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[CE3] Chinese courtyard

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benji polycounter lvl 7
About time I made a thread for this!

I started working on this as a tangent to a larger scene I was working on with the intention to share assets between the two and create a centrepiece area, so that I could get at least a part of it into my portfolio FAST. The urgency isn't so great anymore though, so this one's become a standalone scene for now.

Concept by Wang Rui. This one's popped up in the noob challenge suggestions a few times and I've wanted to do it for ages :)

chinese_courtyard_concept.jpg


Progress so far: I've done basic modelling, initial lighting pass, a few sculpted textures and a few crazybumped. There are some placeholders still in there as you can see.

To do list from here:
  • Basic textures (no more placeholders!)
  • Finish all low poly modelling
  • Refine/finish all textures (diffuse/normal/spec etc.) and work on material definition
  • Decals (dirt n grime)
  • Finalise lighting
  • Work on puddles + rain, general tweaks, atmspherics, particles etc.

Critique and Cryengine tips much appreciated :D

courtyard1.jpg

Replies

  • jonas-144
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    jonas-144 polycounter lvl 6
    very cool, looking forward!
  • benji
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    benji polycounter lvl 7
    I've been working on some foliage the last couple of days:

    courtyard_foliage.jpg

    I love working on foliage and natural shit, it feels like the closest 3D artists get to being outdoors :):):)


    Anyway, still lots of work to be done. My glass shader is still looking like balls! Anyone got tips to share?

    Any other general crits appreciated
  • Shad0w_Walker
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    It looks great imo. But one thing kinda bothers me:
    This patern on the wood looks like a swastika. (No offense here, but it jumped into my eye, but maybe because I'm german and we're told to be very sensible. ^^)

    But another question: How did you do the foliage? Could you post a wireframe or even a guide how to do these?

    Cheers buddy and I hope that you don't get me wrong with the swastika thingy. ;)

    Great work. :)
  • benji
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    benji polycounter lvl 7
    Hey dude, thanks for the compliments :)

    Yes, it's a swastika pattern, but given the fact it's part of a Chinese scene I'm hoping most people will make the connection and see past the Nazi connotations... maybe this will become clearer once all the 'Asian' elements of the scene are in place.

    On the other hand maybe I should play it safe and use a different pattern :\

    I wrote up a little tutorial on the foliage - I hope it helps!
  • Shad0w_Walker
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    @Bengi:
    Thank you very much for your great tutorial. :D

    Well, I don't think it really matters. I mean it's not even remotely connected to Hitler and the nazis. So imo I wouldn't change it. I think everyone here is mature and smart enaugh to know, that the swastika is way older then the nazi ideology.

    Cheers mate :)
  • Earthshine
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    Looks good so far,

    Try turning up the GI in your time of day settings. That will help the light bounce more. i would also look into baking vertex ao into your meshes. its a good practice to get into for Cryengine.

    With the foliage make sure to adjust your bacview settings in the material. That will help soften up the harsh black on the back side of the plants.

    Cheers
  • [HP]
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    [HP] polycounter lvl 13
    Absolutely fantastic looking Ben! Also, thanks for your little tut on veg!
  • silkroadgame
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    Very comfortable lighting and realistic textures,
    Good job!
  • E_Hollaway
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    The real meaning of a swastika is associated with auspiciousness. It's a symbol that is used in Hinduism and Buddhism. You can see them in India everywhere today. So even if they do appear that way who cares. To be perfectly honest if this is a type of asian scene, the swastikas will match very well since it's origination is in eastern philosophy.
  • benji
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    benji polycounter lvl 7
    Yo guys, sorry for the slow updates!

    ShadowWalker - No problem, I'm glad it could help!
    kaikaisushi, thanks!!
    Earthshine, thanks so much man, I did what you suggested and it really helped. I looked into vertex colour AO but couldn't get it working 100% - however when I've locked down modelling and scene dressing I'll give it another try.
    Helder, thank you dude :) it means a lot!
    silkroadgame, thanks! :)

    So here's a couple of new screenshots. It looks like not much has changed, but I've been doing endless lighting tweaks, material changes and a few new assets.

    After rendering these shots and flipping in Photoshop I see some stuff that needs changing instantly! That plaque above the doorway is way too saturated and the material of the framehanging on the upper wall does not read correctly. Lots of material definition work to be done all over. I'm still missing some materials too, like the top parts of the pillars.

    So next up, I'll finish all my textures and get material definitions fixed. Then decals; I think some grime on the walls and moss in between the stones will help break up the straight lines and provide some variation on the tileables.

    Critique is most appreciated :)

    screenshot1.jpg

    screenshot2.jpg

    screenshot3.jpg
  • ng.aniki
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    ng.aniki polycounter lvl 13
    Hi !
    It is going along really well ! I really like your vines (As you will see below, I had a go at it, my own way, and I was not really satisfied by my results).
    I can't wait to see how you will progress with that scene !


    It is funny because I was working on the same scene, like you I spotted the concept art on the noob challenge concept thread and was sad that it was never picked.
    If you are interested here are some screens of where I am right now: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/750175/Sans-titre-1.jpg

    Note that this is very wip, there is no work on the lighting whatsoever, and a lot is missing. It is funny to see how we both took really different paths.
    I was working on it about 1.5 month ago, but I stopped when I landed my new job. But I think I will try to finish the scene once I will be settled into my new apartment.

    Also, I had some email exchange with Wang Rui to know the meanings about the different Chinese writings in the scene, I really did not want to write stuff that might make no sense to a Chinese person looking at the scene. Wang Rui was really nice and gave some nice explanations !

    Maybe it will help/interest you:
    I'm happy that you would like to do the 3D environment of my concept degin.:) and i of course agree with your ask. Remember adding the my website or marking about what the concept design come from.:)

    about the sign on wall is a old Chinese word,條 means ‘stream-like or very soft smooth’. i added this sign for visualizing the feel of this scene to readers, who can understand this place easily and directly. :)
    chinese-word.jpg
    About the word which written on the board around the door actually is 院茵澗, which means the mysterious fog raising up when stream flows. :)
    Anyway this is a place where full of the mysterious spirit. :)
    The other red sign are:

    妙 佳
    书 句
    鸿 风
    戏 行
    秋 晓
    江 苑
    水 花

    This is traditional Chinese poem, written by Wang Anshi, an minister in Song dynasty, who was degraded and exiled due to the corruption of government. And this poem he did when he was entertaining his guests in 安江芙蓉楼,a restaurant. It expresses his mood which had disappointed to current government and indulged in the entertainment.

    So that I used this poem to suggest that this place which is in the picture is full of sad and disappointed. Do you recognize this kind of feel in this picture? hehe:)
  • Maximum-Dev
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    Nice work.
    Would like to see some reflections on the glass parts of the windows.
    Simply place some clouds in the sky to make variations and generate an Environment map for the glass via it's material and set the glossiness to 255, voila.
  • chrisradsby
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    chrisradsby polycounter lvl 14
    This looks really frickin promising :) Really nice work!
  • benji
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    benji polycounter lvl 7
    ng.aniki - Thanks so much for that info man, it's so useful! Especially thanks for providing your emails with Wang Rui, to have the actual characters there is great. I will go back and re-do all the pieces with writing now. It's gotta be better than the stuff I've got on there currently :poly142:
    Your progress on your scene is looking great! There are some nice sculpted assets in there, and after you get a lighting pass in, I think it'll look fantastic. When you get back to it, post your thread link here, I'd love to see it! :)

    Maximum-Dev - Great tip, thank you, the lack of reflections was really frustrating me so I'll do this ASAP! :thumbup:

    chrisradsby, thank you dude!! :D
  • Fenyce
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    Fenyce polycounter lvl 11
    You should continue this one! It looks promising! (came here through your link in another thread, hehe)

    I also thought about giving this one a try, since it's such a pretty little scene.
  • benji
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    benji polycounter lvl 7
    Necroing this thread to post the finished result, even though it's more than a year and a half old!
    Feedback on old work is better than no feedback at all :)
    Cheers!

    resample(lanczos).jpeg
  • Ged
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    Ged interpolator
    really nice even if it is a year old :) the water could be blended with the floor tiles better, have it getting between the cracks and darken the surface under the water too. Also its missing all that lovely rain and the drips etc that help give the concept atmosphere.
  • benji
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    benji polycounter lvl 7
    Thanks the the comments :) I agree, the water ended up looking viscous and jellylike, and it was hard to strike a balance while keeping the apparent depth from the normal map that prevents it looking like a basic decal. The drips would be awesome to include, but I didn't get any further than Cryengine's default rain in the end :) Maybe I will port this over to UE4 and rework it!
    Cheers
  • ShadowMasterZedx
    Looks Awesome !! Keep up the good work :D
  • Maxilator
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    Maxilator polycounter lvl 8
    Really nice work! I think that the wall with the painting looks a bit flat, maybe add some darkness around the edges more like the concept? Keep up the good work!
  • KonstantinL
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    KonstantinL polycounter lvl 6
    Looks great! Thanks for posting the foliage tutorial as well!
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