practice2minghanwang - Tumblr blog

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 26 The Portfolio Learning

Today is my last day studying UE5 because I was trying to register for online courses before. I gradually came into contact with the final rendering process of UE5. I should be studying at an entry-level level, thank you for your help, ”UE班的小学生“。 This is the work I submitted under the guidance of my teacher. Although this is not an original work, I think I can improve my work gradually by studying courses, familiarizing myself with case studies. As a beginner UE5, I still need to work harder.

I think this is an entry-level attempt, and the final project will follow. I think it is more necessary to develop a plan and complete the final project on time. Inspiration and sources are essential to ensure that the final project is an original work.I think it's too difficult to ensure that I don't use assets as much as possible to create an environment, but I think I should reflect my ideas in the final project.

Reference ：

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Ar11Z5 tutorial

Plugins:

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/robin Robin

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/realistic-glass-creator Material

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/smart-spline-generator Spine gen

https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/tether-procedural-cable-rope-tool/254197 Tether Cable

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 25 Learning Marvellous Designer

Due to the preparation of my final work in the past few days, I have also started learning online courses. Among them, I was exposed to the MD software, which I may use when making scene objects made of fabric materials. Therefore, I started learning this software course. Firstly, the user interface feels similar to MAYA in terms of operation buttons and interface, but the gaming environment feels very unfamiliar.

The principle of this software is to create simple polygons to increase the number of faces, and then perform settlement. In addition, this software provides various tools to fix the edges, making it a very advanced settlement tool. Afterwards, these polygons are influenced by external forces to form a fabric. However, this requires a very large number of faces. I am also looking for ways to reduce the number of faces and optimize the model.

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 24 80lv

Today, I will continue to learn about the modular process of environmental art assets. I have read an article by Raghav Verma, an environmental artist. I have to say that this environment is done very well and the details are done very well. I hope to have the opportunity to communicate with him. As a beginner in UE5, I hope to learn more about this area to make up for my shortcomings. I think some of his ideas are similar to mine, and he is also very humble, but he only took four months to create this project and did not use the assets of Megascans. It was so impressive, and I have to admire it.

The plan is the same as what I saw in the article before, both are looking for references. This size refers to the size of Artstation. I think collecting reference materials is becoming increasingly important in environmental art. I also know that don't feel troublesome, try to spend time doing it. The next step for reference is BlockOut. That is the camera modelling method mentioned earlier. Complete these operations to import the Unreal Engine and change its appearance.

Later on, I also learned his method of creating assets. He first created low polygons in Maya, then imported them into Zbrush to carve details, extracted low polygons in Zbrush, and finally baked textures in Substance paint. In the baking process, he used red, blue, and green to represent different masks, which I really didn't understand. I may work with the teacher to handle this matter later. Later on, I talked about Leaf because I used to do it in the Speedtree software or using assets. But I found that his approach is completely different from mine, and I am learning his approach.

I want to make Substance Designer a key learning topic. I know it's difficult for me, but I don't want to rely on those assets anymore. I hope to find materials that belong to my own production.

Reference

Raghav Verma (2024)Making A Detailed 3D Swamp Environment From Scratch With ZBrush & UE5[online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/making-a-detailed-3d-swamp-environment-from-scratch-with-zbrush-ue5/ [Accessed by 30 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 23 Perception

Today, let me share my insights from the disciplinary project

Today, let me share my insights from the second semester In the beginning, it was a cross-disciplinary project, but in fact, I found it quite strange at the beginning. Why do we need to cross-disciplinary project production? Gradually, we randomly started grouping and building teams. There were some things that I didn't expect, and gradually I got to know our group members who were very enthusiastic. I told them that my English is not very good. They also did not discriminate. Later on, we started our own project. Although everyone had different opinions during the discussion, we sought common ground while reserving differences and respecting each other. We quickly arranged the project and began production.

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 22 Gantt Chart

Today I will talk about my Gantt chart, which is also my first time exposed to it. The Gantt chart is a bar chart that illustrates project progress. Easy to observe progress. It mainly consists of start and finish dates, terminal elements, and summary elements. I designed a Gantt chart today consisting of two colours. One is blue, which represents my planned progress. My plan is to complete one project in about a week, and some projects may take two weeks. The actual progress is indicated by green and yellow markings. I also realize the importance that this Gantt chart brings to me. I also hope to complete it on time according to the plan.

I used Excel to create a Gantt chart because it was my first time doing it and I searched for a lot of reference materials. Firstly, I need to collect this information: task list, start and end dates for each task, task dependencies, and task owners. Firstly, there is the task list. After I have compiled the task list, I must plan the time for each project. A week is 7 days, and I plan to complete one task per week. Then, I write down the start and end dates of each week, followed by the duration of each task. Although Gantt charts can facilitate project management, their design is very complex and these small blocks are not very clear. With the development of society, many companies have turned to faster project management systems.

Reference

Shweta, Cassie Bottorff (2024)What Is A Gantt Chart? The Ultimate Guide[online]Available at https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/what-is-a-gantt-chart/ [Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 21 Lighting

Today, I would like to mainly talk about the issue of lighting. I am actually a novice who doesn't know how to create the most realistic lighting. So today I will continue reading an article from a lighting artist. I greatly admire his work experience. Firstly, he talked about movie-level color matching, which is driven by the story and the transformation of game lighting. The grading of colours can enhance the narrative style of the story through color and tone.

The author chose a screenshot of a segment from the movie "Border Assassin". Deep analysis of the movie atmosphere created by lighting. The external camera of the steak house in the picture creates a nostalgic feeling, with a sunset view. The author found that in the evening, as the sun sets, faint lights gradually light up, emitting a soft glow. This atmosphere emerged in the author's mind. I think I should take a closer look at these contents and recall more beautiful moments.

Reference

Stephanie Vaillancourt(2024)Recreating A Cinematic Exterior Scene With UE5 & DaVinci Resolve[online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/recreating-a-cinematic-exterior-scene-with-ue5-davinci-resolve/ [Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 20 Weather system

The weather system is an important part of the game environment, and the constantly changing environment provides players with a realistic experience. So a weather system is very complex. I may need to download an asset to add to my environment.I saw an article about the development team of Trench Tales sharing rainwater and flood systems. "In recent days, the dev showcases the game's WIP weather system and the lifelike rails that can be set up with it, as well as the fluid-based flooding system, which, once complete, will allow the authors to create true-to-life mud pools. Much like the rest of the game, the new systems were created using UE5."

Firstly, the weather system mainly includes the ability to freely adjust the time in the morning, noon, and evening. The second option is to adjust the climate for sunny, rainy, snowy, foggy, and dusty weather. These are basically controlled by blueprints. So I also found some tutorials to study this, but due to time constraints, I will mainly focus on sunny days for weather control.

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 19 Animation Blueprints

Today, let me talk about the blueprint function of this game project. I think it is a great challenge for The most difficult part is the production of the animated blueprint for the bus. I feel that this is a relatively complex stage, but I also need to organize my thoughts before implementing this process. I believe I can do it. My idea is to first learn how to create a blueprint for a sedan, learn how to use buttons to control speed, so that the bus can smoothly stop at the platform, including starting, accelerating, decelerating, braking, and reversing. I need time to study these controllers. Although my major is not this, I believe it is important for my gaming experience.

In the previous project, I was exposed to animation blueprints, but the difference was that in the previous project, only character animation was needed, while in this project, a car animation was needed. For some advanced settings, I may not be able to do them. Some areas are too difficult, such as the left and right buttons in the driver's cabin, and opening and closing the car doors, which may require programmers to complete. As an environmental artist, doing one's professional work well is the most important thing, and the purpose is to enable everyone to have such a feeling.

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 19 80LV 06

Today, I continued reading the article and can truly appreciate the importance of pre-production, as I didn't spend too much time on it before and may feel it was a waste of time. But now I feel that this is indeed very important. As the author mentioned, each model requires finding 2 to 3 reference materials. I hope to find clearer textures from different perspectives.

Using Substance Designer to create materials is very important, but for me, I am still a beginner and I think I should delve deeper into these. I saw the video she recommended, which was very helpful to me. She talked about how to master the method of creating node connections and textures using Flood Fill. This workflow is suitable for making brick walls, mosaics, tiles, etc. Later, we talked about some vertex drawing and disparity masking techniques. I have tried this before, but the effect is not so good. I think I need to try this drawing multiple times. For modeling, I think mastering proportions and wiring in UV is quite important. Although we are consistent in our methods, I think she is more careful in checking each model and UV.

Reference :

Giovanna Barcelos (2024) Learn How to Make A Realistic Modular Environment in Unreal Engine 5 [online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/learn-how-to-make-a-realistic-modular-environment-in-unreal-engine-5/ [Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 17 80LV04

Today, I will continue reading the article and have also read about the area that I am particularly interested in, which is the realistic modular environment“ This work is called "Croatian Corner", and I really like the feeling of history and mystery. The author also tells the process and thoughts of her work. Firstly, it's about collecting reference materials. The same idea requires real-time to collect references, but don't get stuck in it because time is limited. Secondly, "Creating an environment and stimulating creativity". She was moved by the retro feeling of the old town area in Croatia. When searching for images, she discovered this small street, beautiful and elegant. The same idea was realized in UE5 by converting it into a 3D scene.

Firstly, the modelling method is similar to what I have learned before, which involves placing simple boxes and adding lighting. There is a new content here, which is the character model of UE5, which can determine assets and compare the average height of characters. An additional step here is to use colours to distinguish material types so that you can quickly find the materials you need.

Reference :

Giovanna Barcelos (2024) Learn How to Make A Realistic Modular Environment in Unreal Engine 5 [online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/learn-how-to-make-a-realistic-modular-environment-in-unreal-engine-5/ [Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 18 80LV05

Firstly, the modelling method is similar to what I have learned before, which involves placing simple boxes and adding lighting. There is a new content here, which is the character model of UE5, which can determine assets and compare the average height of characters. An additional step here is to use colours to distinguish material types so that you can quickly find the materials you need. I should develop this habit of using Google Docs to plan the resources I am looking for. This is where modularity is very important. She wrote, "If I create everything I want in a unique way, then I will do some repetitive work.". "Therefore, I should try to find ways to duplicate assets, reduce the number of items used, and divide my architecture into parts that can be replicated and repeated in UE5." (Giovanna Barcelos, 2024) This is indeed a good way to increase efficiency, and I have been learning this method.

Reference :

Giovanna Barcelos (2024) Learn How to Make A Realistic Modular Environment in Unreal Engine 5 [online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/learn-how-to-make-a-realistic-modular-environment-in-unreal-engine-5/ [Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 16 80LV03

Today, continue reading this article, and the final part is rendering, which is also one of the most important steps. After creating those lighting and fog effects, it's time to render the sequence. In the screenshot, I also saw some of the parameters he set. I think the requirements for computer configuration are very important for rendering. So it is necessary to choose a better configuration, which can increase work efficiency.

The final step, which I haven't done before, is colour correction. He compiled all the shots in DaVinci Resolve and also added some post-effects to remove some noise. You can feel his importance to this work. In addition, I also saw the difficulties he encountered, finding a balance between details and references requires a lot of effort and time. I greatly admire him and appreciate his work style. I also hope to be like him in completing my own work.

Reference :

Alexey Kovalsky (2024) Learn How To Create a Victorian Era Environment in Unreal Engine[online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/learn-how-to-create-a-victorian-era-environment-in-unreal-engine/[Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 15 80LV02

I will continue reading this article today, followed by the perspective tool for modelling. This is also my first time encountering this tool. Previously, I used to create models using the perspective camera in MAYA. This tool has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is matching perspective lines and proportions. The disadvantage is that its matching degree is not as accurate. Later in the UE5 process, we also talked about vertex drawing.

After reading what he wrote about lighting and rendering direction, I actually have some different viewpoints and questions. Firstly, the Lumen lighting system can complete global lighting and reflection without the need for lengthy lighting calculations. Secondly, UE5's powerful modelling tools are more intuitive and convenient. I quite agree with this point. Perhaps as a beginner, I am not yet proficient in it. I can use tools, but I don't think they are as convenient as Maya and Blender. In creating an emotional atmosphere, he used soft lighting, and the contrast between warm light and cold night sky further reflects the mysterious atmosphere of the picture. This is something I have learned, and this kind of temperature contrast is actually the most difficult to control. The second is that fog and humidity can increase the feeling of cold and humidity, which requires proficiency in the UE5 volume fog function.

Reference :

Alexey Kovalsky (2024) Learn How To Create a Victorian Era Environment in Unreal Engine[online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/learn-how-to-create-a-victorian-era-environment-in-unreal-engine/[Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 14 80LV01

Today I read an article. As a novice environmental artist, I feel that I still have a lot of work to do, and I have been exploring how to create better and higher-quality works. It can be said that this article has deeply touched me. Alexey Kovalsky is a 3D Generalist who referenced a teacher's work on how to create an excellent environment in UE5.

Firstly, I think there is not much problem with modelling, and I can better apply the knowledge I have learned before. But some of the author's ideas deeply moved me. The author believes that preserving the emotions and atmosphere of the original work without changing its essence is crucial, and it is also quite difficult for me. So his goal is to convey to everyone that seeing this artwork can immerse oneself in the landscape of this historic city. This is the core and very difficult to achieve. I think there are many things I need to learn from him. Firstly, he is willing to spend a lot of time researching the appearance, illustrations, and maps of Victorian architecture. Secondly, more attention should be paid to texture materials to achieve the realism brought by walls and roads. "An important aspect is to create a striking visual flow that guides the viewer's gaze through the entire scene, highlights key elements, and creates spatial depth."

Reference :

Alexey Kovalsky (2024) Learn How To Create a Victorian Era Environment in Unreal Engine[online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/learn-how-to-create-a-victorian-era-environment-in-unreal-engine/[Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 13 Playing" Bus Simulator 21" 01

Experience Bus Simulation 21 and learn game-making methods. It can be said that game design includes many aspects, including gameplay, level design, characters and dialogues, story and plot, music and sound effects, UI design, etc. Based on the knowledge learned, games are all initiated by a document that can record the content to be done, which is a preproduction, including storyboards, conceptual art, scene models, and other design techniques. So today I also experienced this game that I love, Bus Simulator 21, and I would like to share my views from these perspectives.

Firstly, there is the gameplay, and each game has a tutorial that tells players how to operate it. This is essential to provide players with a better driving experience. Then there are some rules for driving buses, and whether the player driver really abides by them. There are also some reward rules in the game. If a player completes a route while driving, there will be some game currency rewards. With these rewards, they can purchase a new bus, which is actually equivalent to a driver becoming the owner of a bus company that serves the city, completes all tasks, and the game ends. I really like this type of simulation business game. Its feeling reminds me of "Sims"

Reference

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 12 Assets

The next step is to search for corresponding assets. Finding suitable assets can help us use them more efficiently. Assets can be divided into many types, including models, materials, animations, and some toolkits, all of which can help us complete them quickly. The following pictures are some assets that I have found.

Afterwards, we will analyze the assets. Some asset packages are composed of different components. If some are a series and the style of the assets is more suitable for the concept map, then I think it can be selected. Afterwards, assets can be classified by material types, roughly including stone, fabric, plastic, wood grain, glass, etc. Or classify based on model sizes, such as exterior walls, interior walls, doors and windows, wood, roofs, etc.

Reference

Small Town Stores - Modular Pack https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/small-town-stores-modular-pack/questions

Western Town https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/western-town.

Modular Medieval Town - Medieval Town https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/modular-medieval-town-megapack-medieval-town

Medieval Modular Town https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/medieval-modular-town-01

Theodore McKenzie (2023) Fantasy Castle: A New Environment Asset Pack for Unreal Engine 5[online]Available at https://80.lv/articles/fantasy-castle-a-new-environment-asset-pack-for-unreal-engine-5/ [Accessed by 25 Apr 2024]

[practice2minghanwang]

Blog 11 Designing Route

The next step is to design the route. I consulted Wayne about this before, and he also gave me good advice. Because when I was in China before, the route emphasized straight lines and rarely had diagonal lines and curves. But he told me that curves can enhance the beauty of the picture. I also started my own thinking.

This is the final route I designed, and I divided this map into four areas: residential area, entertainment area, office area, and heritage area. Due to the small size of this town, the route design is not as complex. Afterwards, 5 stations will be designed, including a large station for passengers to transfer easily. Below, let me explain the specific details of each area: residential areas, mostly consisting of residential buildings, hotels, grocery stores, and small parks; Office areas are usually post offices, schools, hospitals, and train stations. The entertainment area mainly includes restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, cinemas, and large supermarkets; Historical areas are usually museums, art galleries, landmarks, amusement parks, and libraries. This is a rough roadmap that will be considered during the production process.

Reference

Seda Yanık, Salim Yılmaz (2022) Optimal design of a bus route with short‑turn services.[online ] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363552471_Optimal_design_of_a_bus_route_with_short-turn_services[Accessed 25 Apr. 2024]