Abandoned Cathedral
For my final university project, I've decided to do a real-time environment in UDK. It's set to be an abandonned cathedral in a desolate setting with a gloomy-ish atmosphere.
The project has to be done by mid-April and is my main project on which I will spend most my time so I will try to update this thread regularly.
Here's a first concept I've done.
The project has to be done by mid-April and is my main project on which I will spend most my time so I will try to update this thread regularly.
Here's a first concept I've done.
Replies
@deceiver: I will definitely have to rework and experiment with the colors to get the monochromatic feel of the concept, all while keeping the abandoned/decayed feel.
This was actually my first concept that I did just to get something on "paper" and go from there.
I've also worked on some orthographic views for the the building to help me visualise more clearly the components that I will have to build. With this, I think it'll also help me plan for how I should break down the structure into modules.
I've read this topic and found it pretty interesting (http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87751) and I'm thinking I should go with a similar technique using mainly tileable textures.
Also, following this great tutorial by choco (http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88933) I've started building my landscape/terrain.
In chronological order:
I've need to blend in some detail textures on the terrain, but I think its a good start.
I've started working on my textures and stuff I'll be using to build my walls. I start by sculpting the main shapes in ZBrush and then I go to add more detail in Photoshop and nDo.
Pretty basic ZBrush-ing
Left: Normal map only
Right: Normal map and diffuse map, no specular yet.
Bottom: Rough mockup of what would be a wall module, only bricks have diffuse
Still need to work on the textures and try to get some walls up my the end of next week. Oh, and does anyone know how to bake ZBrush matcaps onto a low res or something? I wanted to do it for the tileable bricks, but instead I just grabbed the document and matched it by hand in Photoshop
Real slow updates, got a few modular pieces for walls. Still need to do lightmap UVs and get them in the engine.
Got my walls in-engine. I AM SOOOOOO LATE. Gotta get my cathedral up very soon. Lighting and fog is temporary, everything is feeling washed out a bit and is lacking awesomeness.
Got the core of the cathedral in engine
Did a first pass of vertex painting on the cathedral pieces, the walls still need to be done.
Also played aroudn with post processing, sharpen, a bit of chromatic aberation, tonemapping, etc.
Still a lot to do, and time is running out.
stone feels very flat, this with or without normals?
Here he explains how to get a bit more dept in the brickwall.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1465806&postcount=36
Hope it helps you a bit.
I did it by doing a grabdoc in zBrush in a resolution larger than my texture and then matching it to my texture manually in photoshop. If anyone has a better way I'd be glad to know.
I modeled and added some floor tiles, very influenced by Orb's work. Around 30 days left to wrap up the environment, gotta pick up the pace!
(I have to look into those square artifact things in the first screenshot)
Considering the size of the yard in front of it you might want to consider adding gravestones or something like that (I'm imagining this assortment from obelisk to regular).
At any rate, good stuff.
either that or adding some more colour to the bricks to balance the the grass and then use post process to desaturate and tweak the whole env. to your liking.
Can't wait to see more of this!
Keep it coming Huyk!
Update! I have rendered out a quick skydome in e-on Vue, not too comfortable with the software but it gave me something nice without too much of a hassle. (I mirrored the bottom part, it did not give me a map like this initially)
Tweaked the postprocessing, the ground color as suggested and added some grass. More foliage variation is on the way. Then its onto the roof, that I've been delaying incessantly.
if you look at the concept you can see that it doesn't feel so tinted.
the sky on it has a much different hue than ground and those trees with orange leaves added contrast. on your renders sky is purplish which makes it look very stylized and scene has no color variety at all.
chrisradsby: Yeah, I'll tone down the vignette, its true that its way too black around the edges.
Thanks for the crits!
Added some particles for mist/fog to give a bit more texture to the already present height fog. Not sure if I am to keep it. (only on top screen)
Also tested an orange light. At first it looked nice, but after a while it doesnt stick, and doesnt really follow original concept.
As Noodle! mentioned, I plan to make tombstones when I clear the things I need to clear first. Only two and a half weeks left!
As always, crits and comments appreciated!
Good work though, keep at it
I do however think that some of the post processing is a bit heavy, the tree's to the right is pretty badly distorted by the R/G offset and it's hard to read some details.
Concepts are quick so there is to consider that.
The plants are orange and are mimicking SSS effect backwards for the plants, notice how they seem to be facing towards the Sun, and the Sun itself is bleached and isn't casing any color other then white.
Fog is also clouding everything behind it, so there is that too, not to mention alot of clouding at the higher peaks of the mountains.
All this adds up to the desaturated look at the end.
I'll tone down the distortion a bit, I had a feeling it was a bit intrusive, but nobody had commented on it. And the vignette some bit more too.
Ace-Angel, you're pretty spot on with what you say about the concept. I originally painted it in grayscale, then colorised it, a few levels to bring a bit of color and added the touches of orange for contrast. Overall, I think I want to keep the mood of the concept, the deadness of it or whatnot, but I think I can do it without having to resort to crushing the colors as you say.
Thanks again for the comments guys, really helpful!
Deadline for the project coming up very soon, going to have to wrap this up real quick.
Screens are from UDK but with a bit of cheating (sharpen and downsizing) in photoshop.
There a bunch of things I am not content with yet, like the grass, emptiness of front yard and arrangement of tombstones. I would like to feel the arrangement in rows of the tombstones and all.
I'm not there yet, but I'll try to get as close as possible!
cheers.