Based on the results of last week’s tests, I decided to avoid using water bodies and instead incorporated foliage into the scene to produce captivating shadows. To create a smooth blend of textures and give the impression of a meadow area, I utilized RVT and virtual textures to make modifications to the blueprints.
To set up the landscape, I used rock formations and landscape assets.
RVT Blueprints
Blending assets with landscape.
I used Foliage Mode in Unreal Engine to create the foliage and painted the Quixel assets over the map. While sculpting the landscape, I realized that there were multiple interesting looking areas. As a result, I decided to expand my renders to three to showcase an additional outside area with less foliage and a simpler composition. To decide which foliage to use, I tested plants that matched my moodboards at the Test Level. Then, I grouped them depending on which ones looked good together and planted them around the scene. It is worth noting that I had Random Yaw turned on in the individual foliage settings.
Structure:
Open plains: Bushy Starwort, Common everlasting, Green herb, Mustard Yellow flower. Forest: Cotton grass, Wood sorrel, Sea thrift, Common Coleus, Purple shamrock, Wood sorrel, Yellow archangel. Rocks: Lingonberry, Sea Campion.
I arranged foliage and trees to make the scene visually appealing, then experimented with the wind by adjusting the texture of the plant’s material. However, I am uncertain about the outcome because it looks too artificial. Despite tweaking the settings, even a slight breeze creates noticeable changes. This could be because the Niagara settings are too large for the small landscape, requiring significant adjustments.
Testing foliage based on the surrounding area, including density, colour palette, and overall look.
Nordic plants for more rocky area.
Testing different foliage combinations.
Adding trees to the scene (trying not to overpopulate it).
Selecting the texture for the base landscape.
Adjusting the composition of the shot.
Ninety Days
General Inspiration: To improve my understanding of Unreal Engine Scenes, I chose to conduct further research. I was facing some difficulty with the environment and thus, I selected ‘Ninety Days’ as my primary source of inspiration.
Ninety Days in Unreal Engine 5 by Quixel (2022)
Why ‘Ninety Days’ in Unreal Engine 5 as an inspiration?
The project overview covers how Megascans artists tackle lighting in the scenes, work with new modelling tools without creating assets from scratch in Maya, and add interest with sequence animations.
The Ninety Days in Unreal Engine 5 project kicked off with just three core artists and a simple concept: make something beautiful and inspiring, keep it real-time, and if possible, build each environment in just three days.
Quixel (2022)
I found all the artwork inspiring in terms of lighting and composition. None of it was made using concept art but rather creating the scene as you go in the Engine. I was surprised by how easy using UE5 in this way was. The small team of artists was able to create multiple various environments in just three days. Each one of 42 distinctively different sceneries was created by a different artist.
‘Ninety Days’ also tested the Lumen engine and the flexibility of UE5 which was helpful for me since I am not creating a game or full-scale project in Unreal. Lumen, UE5’s fully dynamic global illumination system, provided an incredible amount of freedom to visualize scenes where indirect lighting adapts on the fly, naturally lightening your landscape and creating incredible realism. Artists using it also focused on short cinematic scenes and tips and tricks to use in UE5 which can be very helpful in future projects. By using the Nanite setting of high-quality assets from the Megascans library artists (and me) were able to focus on creating the best asset possible, without worrying about polygons count.
Bibliography:
Game Dev Academy (2022) QUICK TRICK to Realistically BLEND ASSETS with LANDSCAPE. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATfzfvtvfIo (Accessed: 31 May 2023).
Quixel (2022) Ninety Days in Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://quixel.com/blog/2022/5/12/ninety-days-in-unreal-engine-5 (Accessed: 12 May 2023).
Unreal Engine (2023) Procedural Foliage Tool. Available at: https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.2/en-US/procedural-foliage-tool-in-unreal-engine/ (Accessed: 31 May 2023).
Since my Personal Project is expected to be quite extensive, I will be utilising Unreal Engine 5.0.3, which is compatible with the university’s PCs.
I made the project easier to use by setting it up in the Game mode and using Blueprints for custom effects. To maintain organisation, I created a main Level and a separate side Level (in another project too) for testing assets and effects without increasing the final project size. I am aware that deleting asset folders from the content browser does not remove all related information from the project file, which could lead to issues later on. Next, I followed the standard procedure of setting up important lighting elements such as Landscape, Directional Light, SkyLight, SkyAtmosphere, ExponentialHeightFog, and PostProcessVolume.
Setting up key elements.
First, I began working on the landscape by adjusting the size of the plane and using sculpting tools. However, the strong modelling effects were not to my liking, so I opted for soft brushes with low strength. I also wanted to experiment with water reflections in the scene, so I tried creating an ocean and river. Unfortunately, the available plug-ins caused the scene to crash and distorted the landscape. Furthermore, the wave effect and the colour of the water did not match the moodboards I had curated. To have more control over the scene’s art direction, I decided to focus on the foliage and ground texture and eliminate the water sources. To reduce the file size, I resized the landscape because I only needed a smaller map for the close-up shots.
Landscape Mode (UE5)
I have selected the Megascans Modular Palace Interior Collection for the interior of my project. It is inspired by the Bożków Palace in Poland and offers a variety of textures, including wood panels, glass doors, stairs, architectural details, ceiling panels, and tapestries. This will enable me to experiment with how light interacts with different surfaces. I believe that the dark wood panels will help me create a cinematic dimmed scene, even with bright light outside. To save time, I have decided to combine the interior lighting scene and the outside lighting scene into one Level. Although I would prefer to create separate levels or projects for each scene, I do not think I will have enough time to do so. However, I acknowledge that this would provide me with greater control over the lighting in the project, and I may revisit this decision after submission and divide it into multiple levels.
Behind the Scans: Bożków Palace, Poland by Quixel (2020)
I had a lot of fun setting up the interior. My main focus was on combining different textures and creating interesting shapes by breaking walls with columns and adding architectural details. For the lighting, I decided to use only three main sources – an open door, a window, and a ceiling window – to achieve a cinematic effect. I need enough indirect light to be able to see the render clearly, but if it is too much. I may adjust it in the future.
Once the project was set up, I proceeded to test various settings, assets, and landscapes.
Testing asset placements on the right and left side to compare them together in the scene.
The ocean plug-in was not working even after enabling edit layers for the landscape because the landscape field was too small.
Testing out ocean settings. The waves look too big for the size of the landscape.
The river setup was deforming the landscape even after adjustments. Additionally, the water’s color did not align with the moodboards I created earlier.
References:
Quixel (2020) Behind the Scans: Bożków Palace, Poland. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaDculpnVl8 (Accessed: 26 May 2023).
As I work on my Personal Project’s Lighting Study, I am also eager to expand my knowledge and skills by exploring various techniques that combine 2D and 3D. To achieve this, I took on two side tasks. In the first one, I created simple metallic models in Maya and photo-bashed them in Photoshop into an editorial photo. Although the design process was enjoyable, the result wasn’t what we had hoped for. The lighting did not match the rough style of photography and made it look too computer-generated. I believe one of the mistakes was not replicating the lighting created in Maya and instead simply incorporating the asset in the photo with minor changes to the background.
To see the initial ideas in the context of the original files, I tried photobashing. Photographer provided me with rough instructions and later guided me towards an aesthetic based on these sample images.
Maya set-up
Furthermore, I am still unsure about the rendering process, and as a result, the file was not optimised for render time. This caused issues in the timeline, especially since I was collaborating with Fashion Photography Students who requested multiple samples of the final product. Unfortunately, the long render time (over 3 hours per frame) made it very time-consuming to provide the pieces. As a result, we had to rush the photobashing part of the project. Looking back, I regret focusing on the render quality and wish I had spent more time seamlessly incorporating the 3D assets into the photos. It would have been easier and faster and created a more visually appealing project. Additionally, the torus lacked the roughness and imperfections needed for a more realistic look when using the chrome material. However, I am pleased with the use of the mesh light for the lighting of the surroundings, which created a desired cyberpunk style and was easy to use. I plan to use it in the group project as well, as it can add interesting-looking light props to the scene.
First render tests. I included a model from the Maya library to demonstrate how the lighting would interact with the person in the original photo.
Final renders: I was asked to re-render with lighter textures, but the final asset still lacks roughness to create the necessary believability.
Adjusting the renders to fit with the original file:
For my second side project, I wanted to learn about using Houdini in combination with Unreal Engine. Dom suggested the Endless Flower Blossoming Tutorial by Entagma, which was easy to follow. However, using more custom settings based on programming language was confusing. Despite this, I found the basics of creating simulations to be interesting and tried to customise the effect for the Personal Project. Unfortunately, my Houdini project crashed when simulating falling petals, and I was unable to find the error after reviewing the tutorial multiple times. I suspect that I may have set up the project incorrectly. As this was not a critical part of my lighting study, I decided to leave it for now and return to it later if I have time. Nonetheless, I still want to explore more ways to use Houdini and am considering using it for my Final Major Project.
Endless Flower Blossoming by Entagma (2020)
My attempt at the Endless Flower Blossoming (gif).
The issues start in the simulation part of the process.
Going forward, to enhance the outcome of the project, I would like to incorporate Unreal Engine plugins such as UnrealReader or SpeedTree and examine how they can be used to visually enhance the project.
References:
Entagma (2020) Guest Tutorial: Endless Flower Blossoming. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2rDQtsTwzo (Accessed: 05 May 2023).
Once I had chosen the type of personal project I wanted to pursue, I began planning the scene in Unreal Engine. To ensure that I didn’t encounter any copyright issues, I decided to primarily use assets from Megascans and only supplement with smaller assets from Polyhaven if necessary. Although there are other asset resources available, I wanted to make sure I used them appropriately.
Unlimited Megascans access for use with Unreal Engine. If you have a Content License, simply sign in with your Epic Games account to get unlimited access to the Megascans library through Bridge.
Quixel (2023)
As this is a Lighting Study, I plan to examine various types of lighting in different settings. For a while, I was undecided on which concept to choose from the numerous options available in Megascans.
Megascans
Concepts:
A Roman temple that features a portal in the north surrounded by lush vegetation.
The rich manor with indoor shots and sculptures.
Medieval village with the magical portal.
Forest scene.
I was having a hard time deciding which theme to choose, so I created a few different moodboards.
Painting Moodboard (Outside)
Painting Moodboard (Inside)
Ultimately, I settled on a mansion with a Roman garden, as I want to showcase various types of lighting – both inside and outside – as well as different textures and foliage. This will allow me to incorporate more assets and make it more memorable than a typical village or temple. It also helps to view the two backgrounds (outside/inside) together as a cohesive project. I will begin by focusing on the garden scene first and then move on to the interior. I am particularly interested in using plants as they can enhance cinematic lighting effects. Furthermore, I drew inspiration from the concept art of The Last of Us and Dishonored 2.
Lighting Moodboard
In my opinion, a strong portfolio piece should feature a well-developed concept that incorporates thoughtful and purposeful use of assets, colours, and lighting. While I don’t have time to create storyboards or concepts for this project, putting together moodboards will help me stay on theme and create a cohesive, immersive environment. I loosely based the plot on the Garden of Eden, which helped me choose models and play with the vision of a garden/plain in an outdoor setting. The deteriorating mansion represents sin and the fall of humanity, while the magical garden symbolizes Eden and a state of innocence and bliss, as well as temptation.
Concept Moodboard (The Garden of Eden)
The term Eden probably is derived from the Akkadian word edinu, borrowed from the Sumerian eden, meaning “plain.”
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2023) Garden of Eden.
Thomas Cole, The Garden of Eden (Amon Carter Museum)
In addition, I have been researching cinematic lighting and exploring Unreal Engine 5 tutorials. Although I am uncertain which tutorial will be most useful, I am creating a library of sources that could help me solve issues or add visual effects later on in the project. I plan to follow the Ninety Days in Unreal Engine 5 examples, which were designed to be built quickly using Megascans. Additionally, they provide insight into making the scene look more unique with shaders, textures, and asset manipulation in UE5.
The Ninety Days project kicked off with just three core artists and a simple concept: make something beautiful and inspiring, keep it real-time, and if possible, build each environment in just three days.
Quixel (2022) Ninety Days in Unreal Engine 5.
References
Visual References:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. (2023) Garden of Eden. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Garden-of-Eden (Accessed: 9 May 2023).
Quixel (2022) 2022 End of Year Community Highlights. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcFoCQBtYAI (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Quixel (2022) Ninety Days in Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca2ME4Wy0eM (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Lighting Tutorials:
Boundless Entertainment (2022) Unreal Engine for Filmmakers – How to Make your Lighting CINEMATIC. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMCTeoj9YaA (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Karim abou shousha(2023) How To Create Light Props in Unreal Engine5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSe7QHU6QJk (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Shousha, K.A. (2021) UE4: Lighting Setup Tutorial. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/yk5P48 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
tiedtke. (2023) EVERYTHING to know about RENDER LAYERS in Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8UFyaqbiGA (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Unreal Engine (2021) Lumen in UE5: Let there be light! | Unreal Engine. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc1PPYl2uxA (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Virtus Learning Hub (2022) Realistic Lighting in 15 Minutes – Unreal Engine 5 Lumen Tutorial. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfMG746hk3k (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2023) Creating an Arctic Environment in Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVwFrmOvXG4 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2021) Demystifying the Skylight [Unreal Engine 4&5]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGoaPyfZlYg (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2021) How To Make Unreal Look More Cinematic. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doUDJFKLyZs (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2020) Improve Your Renders With Unreal Movie Render Queue PART 1 – Goodbye Sequencer?! (4.26). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxvF3zncClA (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2022) Lighting a NIGHT-TIME exterior in Unreal. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LfiYtKDsac (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2022) Lighting in Unreal Engine 5 for Beginners. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSbBsXbjxPo (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2021) Lumen Explained – IMPORTANT Tips for UE5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e6oOiKh91U (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2021) Things To Know About LUMEN [Unreal Engine 5]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFKNoeUPQGQ (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Quixel/UE5 Pipeline:
pwnisher (2021) How I get UNREAL ENGINE to look like a movie | FULL BREAKDOWN. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdtTthV_sXI (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Quixel (2021) Part 2. House Creation: Medieval Game Environment in UE4. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQyeh-0AYOg (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Quixel (2021) Part 6. Lighting: Medieval Game Environment in UE4. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRtmxoxtbLA (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Quixel (2021) Walkthrough: Medieval Game Environment in UE4. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcFoCQBtYAI (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
UE5/Nuke Pipeline:
ActionVFX (2022) Connecting Your Unreal Engine & NukeX with UnrealReader | Nuke Tutorial. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mZftSWZ3O8 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Foundry (2022) Nuke 14.0 | Work with Unreal Using UnrealReader. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLBp6kee1Qo (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Foundry (2022) Nuke 13.2 | UnrealReader Workflow Enhancements. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWGwuSfF3E0 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2022) Intro to UnrealReader – Nuke 13.2. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZTO4ojzX2g (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Houdini/FX Tutorials:
Alberto Cordero (2020) Retexture Megascans Assets in Substance Painter. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J17EKboY_lI&t=2544s (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
CG Forge (2022) Houdini | Snow and Rain FX | Quick Tip. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_BDCwbo874 (Accessed: 27 April 2023).
Dylan Browne (2022) High Quality Water in Unreal Engine 5 via Alembic Caches | Part One. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayUuApKuaz8 (Accessed: 27 April 2023).
Unreal Han (2023) Creating a photorealistic rain scene in Unreal Engine | lumen tutorial. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTrCevoXqaA (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2022) Capturing Lofoten in Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifryjffUJT8 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2023) Introducing EasyFog for Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyRksVjviwg (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
William Faucher (2021) Tips for Sky Atmosphere & Fog – Unreal Engine 5 (& UE4). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbxO-Z5rzwk (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Moodboards:
Avero, L. (2021) The Witch’s Mansion. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ELmgV4 (Accessed: 05 May 2023).
Bazyluk, J. (2020) Garden of possessive desires – part 1 – enviro design style guide. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nYxEaE (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Choe, Y. (2021) Gloomy day : UE4 ‘Mansion Hall’ Raytraced Relight. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8eaybE (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Cius, R. (2022) Ruins of a Roman Temple UE5 + Megascans. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zOdVv4 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Court, R. (2022) Courtyard UE5. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/RnZdwX (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Crafoord, I. (2022) UE5 | Ninety Days | Mansion. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/EaJ480 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Jonny (2022) Eden gardens. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xY9w04 (Accessed: 05 May 2023).
Johnson, K. (2020) The Last of Us: Part 2 Santa Barbara Mansion Interior. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/kD4B1z (Accessed: 05 May 2023).
Kedige, N. (2022) Hytter House – Weekend Project. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/mDGOYZ (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Kuan Cruz, S. (2019) Abandoned Palace Courtyard. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Jl93dD (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Kuan Cruz, S. (2019) Abandoned Palace Interior. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0XnZx5 (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Mannerstal, J. (2021) Moving Out The Old Mansion? Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/NxzEPP (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Milivojevic, P. (2022) First Lie, Fruit Of Eden. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/d0oBX1 (Accessed: 05 May 2023).
Norman, J. (2022) Sunken Temple. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QrlAal (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Oprisan, S. (2021) Abandoned Manor House – Unreal Engine 4. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/g2VqAK (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Panin, S. (2022) Water Temple Scene. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/5XAgrA (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
Sala, F. (2019) EDEN. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/gJG64Q (Accessed: 05 May 2023).
SiewHong, L. (2020) The Last of Us: Part 2 – Santa Barbara Swimming Pool. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nYYrJ6 (Accessed: 05 May 2023).
Tan, A. (2022) Pilgrim’s Temple. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/aYwN2k (Accessed: 26 April 2023).
The main objective of this project is to enhance my skills in lighting and rendering. In my recent research on the VFX industry and its various roles, I have developed a fascination for the position of lighting artist. I didn’t have many chances to explore this subject before, so the personal task provided an opportunity for me to delve deeper into it. The skills acquired from it are also applicable to CG Generalists, Matte Painters and 3D Modellers.
Lighting Study
As a CG Generalist working on the group assignment, I am limited to using only Maya. Therefore, in my project, I want to prioritize the use of other programs like Katana, Unreal Engine 5, and Nuke. I’ve decided to primarily use Nuke and UE5 now that the UnrealReader node connects them. To save time and focus on lighting, I’ll be getting high-quality assets directly from Quixel/Megascans, which are free to use in Unreal Engine.
While preparing for this project, I took a closer look at the requirements for hiring a Lighting Artist. I realized that even though UE5 is not commonly used in compositing, it is an essential tool in the gaming industry. Therefore, I decided to learn how to use it, as it will only benefit me in the long run. Additionally, I plan to do some tutorials on the side to improve my skills in using Katana and Houdini.
Lighting Artist (role description from the Platige Image)
As this is my first experience using UE5 for a lighting study, my main priority is to familiarize myself with the software and generate a high-quality scene within the engine. I am particularly interested in artistic lighting and weather simulation. If I will have enough time, I plan to integrate minor visual effects from Houdini or Maya and merge them in Nuke. By structuring this personal project in a certain way, I hope to be able to continue building on it even after I finish my studies.
Arvid Schneider (2020) How to Create Cinematic Lighting in Maya. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFh5pjZCBvw (Accessed: 14 April 2023).
Boundlesss Entertainment (2022) Unreal Engine for Filmmakers – How to Make your Lighting CINEMATIC. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMCTeoj9YaA (Accessed: 18 April 2023).
Design with Dan (2023) Cinematic Lighting in 6 steps UE5 Beginner tutorial EP2 | DesignwithDan. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VayfhM8eOU8 (Accessed: 17 April 2023).
Ludwig, L. (2022) Lighting Demo Reel – Laura Ludwig. Available at: https://www.therookies.co/entries/14773 (Accessed: 14 April 2023).
William Faucher (2022) Capturing Lofoten in Unreal Engine 5. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifryjffUJT8 (Accessed: 16 April 2023).
William Faucher (2022) Lighting in Unreal Engine 5 for Beginners . Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSbBsXbjxPo (Accessed: 18 April 2023).
Zavhorodnia, V. (2021) Lighting study | Part I. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/EL0VWN (Accessed: 14 April 2023).
Collaborating with different disciplines has given me insight into their pipeline, techniques and the way they work. We had to communicate with each other to make sure we created an interdisciplinary project where VR, VFX and Animation come together. Using different programs was a challenge, especially since I had never used Unity before. The priority was to make sure my 3D models worked in VR. Sharing with Klaus and Luke allowed us to look at the assignment from a more narrative/art direction point of view. It also forced us to try to live up to expectations and express our concerns when time and programming constraints prevented us from fully realising the original vision.
Since the visuals of the project were not yet fully established, it allowed us to quickly generate ideas and their iterations. While our opinions sometimes differed, we respected each other’s knowledge and creative input and tried to reach a compromise on most of the results. I mainly worked with VR (especially Ria and An), Jess (we were modelling parts of the same building, and we communicated a lot) as well as Klaus, Luke, and Ana (visually and artistically). We went through many test rounds and solving problems was the biggest and most time-consuming part of this project.
If I was working with a client from outside the university, I would have to be more articulate and faster in my work. This was just a test version, so we should have focused on finishing and testing the product instead of making sure every little detail was in line with the client’s vision. Without proper concept art or references, we were forced to constantly change our models, resulting in some geometry issues and a lower-quality final experience. However, I am happy to say that the communication between the VR and VFX students was a strong point of the Departure Lounge.
My role as a 3D Modeller pushed me to work with new software (Substance Painter) and gain more knowledge about retopologising and texturing in Maya. Even though I am not interested in being a modeller, this knowledge will be useful to me when implementing models into the game engine/compositing software (e.g. as Lighting Artist or CG Generalist). This also got me interested in texturing and started researching more about the Texturing Artist position.
In the end, it helped me better understand Virtual Reality and its limitations. Working on this project made me wonder if I would like to work on VFX projects that can be transferred to Virtual Reality. There is potential to create amazing immersive environments and I am interested in working on assignments similar to this.
My goals for the extension period were to focus on fixing UV maps, creating murals and more texturing. It was too late in the project to model anything for the building (except for minor details/small assets) so I wanted like to spend more time on visual work.
Fixed UV Maps
Fixed UV Maps
I had to stick with the 2K resolution maps and fix the pixelation by removing the UV maps on the outside of the building as well as splitting them into more pieces. 2K is the best option for Quest 2 (headset based). If we build in Windows/PC then 4K would be fine. However, for now, we are showing the project in the headset, so we are limited to lower resolutions.
The building needed more texture and colours, but the colours are faded, and there is mould on the walls, decay, and paint chipping off walls. The mural cannot be too detailed since we have only 2K resolution. Water damage/small details, and leaks on the walls might be problematic due to the size of texture maps. Murals shouldn’t include any specific symbolism or be too socialist.
The building needed more textures and colour but they should be faded and with signs of mould, decay, and paint chipping on the walls. Water damage/fine detailing and wall leaks could be problematic due to the size of the texture maps. Murals should not contain any specific symbolism or be too socialist.
Space reference
General Meeting (30/03/23)
Meeting notes:
Bigger hole in the ceiling.
Remove the ramp.
Mural: What questions arise when you look at these paintings? Too white and heteronormative, a good starting point, but not enough. We also need more murals.
Water dripping down the walls.
More water/moss throughout the building.
Degrade textures to make them more varied.
Example:
Here the paint has disappeared or chipped. This is where it remains, but there are also places where there is only concrete underneath.
Due to software constraints, I was unable to work in Substance Painter over the Easter break, so I couldn’t fully realise the creative vision. Doing textures in a limited amount of time resulted in a more cohesive look than a very varied one, but now the paint is chipping off the walls and different colours/concrete/plaster/paint textures in parts of the building.
Placing test murals
General Meeting (11/04/23)
The last meeting was mainly about animation and finishing details and submission requirements.
The idea for the murals was to place a central panel with a family, then “postcards” from around the world on the other panels (between the columns). Image resolution is variable, so my goal was to soften it in this version, and IP issues etc will be dealt with in the next version of the experience.
I received a PDF with our preferences and the asset folder itself. I considered suggestions but ended up choosing more graphic murals (which had less detail) that went together much better. I also faded them and downgraded the paintings to fit the space and give the impression of crumbling walls.
References 01
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Finishing work:
I worked in Photoshop to give the murals a faded/destroyed effect and blend them better into the space. I tested different paint/colour options and also went back to old textures to see what the murals and mould effect would look like there.
In my opinion, the old surfaces fit the design goals better and reflect a more post-apocalyptic atmosphere, but it could also be because the new textures are not damaged enough. For future assignments, I’d like to go back to painting textures and add more mildew brush effects as well as work with gradients in texture maps.
