the rest of the assets. Solid modeling and very nicely painted textures, good Zbrushing also!

I agree with MoP that there is too much shadow/lighting info painted into the color maps, its a hard habit to break I know, especially if a weak point of your is lighting. Sometimes it's easier to fake the lighting, sometimes its even required, although less and less these days.

The scene does however fall kind of short as a whole piece. The pieces don't really tie in and blend into each other that well. They look like reusable assets arranged into a scene instead of a specifically constructed and uniquely unwrapped set of objects (if that makes sense). The chains show very little wear, rust, or plant life. Because they are metal they would be exposed to the elements and they would "bleed" on the other objects as well as the ground. They look stretched very tightly. Take a look at power lines (and the concept), they sag. If I was your AD I would have you change it. Personally I would have added sag, and buried part of the chains in the dirt to show age, kind of a snow drift effect that happens in untraveled areas.

The texture on the back of the large stone columns have a pretty noticeable texture seam. On something so big that might have players standing close to it, you should address that issue. Here is a good tutorial on removing texture seams.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061019/kojesta_01.shtml

Can you use opacity mapped planes or no? Because you could get some nice subtle grass effects going around the bases of the objects and help them blend into the scene. What about broken rocks or bricks scattered around?

Orange fire torches, yet they cast yellow light? Play the darkness off the orange to get some good contrast and interesting color interaction. And by darkness I don't mean pitch black, I mean a nice ambient dark blue or purple, maybe even a very desaturated teal. Kind of like the lighting in this scene.

Lighting tutorials and universal lighting set ups:
http://www.warpedspace.org/lightingT/part1.htm
http://www.3drender.com/light/3point.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_lighting

veteehrri · Dec 2007

Vig: wow thank you for some great tips, you right, i'll fix the light and play with grass and some plants around.
Tks for the tutorials.

pliang · Dec 2007

We need some more rocks and [url="cluhttp://boards.polycount.net/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0"]cluhttp://boards.polycount.net/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0[/url]
Main Indextter to help break this up as well...besides what it has been said, its better to just add more surrounding elements around it so that it looks engaging and not like its pulled out of the scene like it currently looks like.

shotgun · Dec 2007

any background, even in the form of simple fog, would instantly upgrade this piece. find your color and go for it!

veteehrri · Dec 2007

hi guys, i did some things to improve the scenario following the comments, hope be better.
i know it can be a lot better but i think is fine for the test.
here the new version:

More image in my blog: http://veteehrri.blogspot.com

Tks for the comments and critics.

commander_keen · Dec 2007

make the fire additive and unlit

shotgun · Dec 2007

i love this, it looks like a painting
incredible job man

i still feel its missing a relationship with the background
like something to smooth transition from edges of scene, to background
afade to black (shadows) or a background light (light blue?) hitting them on the outside face

Wells · Dec 2007

every screen has the bushes showing their bad side... very distracting when looking at the scene. Huge improvements, though.

Love that gargoyle. Would be nice to have had a bit more color on his texture; moss in the toes and lichen and bird waste, etc.

rooster · Dec 2007

yeah for the bushes how about a round shaped bush bit to place at the base, just flat above the ground? to hide the profile of the planes

veteehrri · Dec 2007

shotgun: yeah, i'll fix that next update to make something better. tks.

Sectaurs: yes... agreed, nice tip man, i'll do that.

rooster: love the ideia, when i'm reading the sectaurs comment i just thinking how can i do to fix that and with your comment i have the answer, tks man!

Another great tips here, tks very much.

Scenario

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