Ancient Library in unity

Join us as we delve into an antique-filled Ancient Library and how the scene was crafted. Discover how Jefferson Bacquey utilized concept art and created story, implemented modularity as well as Megascans and iterated on his piece to produce a cozy, atmospheric library.

Intro

Hello everyone. First of all, I would like to thank Experience Points for allowing me to do this article, seeing my work featured in the middle of all this fantastic work is absolutely great. My name is Jefferson Bacquey, I'm 24 years old and I'm currently a Junior Environment / Props Artist at Ubisoft Düsseldorf. I started working in the video games world a year and a half ago. First of all, I had the chance to do my final internship at Ubisoft Paris for 6 months, which was a very enriching experience. Then I joined Ubisoft Annecy for four months on an unannounced AAA project and then Ubisoft Mainz on ANNO 1800. I decided to work in video games when I was very young and played my first game on my father's computer, "Hype the Time Quest", a Ubisoft game by the way...

Composition

For this piece I based it on the concept of the talented Andreas Rocha, a master of composition and atmosphere in his work. I am often brought to work on big stages, creating large buildings, entire streets and the elements that complete these vast spaces for the glory of the open world. But for once I wanted to focus on the opposite, making a smaller stage where you feel a little cramped, which would also tell you a story and make you ask yourself questions everywhere you look. I opted for a corridor in order to confine the viewer's view and put them in close proximity to all the details, each one being filled with small attentions to keep their concentration as long as possible and arouse their curiosity. I placed as many vanishing lines as possible in order to reinforce the depth aspect of the corridor so as not to be faced with an image that would ultimately be "flat".

For my stage I wanted to create a warm and cosy atmosphere but I also wanted to convey a certain "freshness" like a draft. I think the marriage of the two gives the perfect mix between security and slight discomfort. I chose interior candlelight to bring this warmth and I decided on a very white and clear natural exterior light as well as a very light mist on the floor to create a feeling of temperature. Moreover I made sure that each light point leads to a "mini stage" inside the scene itself, even if I had to leave some parts of the set in the shade to create contrasts.

Story

For my scene I didn't really want to tell a specific story. Above all, I wanted to capture an atmosphere and let everyone's imagination do the rest. I was therefore pleasantly surprised that some people thought the scene was set in a boat, and others in an airship! I also wanted to make it feel like the stage is inhabited by someone who might have left the place a few minutes ago. To do this I positioned equipment such as a coat and a parade sword suggesting that the character had just arrived and put down his things. Similarly, I placed props suggesting recent activity in the scene such as books and equipment that were misplaced...

Working From A Concept

I chose Andreas Rocha's concept because I think it's different from what we're used to seeing in terms of the angle of view indoors and it also reminded me of the camera shots from the first Resident Evil games, which I played a lot. The main advantage of working with a concept is the time saving in the composition of the environment. You start working with a well-established plan and thus guarantee a good graphic coherence, provided of course that the initial concept is good. However, adapting a concept can be complex because the camera shot is never exactly the same or simply what was good in the concept is "empty" or not really suitable in 3D. It is essential to iterate on the basic concept in order not to make a stupid copy, but to try to appropriate it to make it viable in its media, in my case 3D. I wanted to deviate from the concept in terms of the light, which for me was too much of a hindrance to visibility, as I wanted to show as many assets as possible and I chose to modify certain pieces of furniture in order to fill the space more, as can be seen in the foreground.

Iteration

To explain the iterations of my scene, here is a summary with a selection of the most important advances:

1. First of all I placed the volumes of the room. I created the texture of the walls as soon as possible because in my opinion it's easier to realize the real volume of a room like this than with a white blocking. I also started to do a first edition of my lighting very quickly.

2. I finished adjusting the volume of the room by modifying the walls and finishing a V1 of their textures.

3. I then placed the main furniture without texture or UV to see if any modifications were necessary.

4. I adjusted the furniture and did their textures. I also refined my lighting in anticipation of the upcoming props.

5. One of the most important steps for me was to create some props to fill the space. I didn't do it earlier because I don't like to see props as a placeholder. For me, it has to work and be nice to look at even without the props.

6. I continued to create props but mostly I continued to refine the lighting with a new window that reflects a light back to the foreground, which adds depth to the scene. I also took the opportunity to replace the furniture that no longer suited me.

7. I finished adjusting the lights for the last time and moved all the elements with my final camera angle. I also took the opportunity to break the repetitiveness of the books with small elements.

8. The final result :)

Small Elements That Help Tell The Story

All these kinds of elements are very important because in video games we only have two senses that are mostly solicited, sight and hearing. If you want to give an impression of freshness in your scene it goes through all these little pieces of information. A simple curtain that moves sends us back to a draught in the corridor, a jar of incense with a particular smell... Even unconsciously, it helps us to understand and immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of a scene.

Unity Tools

For this work, I used Unity High Definition Render Pipeline, an extremely powerful and really remarkable new mode, also quite economical in MAP.

I chose Unity because I find that contrary to other engines, I find it easier to get the lightning and a rendering exactly as I would imagine by detaching the FX already present from the engine. I also think I have a particular fondness for Unity which has been growing at an exponential rate for the past few years. I can't wait to see what happens next.

The advice I can give with Unity is to experiment with HDR as well as the LRWP, two rendering modes that are far too little exploited and that give incredible results.

An advice I can give to junior artists and students, don't hesitate to get together between artists to set up a common stage to train, it will make you learn faster and will benefit everyone.

Megascans

I used Megascans for just about every material on the stage, such as the walls, the bookcase on the left, the floor and the ceiling. In order to integrate them seamlessly and especially to make them unique, I took the time to retouch the exported maps in Photoshop to make the necessary modifications to suit what I wanted to do with them. I also support my modifications with geometry in 3ds Max. Note that this is not that expensive on performance as I can simply remove this geometry on the first LOD level.

The main interest of Megascans is that it’s a fantastic time saver, I don't think it's made to replace more precise software like Substance Designer but when you need a generic material bank it's perfect.

Modular Assets

Here are the modular assets I created for this scene:

In fact, in order to make modular assets effective with each other, it is precisely necessary to avoid making them too unique, as this could create much more blatant repetition than if the module had been much simpler.

So to make each module unique I prefer to use props and decals in order to have full control over the level of detail of my environments.

Inspiration

I find a good part of my inspiration by dancing in my shower and daydreaming about universes or stories I invent for myself, and also by listening to a lot of music while going for a walk.

Feedback

I get feedback on my work from as many people as possible and this at every stage of my scene. I ask friends who are in the business, I question professionals and seniors who all take the time to answer my questions and give me feedback on my work.

To name a few to whom I owe a lot, Matt Wilkins or Ognyan Zahariev. I also interview my parents or other people who are absolutely not in my field of activity, whether they are in the luxury leather goods industry or a future veterinarian, everyone can give their opinion, see things or make interesting comments about my work.

Advice

I think I'm still a little too young in the industry to speak to everyone but I can give some advice to Games Art students and those looking for an internship or a first job. You have to ask for advice and feedback as much as possible and from everyone, even if sometimes it hurts your ego, it's essential.

Go to Artstation and contact Senior Artists and ask them for feedback on your portfolio. It doesn't cost you anything but time and these people will be happy to help you, it's worth all the courses and schools in the world.

Future Works

At the moment I'm working on a FULLY modular Western city, both the buildings and the props that can be found there, still on Unity HDR. I can't wait to share it with you!

Outro

Thanks again to the Experience Points team for allowing me to do this article, it's a fantastic experience and I hope I've interested you! See you soon I hope!