tranquil Tree Shrine in UE4

Remy Vignaud talks us through the creation of his tranquil, organic scene, Tree Shrine. Remy shares how to improve your understanding of lighting and use of colour. We also learn how he created his tree using ZBrush and SpeedTree as well as the differences between working in film and real time. Join us for this jam-packed article!

Intro

My name is Remy Vignaud, I am Associate Lead Modeler Environment at TAT Productions. My job is to create the workflow of the modelling team and help them to find technical solutions during the production. I have been working there for 4 years and I have taken part in the environment modelling and also of the lighting of 2 movies released at the cinema ‘The Jungle Bunch’ and ‘Terra Willy'. Today I am working on a third feature film ‘Pil’s Adventures’, currently in production.

I studied at the Studio M school in France. After graduating, I started my career as a freelancer, mainly in advertising and architecture. A few years later, I decided to turn to animated feature movies and joined the TAT Productions team.

Composition

My purpose was to focus the attention on the tree and the small houses. In order to do this, I increased the distance and the contrast of the foreground and the background to position the important assets in the view center.

Colour and Light

Before starting to place the lights, I made sure that all the elements were correctly textured. So I created a basic scene in Unreal with neutral lighting. In this way, I could easily check the colors, textures and materials applied in the scene.

For textures, I created a “Master Material” and added some parameters to control the values of the maps.

After I finished placing the props, I started by creating the lighting. My lighting included:

• Directional light

• Skylight with HDRI

• Atmospheric and Exponential Height Fog

• Post Process Volume

I added some lights placed above the branches to maximise the focus to the tree. In this way, I could change the parameters of these lights without having to modify the overall lighting.

The rest of the atmosphere comes from the Height Fog which dominates the whole scene and a few adjustments with the Post Process Volume to add effects on the intensity and contrast of the colours.

Influence and Style

In this scene, I was influenced by this concept created by Emilie V.F. The curves of the tree for example and the style of the houses, it was a very good start. I visualized the final scene with a dirty and worn style and at the same time filled with vegetation to contrast it. It’s in this point of view that I worked.

I never really asked myself this question, but I think that it’s the curiosity and the desire to improve my skills that has developed my style over the years so I’m glad people like it!

Leaves

I used Photoshop to create the leaves texture. I started by assembling several photos until I got an interesting shape and hand painted it to merge the colours.

Then, I created the trunk, then the branches, the secondary branches and finally the leaves in Speedtree. SpeedTree is quite easy to use.

Scultping The Tree

The trick is to use the tree's base mesh made with SpeedTree. I worked on the volumes of the trunk and the first branches only. Then I used the polygroups to divide the branches from the trunk and I sculpted the volumes by using the “Claytube” and “Dam Standard” brushes.

For softening the surface, I used the “Smooth” and “Polish” brushes. They are really useful!

Tips For Using ZBrush

My tip would be to use simple brushes... standard, move, claytube, dam standard... they are very helpful! ZBrush is quite difficult to use in the beginning, so start with easy props. Use a sphere to make a rock, for example, that is a good practice for learning.

Where I Strayed From The Concept

Mainly on small vegetation. I wanted something more dense and I desired to give a more pleasant feeling in this place.

I think one of the biggest benefits of a concept is that it already has a story, a shape and colours... All this information is very useful for creating a scene. On the other side, the drawbacks are that you must respect the intentions of the design, the scale between the assets etc. This is not always that obvious.

How Procedural Workflows Will Affect Environment Artist In The Future

Procedural techniques can be a great benefit to increase the production and simplify the workflow, it makes sense that the film and video game industries keep on trying to improve this evolution! I think for the Environment Artists, it is also an opportunity to build up more complex and more realistic environments using tools that are more easily editable.

What I Would Tell My Younger Self

Hahaha this question is not easy to answer! I think I would join the artists community on the net without delaying and I would try to be active by participating in the discussions or asking for feedback on my work. This, in my opinion is a good way to improve your work.

Advice For Environment Artists Starting Their Careers

Do not rush to fill out your portfolio. Take your time to build beautiful images, make nice projects and tell yourself that this is central for you in order to find a job. If you want to work in environments, observe them and create them! Watch the diversity, the forms of the trees or the scattering of the grass... All details count. Be curious.

Differences Between Junior, Mid and Senior Environment Artists

I would say that the main difference between them is experience in production and mastery of the whole pipeline. A Junior knows the fundamentals but unlike a Mid, they have a small amount of professional experience. Thus, a Senior Artist is an expert who will be able to understand and resolve problems.

For a Junior to evolve is to get experience in production and get to know the software that they use. And for a Middle, they must focus on the technique and mastery of tools.

Selecting Colour Palettes

It depends on the project and the mood of the scene you want to render. On the “Tree Shrine” project for example, I used tints of blue/green to get the feeling of balance and serenity and contrasted with yellow/orange to increase a warm feeling.

Improving Your Understanding Of Colour

The best way would be by working with emotions or on a special style. What feeling do you want to bring to the scene? A sense of fear? A sense of joy? Is it a realistic environment? Is it an apocalyptic world instead?

All these questions will allow you to define your color palette.

When working on Terra Willy how was working on each unique environment? What are some tips for making each feel unique but maintaining a consistent style across all of them?

Terra Willy’s environments were incredibly detailed! The Concept Artists did an incredible job creating a whole universe with hundreds of assets.

The Environment Modelers team in which I worked and the Environment Textures team worked really hard for months to create these assets, incorporating as many variations as possible. It is with these variations that we have built all the landscapes.

Differences Between Working In Film and Real Time

In truth, there are not as many differences as you might think. Today the tools available in video game and film productions are quite similar.

Optimization is probably the most distant technique. It is really present and essential in a game engine to avoid seeing the FPS drop. In the film industry, it is common to increase the amount of polygons on an asset or use high-resolution maps to get the quality you need for rendering.

When working on a movie or short film how do you keep composition in mind as a character moves through an environment and several shots?

The environments for films are designed in a defined area. The cameras are placed around these areas and we adjust the set dressing according to them. In this way, you can easily add a foreground or move a prop that would prevent an action with a character for example.

Inspiration

I find inspiration in everything around me! The environments that I observe, and the objects as well. I visualize them from a different angle or with different textures. I spend my free time imagining new ideas and looking for references on Pinterest or Google Images.

Feedback

I look for feedback on social networks and galleries like Artstation. But before making a project public, I first ask my co-workers for feedback.

Advice

Working on a project can last for weeks or even months depending on the time you can dedicate to it. If you can, share your work in progress on your blog. For example, add a turntable of your ZBrush model or a image with the wireframe of your prop.

Future Works

I will try to improve my sculpting with Zbrush and my knowledge of Substance also. I would like to produce the highest possible quality props.

Outro

First I would like to thank Experience Points for making this possible!

Secondly, I really hope that I helped you learn some tips and tricks... You can discover my work on my Artstation and feel free to leave a comment!