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Homeless/Subway Scene?

Been working on this for a week or so...adding a new part every other day. I think it is getting to a point where I need to really start thinking about what I put in this. So far I have just been putting this here that there, no idea what I am going to put into the scene until I start to model it. I was thinking of trying some AC vents. The squared kind, maybe some hanging lights? oh and bottles of alcohol are a must, but I do not know how to do glass, with a label? ok enough here is the render. I used mental ray, two ?area?(the rectangle shaped)lights above scene at like 35 intensity, the noise along the top rendered like that?

muggishcorner1.jpg

wireframe.jpg

Replies

  • Marcan
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    Marcan polycounter lvl 12
    Quokimbo wrote: »
    no idea what I am going to put into the scene until I start to model it.

    I think this is where your problem lies. Obviously by looking at your scene I can tell you know how to model, I think that you just need to search for references of subway stations, see what really happens down there.

    I also think you should try to search for references of how a subway station is lit as well, it could really help you to further improve this scene.

    References, references, references.
  • Generalvivi
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    Generalvivi polycounter lvl 14
    textures look nice, but I would switch up your lighting a bit. Maybe get an overhead cone light? Other then that looks good :)
  • Jeremy Lindstrom
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    Jeremy Lindstrom polycounter lvl 18
    good start I'd echo what the others have said and also add look at scale issues, that door seems too short an squat.

    Most doors are usually either 30" or 32" wide and the heights are usually 80". (in the US)
  • Quokimbo
    Dekard wrote: »
    good start I'd echo what the others have said and also add look at scale issues, that door seems too short an squat.

    Most doors are usually either 30" or 32" wide and the heights are usually 80". (in the US)

    I will thin up that door and post up...Thanks to you sir.
    textures look nice, but I would switch up your lighting a bit. Maybe get an overhead cone light? Other then that looks good :)

    I will probably use the cone lights, like in the wire frame. I did not use those to render the above scene. I was trying out different lights. Thank you also.
  • Jet_Pilot
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    Jet_Pilot polycounter lvl 10
    Looks very boring... spice up your lighting with some accent and stuff like that
  • Quokimbo
    Jet_Pilot wrote: »
    spice up your lighting with some accent and stuff like that

    French? Irish? Which kind of accent?

    What I mean is, What do you mean?
  • Daaark
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    Daaark polycounter lvl 17
    That door looks horribly out of proportion.
  • Kawe
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    Kawe polycounter lvl 8
    About the lighting issue. Basically you need to be more picky with your lighting. What should be lit? Why should it be lit? Focal points are good to light up while areas not as important should be darkened. It helps to lead the player around. Of course.. the obvious where does the lighting come from? Personally I don't really mind if light comes from weird places as long as it looks good.. cause then no one will notice :)
  • Quokimbo
    Kawe wrote: »
    About the lighting issue. Basically you need to be more picky with your lighting. What should be lit? Why should it be lit? Focal points are good to light up while areas not as important should be darkened. It helps to lead the player around. Of course.. the obvious where does the lighting come from? Personally I don't really mind if light comes from weird places as long as it looks good.. cause then no one will notice :)

    The lighting would not be in my job description though would it? So would dramatic lighting effects matter all that much? When I am applying, I am sending in knowing how to model, texture, and do it with in the guidelines set. Or is it just to make your work look better? :P
  • *KENNY*
  • Ged
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    Ged interpolator
    Quokimbo wrote: »
    The lighting would not be in my job description though would it? So would dramatic lighting effects matter all that much? When I am applying, I am sending in knowing how to model, texture, and do it with in the guidelines set. Or is it just to make your work look better? :P

    I think youve got to show your work at its best so if that means doing some work lighting it then its worth it. I mean most of the time all theyve got to judge your skills by is images, so take whatever crits you can get and make it look good.
  • skidu
    I' d try and get the scene into a game engine - that mental ray render is far too noisy/blury and dark atm to make out any sort of details, let alone show of your modeling & texturing skills.

    Also you don't seem to have any spec/normal maps, the lighting should react differently when it hits the grime on those pillars and tiles but currently its far too uniform.
  • Quokimbo
    skidu wrote: »
    I' d try and get the scene into a game engine - that mental ray render is far too noisy/blury and dark atm to make out any sort of details, let alone show of your modeling & texturing skills.

    Also you don't seem to have any spec/normal maps, the lighting should react differently when it hits the grime on those pillars and tiles but currently its far too uniform.

    I have tried to get things into a couple of engines before. I tried Oblivion, and another. I went to my moms house the other day and she had Doom 3! I jacked it, for the purpose of being able to get the SDK, although I have not. How hard is it to get things into the Doom 3 SDK?

    Also, all of the pieces have normal maps, no spec maps though. I have texture, normal, and diffuse. How would I go about creating a specular map?

    http://www.modwiki.net/wiki/Start_a_Specular_map_with_a_Normal_map

    ???

    Another question I would want to ask every one, is how long have most people been using their modeling program of choice? I think I am still relatively green around here. I started using Maya in January. Nine months...How would you rate me at nine months? Should I be better? am I on track? worse? Just curious.

    Thanks for all the comments!! :) will be working on this today, and will probably update.
  • Quokimbo
    Update.

    I duplicated the walls, and floor to make the scene a little bigger. Also quickly modeled some lights to see what kind of effect it would bring. I feel like I need to double the amount of those types of lights to get the place lit correctly. I may try the area lights instead? Also I fixed the squatty door I think, You can see it in the wire, but nothing else.

    1.
    biggersscene-copy.jpg

    2.
    close-up-new-copy.jpg

    3.
    wireframesubway.jpg
  • skidu
    Quokimbo wrote: »
    I have tried to get things into a couple of engines before. I tried Oblivion, and another.

    Also, all of the pieces have normal maps, no spec maps though. I have texture, normal, and diffuse. How would I go about creating a specular map?

    http://www.modwiki.net/wiki/Start_a_Specular_map_with_a_Normal_map

    UnrealED and Sandbox2 are pretty common and fairly easy to use plus they have ton of online support.
    Quokimbo wrote: »
    How would I go about creating a specular map?

    http://www.modwiki.net/wiki/Start_a_Specular_map_with_a_Normal_map

    Clicky, btw ditch those area lights/shadows and just stick some simple colored omnis in and take a viewport screenshot. Those renders are still far too dark to even make out what's going on.
  • Quokimbo
    Added some air ducts, and flat shaded billboards. I will probably texture the billboards tomorrow.

    billboards1-copy.jpg

    Yes or no?
  • Reich
    moving in the right direction. Keep those lights off for now they scare me >.>

    One thing that jumps out at me are all the hard edges like the door frame. they are all 90 degree angles, chamfer up some of those to soften them or do it in your spec.

    Otherwise the population is going well, add some trashcans, some pipes coming out of the wall and running along the ceiling or going down a wall, ect ect.

    Keep it up.
  • Mark Dygert
    Good start, good improvements! Keep going!

    1) Bounce light, you have sharp shadows and pitch black areas. You need ambient light.

    2) I'm no sure what kind of subway tiles those are but the ones I've seen are shinny with a high spec. You have a noisy bump on them and hardly any spec. If the spec was higher it would also bounce more ambient light around. Right now the wall tiles, look like the sponge board in office hanging ceilings. In order for dirt and noise to make sense, you need something to contrast again, like a clean untouched patch.

    2a) The noise on the pillars is pointing out some stretching.

    3) Its time to think about light color and how it effects the mood you're trying to portray. Color theory isn't just for textures!

    4) The floor texture should take the corridor direction into account. In the indent its running the same way as the main hall, it should be running width-wise not length-wise. Just a personal style, but I think it helps seperate the areas and break up repeating.

    5) With the air ducts put in it feels like the ceiling was lowered. Ceiling cat would be in my lap... this doz not plz ceiling cat.
    I think it would help if you started using a measuring stick. Either place a character in your scene, or create a simple cube that's the height of a character. It will also help to render and screen grab from that height.

    6) Its never too late to go back and dig up some ref.
  • Quokimbo
    Well before I started on this today, I was going to try to add spec maps to everything. Well I followed the tutorial Skidu posted, and got another black and white map. I tried to attach it to what I thought would be the spec map in Maya, but I do not think it was. So my questions are this

    1. What should my spec map look like?
    2. Can my diffuse and spec maps have color in them? How will it effect the render?
    3. What would I attch my specular map to? My diffuse map goes to diffuse, Height map goes to bump mapping(right? lol)?

    I first tried to attach the map to the matte opacity section, but did not work lol. I might just get back to modeling and texturing lol.

    ADDED: do my benches need to be taller?
  • Marcan
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    Marcan polycounter lvl 12
    Quokimbo wrote: »
    Well before I started on this today, I was going to try to add spec maps to everything. Well I followed the tutorial Skidu posted, and got another black and white map.

    1. What should my spec map look like?
    2. Can my diffuse and spec maps have color in them? How will it effect the render?
    3. What would I attch my specular map to? My diffuse map goes to diffuse, Height map goes to bump mapping(right? lol)?

    ADDED: do my benches need to be taller?

    Let me reiterate on the comment I made on this thread. Specularity is just the way light hits on an object. Therefore, if you want to have nice specular maps you will need to have a good lighting as well.

    If I were you, I would definitely improve the lighting before moving on to polishing your shaders, which usually comes last (or later on in the process.)

    As far as specular maps go, you can absolutely add color to them (I almost always do). It will only affect the specular colour, it will not change the render. Something that will really affect a render are lights, diffuse maps, colours, composition... You will also have to place your specular map in the Specular slot (if you're using Max.) I'm surprised you haven't seen it, it's usually right below Diffuse.

    On another note, I do think your benches are too low if I compare it to the rest. If I compare it to the door specifically, they would be as high as my ankles. Try to create a box or a biped of 1.8 meters of height and see how it looks.
  • Kawe
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    Kawe polycounter lvl 8
    ok. time to turn on mean mode:
    1. benches are too small. I'd have to stretch my legs out to be able to sit on them.. I bet a lot of people would trip on my legs. also it makes everything else look big.
    2. subway scene? what? why is there a random desk by the emergency exit? even crates would make more sense. are you using any reference at all? surely it doesn't have to have the same look/style as an ordinary subway but a least there should be some logic to it.
    3. lighting is still pretty off. I understand you want to make it homless/subway but subways are actually very lit. I guess you can make it an old subway or something with crappy lights. even then you aren't really close. uhm.. I'm not sure but I think most lighting in games is done with directional, ambient or point lights. so I'd suggest ditching the spotlights all together or use them after you've done your best with the other options. now I'm not a lighting meister...
    4. I'd not think about spec maps and things yet. instead I'd think about adding/removing props to the scene. perhaps even rethinking the scene.
  • Quokimbo
    OK giving up on the shaders for just now. I am going to work on just getting more things into the scene. Bottles, trashcans, that stuff. As for the billboards, I finished one this morning lol. I still need to work with the frame, but yeah lol. You can see the big grey man standing in corners, that is my character. I made the benches bigger, got rid of the whole box idea, moved some more papers around, now going to work some more.

    advertising.jpg

    Thought I would take advantage of the billboards and put my face on them hahaha. I left the AL off by accident also, and about the "plays TF2" part...I met a guy from Gearbox, we started talking about TF2, and he said "Oh man you should be able to get in, just tell them that you play TF2." That is why that is there haha
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