Throughout this Project, I have faced a number of tasks and challenges. The first being the initial concepts for our observatory environment we wanted to create.
We had many ideas and possible plot lines for how this world has came about, but more importantly, how we wanted to make it look in Unreal Engine.
The first thing we did as a group was brainstorm. This was o get a general feel on what aesthetic we were going for and listing off possible ideas and assigning roles to each other for the work that was to come.
Next we wanted to gather inspiration for the look of the architecture or colours used. To get a grip on the atsmopheric feel that we would all be going for with this project.
We did this by compiling images online that related to each others individual ideas.
The next step was concept drawing our initial ideas and beginning to model, I had no role in concept drawing but was one of the first to begin modelling my assets to be used in the scene.
Some of these models ended up not being completed by me and fell to another group member.
After first experimenting with maya for my initial assets, I, alongside my group members, had a list of assets to model for us to use in each others scenes.
My models were originally;
-A Goblet
-Debris from fallen roofing panels
-Old spectacles.
I realised that I hadn’t modelled enough and decided to add more models for my group members to use in their scene. Such as;
-A rebar stick to stick from debris or ground in the scene,
-concrete debris, maybe taken out of walls or sides of buildings.
Once these models were completed, I put them into substance painter and started on completing their textures.
An example of this is seen below, see my portfolio links in the Portfolio on this website linked in my submission for the other substance files.
Substance Painter gave me some challenges as I was previously not very well acquainted with the software and learnt how to do things such as mask, use height maps and decals for the first time. As seen above with the frost decal being used.
After Substance Painter, It was time to put my Models into Unreal.
Unreal engine proved very difficulty for me for a long time, as I lost a lot of progress after Unreal not saving my projects on my project library page. This led to me talking back and forth with my Lecturer, and after some time we came to the conclusion it was best to save my project as a zipped files each time I made progress and stopped working. Even with this new method, It still came up with errors such as “failed to save” when it came to assets and textures that I had put into my scene. I moved from using Unreal engine 4.26 to 4.27 on my laptop at home. With my laptop being less powerful, using unreal engine 4 was slower and more difficult to use, but solved my saving problem.
I also ran into some issues with applying my textures to some of my assets. The main problem being the dome of the observatory itself.
As seen above, my dome was originally meant to have an aged copper look that has begun to erode or become covered in mould. When in Unreal engine, the dome came up as having the same texture as my main building section of the model. I never figured out a way to fix this and in the last stage of my scene creation, I was provided with another version of the dome through a group member. I then re textured this and made it look like a rusted over metal instead of copper. As seen below;
It then came to the lighting of my scene. The exterior lighting is very simple with a skylight and a directional light pointed inside the domes gap. This increased the look of natural light entering through this gap. seen below;
I used part of a model that I was already using as a lens in the telescope and retextured it using a texture made for the mugs in my scene. This made it reflective and i put these models inside the walls around my scene. Then, using point lighting to give the illusion that they were giving off the light themselves, I now had created makeshift wall lights. seen below;
I also used the starter content to have some particle effects in my scene. Such as in the image above, sparks coming from the wall light. Other effects included fire and dust particles, seen below. Using their scale to tailor their size and impact on the scene around them.
When doing the textures on the telescope, I realised I wanted there to me more atmospheric light in the dome around it. To fix this problem, I edited the texture on the telescopes lens to make it use emissive colour. This gave it a certain glow, and when it reacted with the natural light it gave off a very subtle blue reflection on the dome above. Adding to the atmospheric feel inside the observatory, as seen below;
The outside of the building in some of my shots seemed very bland. I then remembered that in my original concepts/inspiration pictures that me and my group compiled, we included a lot of ideas for using foliage around the dome or buildings structure. This led to me adding foliage around the dome that was seen in the shots in my final cinematic. Giving it more depth and also creating a more aged aesthetic to the outside of the structure;
On the interior of the building. I wanted the walls to seem as if they were damaged and destroyed or cracked. Using a height map I made it seem as if the walls had been broken down on the surface which gave them a more desired, aged look that I was going for;
Overall, This project has been extremely helpful to me in learning Unreal. I went into this project never using the software before, but now feel very used to it and comfortable in doing any future projects in Unreal Engine. I have had a lot of problems I have had to overcome and troubleshoot, but this was made easier with the help of my group members and course lecturers. I am very happy with my final cinematic and feel as if it is my best work to date. This project has gotten me more excited for the future of this course and exploring softwares that will further prepare me for a future job role in this industry. This module overall has been an amazing experience and what feels like a refreshing start to my university life, due to being able to be on campus. I have met people who i now call my friends and cannot wait to see what the future of this course has to offer.