District VII [UDK]
polycounter lvl 7
Latest Update!
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THREAD:
Hello Polycounters!
I’m back with a new project! Up until now I had focus on making small environments, creating unique textures per asset and so on. What I intend to do this time if make modular pieces as much as possible an create a city (hopefully one of those that will make the viewer go “woah”)
Revising my previous work I realized I have been mainly doing organic modelling (i.e Zbrushing) and then baking down organic stuff. This time I plan on doing the opposite by doing an environment that requires hard-surface modelling instead. Having a look at the genres out there I decided to pick Sci-Fi.
Sci-Fi will enable to learn and practice hard surface modelling, baking and the creation of textures.
One could say there are two ways of rendering out a Sci-Fi environment:
- Clean surfaces
- Dirty rundown surfaces
Out of those two I’ve decided to go with the later, a dirty grimy rundown looking environment.
“Set in the capital city of Kurowa, District VII is the poorest of the entire city. Considered by many the prison of Kurowa, there is only one access to it: a portal placed in the middle of the biggest plaza of DVII”
The aim of this project is to create this District, showing the streets (using really modular pieces) and then create the main plaza with the Portal. I also want to give the impression that District VII is a place made to oppress people, to suck away all hope.
Here is some of the reference I’m using:
I must say my main inspiration for this project is Star Wars 1313. What’s been shown of that is just amazing!
Here´s a basic blockout of the main street (hence it being so wide):
I’m mostly sketching out the ideas for this which I will shortly upload. The colours in the blockout are there for me to know what kind of piece will go where. The BO is very basic, but I’ve established the basic architecture for the scene.
I know there isn’t much to crit yet, but I thought I would start a thread now and post all my development.
I should hopefully be able to update regularly!
Stay tuned!
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THREAD:
Hello Polycounters!
I’m back with a new project! Up until now I had focus on making small environments, creating unique textures per asset and so on. What I intend to do this time if make modular pieces as much as possible an create a city (hopefully one of those that will make the viewer go “woah”)
Revising my previous work I realized I have been mainly doing organic modelling (i.e Zbrushing) and then baking down organic stuff. This time I plan on doing the opposite by doing an environment that requires hard-surface modelling instead. Having a look at the genres out there I decided to pick Sci-Fi.
Sci-Fi will enable to learn and practice hard surface modelling, baking and the creation of textures.
One could say there are two ways of rendering out a Sci-Fi environment:
- Clean surfaces
- Dirty rundown surfaces
Out of those two I’ve decided to go with the later, a dirty grimy rundown looking environment.
“Set in the capital city of Kurowa, District VII is the poorest of the entire city. Considered by many the prison of Kurowa, there is only one access to it: a portal placed in the middle of the biggest plaza of DVII”
The aim of this project is to create this District, showing the streets (using really modular pieces) and then create the main plaza with the Portal. I also want to give the impression that District VII is a place made to oppress people, to suck away all hope.
Here is some of the reference I’m using:
I must say my main inspiration for this project is Star Wars 1313. What’s been shown of that is just amazing!
Here´s a basic blockout of the main street (hence it being so wide):
I’m mostly sketching out the ideas for this which I will shortly upload. The colours in the blockout are there for me to know what kind of piece will go where. The BO is very basic, but I’ve established the basic architecture for the scene.
I know there isn’t much to crit yet, but I thought I would start a thread now and post all my development.
I should hopefully be able to update regularly!
Stay tuned!
Replies
My previous Blockout wasnt finished so I finished it off, quickly added some lights to show where the focal point will be:
A different angle:
Also I realized I should probably explain the why of the colours. Each colour represents a modular piece. Here is a quick explanation of what each colour will be:
I will soon upload some designs and paintovers!
Guess one of the biggest challenges will be to get the lighting, fog, and the general atmossphere right. Personally if I need to pick from the refs you've been choosing (regarding lighting and mood of the scene), I do really like the the first one a lot.
@Jonas: I agree with you, lighting and getting that atmosphere is going to be a very nice challenge. I will try and get something like the first image, although I dont want to go to close the concept and what LucasArts is producing (wish I could though
Okay then, Ive been sketching for a while trying to get some of the ground (pedestrian level) structures. The idea is to have a set of walls which have windows (shop like) and others that dont. Ive been designing the ones without windows. What Ive sketched is just a quick idea of what it could be, obviously the final one will look much more detailed etc.
So, which one do you guys prefer? (Im not the best draftsman, but hopefully the idea is still transmited):
Also I wanted to ask everyone out there what kind of workflow is best for these large environments? As in:
Model everything first, then high poly it, then bake, texture or work individually on an asset until I finish it and then move on to the next one and so on?
Thanks!
Been working on some low poly meshes, and some tilables aswell. Currently taking them into UDK, but meanwhile here are some images:
Decided to go with option D as it gave me more freedom to then plac
e around the mesh in my scene (if I remove the pillar, it can become a door etc.)
Here are the tilables:
Im not too confident with sci-fi, so if anyone spots something that is a big NO NO please let me now!
Engine images soon!
With border material do you mean a "Master" material? I will be doing that once the texturing process begins. Atm i'm focusing on getting a general feel as to what it will look like!
Thanks!
Update before bed:
Implemented the meses into the engine with just a basic colour (so that it doesnt look purple/gray). Still loads to do though!
Ive also been experimenting a bit with normal maps. I Overlayed a high passed (photoshop filter) normal map on top, resulting with sharper edges. However Im not entirely sure if this is a good thing, as maybe it will make the normal map not as readable from a distance.
(I'm aware the normal map is inverted, forgot to invert mr. Y
Cheers guys!
Anyways, I like the composition a lot. Can't wait to see more!
@Raptor: Thanks for the support
Update!
Been modelling a bit: Electric boxes, shop signs, cables, some more tilables here are some images:
Slowly building the scene up with assets and so Next thing on the list is a texture for the floor. Once Ive modeled everything Ill move on to high poly-ing and then texturing!
Woot woot!
Progressed with placing around all items and I could say everything is more or less where things go! Not having lightmaps in any of my meshes is making all the repeatable elements stand out a fair bit, but hopefully this will corrected once I start modelling and texturing everything properly.
If any areas of the scene feel particularly messy/heavy/dont read well please let me know so that I can address the issues before going more in depth!
Camera Angle 1:
Camera Angle 2:
New Camera angle:
The whole will lead to a tunnel which will lead to a plaza type thing. Very blocky atm!
Main issue I have atm is making the 2nd shot visually interesting, giving at focal point without overlapping the original focal point (in shot 1). So Ill be doing some paintovers to see what can be done. Suggestions more than welcome and appreciated!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Quick Paintover on what Ill add to the scene
- - Wires and pipes to add a sense of caotic etc. These will be moving gently
- - The curb on the street will not be 90 degreed but smooth, possibly with some glowing lights (dim though, not too strong)
- - Gutter drains along the street with steam particles coming out of them.
- - Boxes, garbage bags, bins etc scattered around.
- - The rooftops will end in a kind of exhaust pipe that releases steam as well.
- - Adding some background element will give the scene depth and make it look like theres actually a whole city behind the little scene Im creating.
- - And of course in sci-fi I have to have.....
Crits and Comments appreciated!
One of the biggest challenges with this project is the texturing side. Ive never done metal before, so Im completely knew to it. Ive been reading quite a bit on specular maps, watched tutorials and decided to give it a try. I decided to start with a texture thats not seen that much to experiment a bit, and hopefully when Im more confident Ill move on to the big boys hehe.
UDK Screenshot with some quick lights applied:
Map:
As mentioned Im completely new to metal, so if anyone has anything to say please do! All help is appreciated!
Thanks!
I know you're a student so it's a good thing to learn to make textures from scratch, however you still might want to check out dDo and nDo2, might be useful in for your project!
Regarding Quixel's phenomenal tools... I have a base knowledge of nDo2 (i use it mainly to extract AO/Cavity passes to then apply them over my textures) but i feel like before I start using this kind of software i should learn how to do it without them. The only reason i'm being stubborn like this is that no-one can guarantee me that whatever studio i'll work in will have these programms, so if i rely on them too heavily and then don't have them i might face some problems hehe.
As to dDo, same reason, looks like an amazing tool (unfortunately my PC didn't like it and couldn't play around with it when it was in BETA phase...), but i first want to learn how to texture without it!
If anyone disagree's with what I said or has some input please tell me, as i'm always eager to adapt my workflows and change them!
I think your high-pass overlay should be added to the diffuse map, rather than the normal map.
Keep on working man, I can see this looking great!
I read the default value (as if nothing was plugged in) for the Specular Power is 15, so i guess 50%grey would = 15? Maybe there is no equivalency and I have to do trial and error...
I think i agree with high passing the diffuse as oposed to the normal. I've done it with a few other normals to see how it looks and it gives an uggly slight shadow that doesn't enhance the normal map, but quite the opossite.
If anyone can solve or knows any online resource that explains my question i'd be very grateful
Quick update on another texture ive been working on. Ive approached it in a similar way as the one I did beforehand. Rendered out in UDK without any gloss map yet (still a constant plugged into the spec power).
Im seeing that maybe I need some more colour variation within the texture. If this is the case I will probably break it with some decals, so to not alter too much the texture itself and make it an OBVIOUS repeating texture.
Screenshot:
Both Maps:
I think I should start to implement these in my scene to actually see how they look in context.
Next thing on the list!
Thanks!
edit derp, didn't read, you're already working on gloss maps.
However i must say the specular on the previous texture does look very weak and i will deffinately go over it to enhance it a bit more.
As you say i'm also reading about gloss maps to soon add them to my textures.
I´ll be uploading tonight a bunch of more textures and hopefully implement them into my scene
Make your diffuse texture rather dark (dark metal with some light scratches and wear)
and keep the specular levels you've been using for your previous metals. Hopefully it will help break up the LIGHT METAL EVERYWHERE look.
This looks really nice and I'm gonna keep an eye out for this
Update before I hit the sack:
Some progression on more textures, here they are:
This one I labeled Insight (10 points to whoever can tell me why
And the maps for it:
Then tonight Ive been working on this one:
I can already see issues with it, like a big dark seam in the middle, bottom panels are too similar hue to the rest of the texture (so Ill change the colour of that) and the whole thing I feel needs more work.
Actually, everything needs a revisit to polish and to GLOSS map. How expensive will it be to bring in a Gloss map for every single texture I have? It will obviously make it look nicer but will it actually be a positive thing to do, or will it drag down performance too much?
Ive been distracted by other Uni assignments but hopefully tomorrow I should get round to implement all this within the scene.
Any crit or comment welcome and appreciated!
Placed all the textures in the scene:
At the moment its looking very grayish, so Im going to play around with masking certain areas of textures to change only those colours (if I just multiply a colour on top of the entire texture it looks crap) The fact that there's barely any lights in the scene doesn't help either!
Im going to start modeling the assets! Lots to do hehe
Thanks!
Been away for a while. Managed to get into the Blitz Games Studios Openday so went up to Leamington Spa last friday. Pretty awesome!
And then I wasn't able to do much but now i'm back with some updates:
Also worked on the shader for the floor. For now i've been watching tutorials out there and followed this one by Ryan Smith. Amazing tutorial, learnt so much from it. The textures i've used are the ones provided but i'll be making my own, as usual.
C&C appreciated
Im back with a quick update:
- Included some pipes
- Blocked out the curb
- Duplicated and shrunk the object lit by the pink light and placed it below. This will be a neon lit advert, probably a moving texture (too attract even more the viewers eye).
Im not too happy with the floor texture, so Ill replace that soon. It looks more like a wall than a floor.
I have a question regarding gloss maps if anyone can answer it:
how to adapt a range of black-white colour to the SpecularPower UDK has.
So, for example, what Value of white would = a constant of 40 within UDK?
I read the default value (as if nothing was plugged in) for the Specular Power is 15, so i guess 50%grey would = 15? Maybe there is no equivalency and I have to do trial and error...
I think i agree with high passing the diffuse as oposed to the normal. I've done it with a few other normals to see how it looks and it gives an uggly slight shadow that doesn't enhance the normal map, but quite the opossite.
Aswell, how expensive would it be to bring in an extra texture (gloss map) for every single object in the scene? Is that extra control + precission worth the render cost etc?
Thanks guys, C&C more than welcome and appreciated!
Other assignments have forced me to move away from 3D for a while (grrr) but Ive managed to work a bit on the project. Worked a bit more into lighting, replaced the other floor for a new one (much better in my opinion). The texture for it is just placeholder, its just a normal map with an AO multiplied over basic colour just to get the feel of it. Baked the column aswel. Hopefully I should be starting to properly texture all these assets.
I havent received any critique or comment yet so am I to assume Im on the right tracks with this? Any help, even suggestions or opinions, is more than welcome!
If this scene is at night I'd turn back the lighting of the entire place a lot more, and have smaller lights all over the place, coming from the windows, panels or lanterns.
I'm still experimenting with lighting myself, but I think something like this would give more depth, make the metal pieces more shiney etc could help as well.
But really liking this, keep it up
Toning down the lighting is a good idea, although I don't want some of the details to be lost in shadow.
I'm going to be modelling the main bits now, specially the front door (since it's the focal point i should probably tackle than soon).
Thanks for your input, this has really helped me and hopefully when I work more into the scene I can implement these changes
Will remove the thing and re-framedump
I need to attach some lights to the ship because atm the glow is overpowering and due to the lack of lights (and the glow not lighting the ship) its coming out black pretty much)
For some reason when i tiledshot this one the motion blur didn't come out, which kind of ruins the shot, but here it is anyway:
C&C apreciated!
As for lighting, just make sure the dark area is not 100% black and white is not 100% white. A good way to check your values is take a screenshot, bring it to photoshop and greyscale it. Also the histogram helps a lot too.
For the floor corridor spec. For the circle, I'm guessing its just paint. Shouldn't the colour be leaning more towards orangey/red than gold/yellow? Also for the scratched parts, it should be the same colour as the metal since thats whats underneath the paint right? bluish/silver instead of dark brown? I might be wrong, what does everyone think?
Great work nevertheless!
@Littleclaude: Thanks Neil, the project is going good, working on the lighting of this mainly!
@Dubzski: Hahaha that's one of my favourite games of all times!
@Iciban: That's a very good point about the blacks and white´s. I've checked all my screenshots and i'm glad you mentioned that:
The spaceship is very very close to absolute black, with values of 6/5/7 or so, and i think it's because Photoshop is picking some of the bloom, but the ship is actually pitch black in some points.
I'm going to have to figure a way to light the spacecraft as it moves, probably attaching a light to it etc (a shame the material-defined glow wont light the ship).
Other than that, some of the areas of the scene are dark, similar to the ship values, but i guess that's not a bad thing? I'm trying to use things like zonal lighting etc to set a mood, so lighting every
single corner is probably not the best idea.
Regards the texturework. I seem to remember that when i was doing the spec, if i had a orange/red value (which i did try), the reflection colour became a very strong orange, which isn't what i was looking for.
The gold colour in the spec gives a better result i think(i am going to check just to make sure though).
If anyone has more info on the above ^ please come forward
As for the dark brown colours, i think i can explain. When i did that i was trying to achieve a look of weared paint, where it hasn't completly peeled off, but is slowly doing so. I'm going to double research into that and see what's best.
Thanks for the very solid crit Iciban!
I'm also going to be adding more Fog (someone mentioned it no another forum and it seems like a good idea)
Updates to come soon!
(If anyone has good ideas regards the lighting i'd be very happy to hear/see them, as i'm a bit stuck in some points. Thanks again!)