This week, I finished creating the model of the project’s boat in Maya, as well as adding materials and textures to it in 3D Substance Painter
The first version of the boat texture
Then I put the boat model into Unreal Engine 5 to test the texture and create the materials, I also made some changes to the texture to make the boat fit better in the scene.
SHOT 01
The camera passes through the canyon in the distance
SHOT 02
The camera zooms in from the water on the left side of the gorge in the main scene
SHOT 03
The scene turns to some buildings around the pier
SHOT 04
Concept art image of a small boat sailing out of the harbor towards the middle of a mountain gorge, the sky is clear, there are a few clouds floating in the sky, two giant statues stand on either side of the gorge, and there are some waterfalls and courtyard lofts in between the mountains
SHOT 05
From the perspective of the boat, look up at the giant statue on the right as the boat moves.
SHOT 06
Looking over the shoulder of the giant statue at the boat that is about to pass by
SHOT 07
The camera slowly sweeps over a pavilion in the mountains
SHOT 08
The camera slowly sweeps over the trees and a waterfall in the mountains
SHOT 09
The camera looks down on a small boat sailing through a waterway in the middle of a mountain gorge, with some puffy clouds floating on the top and bottom sides of the frame, while a flock of flying geese slowly skims across the frame
SHOT 10
The boat sails alone towards the calm and open sea
During this week, I made a series of modifications to the landscape I created in Unreal Engine, including making the height of the mountains on both sides of the river more balanced and adjusting the coverage area of vegetation and the texture of the mountains. At the same time, some adjustments have been made to the size of the waves on the water’s surface to make the overall environment look more balanced and harmonious.
This week I finished the port deck, little cabin, and cargo carrier model for the scene
In the conception of my “Journey to the Baidi City” project story, I hope that the boat will gradually leave a small port. The style and appearance of the port are more ancient. There are some cabins at the back of the port. There is smoke rising from the cabins, and the boat is sailing. After a while, you will pass through a gorge. On both sides of the gorge stand two giant statues of ancient gods. Temples and courtyards of different sizes are located throughout the mountains. At the same time, waterfalls pour down from the mountain stream.
I first referred to a lot of the landforms of the Three Gorges area in China, which is where my story begins, and then started to restore the landscape of the Three Gorges in Unreal Engine 5 which the scene includes mountains, trees, grass, river, and lake.
The name of my final major project is Journey to the Baidi City. The story background is inspired by a poem written by Li Bai in 759 A.D. from the Tang Dynasty of China, one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. The original poem is called Leaving white Emperor City at Dawn.
Full Text of Leaving white Emperor City at Dawn
At dawn amid colored clouds, I left White Emperor City.
A thousand miles to Chiang Ling I was there in a day.
Chattering apes on the cliffs, no end to their bawling.
So, the light boat slipped past the ten thousand mountains.
The background of the creation of this poem is that the poet was exiled for committing a serious crime and was pardoned by the emperor when he was passing through Baidi City. As a result, the trajectory of his life changed and he started a new chapter in his life. This poem also became a part of the poet’s life to record turning points and proud moods.
What I’m trying to do is to use Unreal Engine 5 to recreate the scene in the poem where the poet’s boat crosses the gorge, to create an epic scene, and at the same time to add more detailed artwork on the sides of the gorge, adding palaces and giant stone statues of the gods to increase the element of metaphysical adventure.
Through this semester’s steampunk group project, I have gained a lot of experience and insight into model design and creation, as well as the collaboration of visual effects production group members. First of all, my role in the group is the look dev artist, the main responsibility is to design and build the models needed for the scene, and at the same time design the material and texture for the model to match the scene, and then upload the model and texture to the CG generalist for the next step of production. In the project, I was assigned the model of an old-fashioned phone, a vintage coffee table and the pipe system of the whole scene. First of all, in the process of making the old telephone, I referred to a lot of old telephone examples and finally chose the most suitable one, and added some steampunk elements to the design. In the production of old-fashioned phone, I complete the whole model first during the process and then do the UV decomposition of the model, after finishing this model I got the conclusion that the model should be disassembled and checked in the process of each section of model production for the UV of the model, which will greatly accelerate the speed of the production of model’s materials and textures. So when making the vintage coffee table, I used the experience I summarized before, and took into account the dismantling of the model UV while making the model. This really speeded up my model creation process significantly. The height is very rigorously designed to ensure that it conforms to the style of the entire scene. When making the material of the coffee table top, I also refer to the wood color and texture of the bookshelf to ensure the unity of the overall wood style. Through the creation of the old phone and coffee table, I have a deeper understanding of the method of model creation, and at the same time have a richer understanding of the design of model textures, which allows me to create the third model. At that time, with more experience and experience, this also greatly helped the production speed and quality of the pipe system model. After completing the creation of the pipe system model, I started to make the texture of the pipes. Through my analysis of the overall room style design, I finally designed six different texture design schemes. According to the items placed in different areas where the pipeline is laid, the designed maps and material textures will have different style, so that the pipe system can better integrate into every corner of the room. Through this steampunk group project, not only my 3D model creation and the design and creation of the model’s materials and textures have been greatly improved, but also I have more experience in cooperating with the visual effects team.