“We’re Going in!” - Apartment Raid in ue4

In this article we’re joined by Stefan as we deep dive into the creation process for his environment, “We’re Going In!”. We find out how Stefan planned his composition and lighting, created modular pieces, built custom materials and much more. It’s time to go in!

Intro

My name is Stefan Oprisan, I’m originally from Romania and I am a Material Artist at Ubisoft Leamington and previously worked at Frontier Developments on the titles Elite Dangerous and Planet Zoo. I got into the world of 3D in the early days of 2008 when Call of Duty was at its peak with people creating montages. My journey started with editing and creating video montages which expanded into learning Cinema 4D, and then later Maya/3ds Max. If I remember correctly, my earliest days of gaming were spent playing Duck Hunt!

Composition Planning

First and foremost I started with a simple blockout trying to determine how to match the angle of the concept in Unreal. Since the main inspiration was a 2D concept, it was quite challenging matching the perspective and it's important to note that perspective from 2D to 3D can be challenging to don't let this become a bottleneck in the work you're doing. 

Alongside I already had a moodboard of additional reference to support the visual style, colour palette, lighting, props, etc to help guide me what I wanted to create. Always refer to these when you struggle figuring out how to take your initial idea further.

Furthermore I try to create my compositional shots based around the story elements I want to portray in my work. I create my camera angles in a linear way so that when you scroll through the image library the previous image already has components of the next one down the line. My advice is start simple then expand.

Composition Paintover

First and foremost I wanted the main viewing angle to be on the slightly opened door. The story was to create tension between what's behind the door and make the viewer create their own interpretation and imagination based on the surrounding environment. The use of audio in the video helped massively give context and understanding behind these scene choices. The scattered litter, smashed windows, decayed walls were all hints to portray the rundown building and the living conditions in the building. I researched a lot of references to find appropriate imagery to support what I was trying to convey with also the added motion in the cinematic video.

Lighting

Most of the heavy lifting is done by the directional light, skylight, volumetric fog and SSGI. There are spotlights scattered in the scene but only to create additional points of interest. The more important factor out of all 4 was balancing the volumetric Godrays to behave realistically but also look good. This was something that I was tweaking on a constant basis to get them right plus the added particles of the dust flickering when the camera was angled at them.

Working From A Concept

Creating an exact replica of the scene was tricky so I used my imagination to create something interesting In this particular artwork.I initially matched the concept as close as possible then started adding other elements from other references I found. I used the UE4 mannequin to create realistic movement areas to ensure the scale felt believable. I ended up changing the scale of the scene several times until it felt right as I know this can have a massive impact in the overall scale and feel of the image.

Additionally the original concept doesn't hold much prop detail so I wanted to add further layers of a rundown apartment complex, so I created a mood board with a list of props to make to add layers of story around the scene.

Modular Kit

I created a modular kit for the main architectural components such as walls, railing, stairs, ceiling, floors. The walls are using a world space projection, heightmap vertex blended with 3 layers. The materials were brick, plaster clean and plaster peeled. In the shader I ensured that the damaged plaster would only be painted on if the brick was already exposed as I wanted to have a soft blend of clean plaster in between.

Custom Materials

The custom materials for this project were the height blend wall which included, brick, clean/damaged plaster. This was fun to create and work with as it gave a lot of creative freedom to create specific visual looks in the scene. Attached below is a breakdown of one of the material functions used to blend on the wall. It features Parallax Occlusion Mapping for that depth especially on the brick and damaged plaster.

Besides these 2 I also created the heightmap motion on the cloth against the wall. This was challenging but rewarding seeing the effect and mood it created on the overall scene.

Finally working on the particles was really fun as they really brought the scene to life showcasing the age and wear. I wanted the viewer to understand and feel how rundown the building is and how life would have been. The glittering and fly particles in the cinematic videos add that extra layer of motion to the scene to make it pop.

Project Management

This project I used a management tool called HacknPlan. It's a special tool for game development so it was quite fun to try something new. I split all my work into individual tasks varying from making props, shaders, but also researching a location for proper reference, a specific time of day, audio, type of hero narrative assets etc. The great thing about the tool is that you can move it into “In Progress” then “Testing” then mark it as “Completed”. Keeps everything nice and tidy with a colour overlay.

Substance Designer

For this particular project I wanted the emphasis on debris, dirt and dust. In the Megascans library they have these corner dirt decals that are fantastic for placing around corners and edges of the world to build layers of interest and detail.

Of course I wanted to replicate a similar system in Substance Designer and created my own tool to input any debris shape and have it scattered based on several rules and parameters. It got me pretty close to the result and worked very well in-engine. Instead of flat decals I used floating meshes to also give some subtle shadowing from the materials which gave more depth to the scene.

I also created my own leak and grunge generator in Substance Designer. I wanted to give insane levels of roughness variation and with the use of decals I created several variations which were applied in scene. Here is a video showing the number of variations you can create with the tool.

The other key materials were the modular components such as brick, plaster, wood and concrete. It all comes down to having good reference and ensuring you don't go overkill on your materials. Nothing can halt your progress more than spending too long on a specific component of the project and that will show in the end. It's best to get your work to 75%+ happy and iterate upon the scene as a whole, always think big picture when showcasing environment work.

Dust Particles

All of my particle work comes from one of the learner projects Unreal Engine 4 comes with. Makes sense to use a particle as a base and modify it based on the needs of the project. Most of the time I just clean the material, add simple fade and colour tints. The dust particles were a big deal in the main shot as I wanted to show off the glittering effects the volumetric lighting had on the particles. To achieve this effect I changed the colour tint method in the particle to a constant curve which allowed me to change the colour based on the life of the particle.

Inspiration

A lot of my inspiration comes from Artstation. Usually in the morning I like to browse for a few minutes to get my mind into the correct mindset before I start the day. I also have my personal collection of concepts which I liked which one day I hope to pick one to make for my own personal take.

Feedback

I seek my feedback from close colleagues, especially on Discord as it's such a direct and quick way to get feedback. Discord has really changed the way artists can showcase and get feedback on their work. It used to be going on polycount and waiting a few days for only one person to reply whereas now it only a matter of a few minutes you get several people giving feedback which you could take on board. Art communities such as EXP and Dinusty have become a huge part of the industry so I highly recommend joining both of them.

Tips & Advice

One of the most common tips I can offer is get as much feedback early on before you have spent a lot of time on the project. Especially on the fundamentals and building block of any project which is the blockout. Iterate and iterate until you are satisfied with the quality and structure of what you are aiming for. Especially if it's inspired from real life or a game which would have used real life reference. Following on, don't be shy to share your work even when it's in the blockout stage.

Future Work

Expect various things from me if you haven't already as my Trello board is getting quite full. You can check out more of my work here.