I’ve finally finished Plas Newydd scene I have modeled all assets to scale of each other and so they can be instantly dropped into any scene with the right scale. All the assets have been cataloged in an asset catalog that gives any relevant information that is needed. I composed my scene within the unreal engine. Bellow is a video and some screenshots of the scene.
One of the techniques we can use is using height map data to replicate the terrain in our environments. Plas Newydd is a fairly small place so the height map data would not have been accurate enough for the scenery. I decided to show my practice of this using the data from my home town of Beverley.
I have applied the used of blend shapes and blend colours to allow to get random deformities in the same rock to allow for a large variation.
I decided to add some Inverse Kinematic handles to my character so that any further animation will be more natural.
I have made some progress with the scene of Plas Newydd and I have added a bench half of the hedges and the stones that are in the garden. I still have the main gardens in front of the house to do and a few other small assets.
For one of the tasks I was tasked with creating a animated seamless texture. I followed the tutorial give to make one on an umbrella shape. I then took this further and implemented it on some running water coming out of a tap to give the illusion that the water is moving.
Here are my results from experimenting with fuel and fire.
As part of one of our workshops we are required to learn the use of particle systems within maya. Below are a few videos from using different types of forces and emitters.
Blending shapes is something I have previously done with character animations for faces. Here i have just done a basic example again of how it works.
For building up the scene of Plas Newydd I have decided to do it within the Unreal Engine as this will allow me or any user to walk around and see everything from every angle. As I had already made the 2 largest assets (House and Water Tower). I decided to import them into the engine to make sure I have achieved the correct scale.
I decided I wanted to create the terrain and landscape that Plas Newydd has. As the area of Plas Newydd is quite small and flat I decided against importing a heightmap from external sources and model the terrain with the help of reference images and from what I remembered from the locational visit. There are some typographical changes that I needed to make but I was able to replicate the approximate terrain of the area.
I also started painting on the textures for each part of the terrain. I was able to split the textures up into 3 different textures that can be repeated; Grass, Dirt, Gravel. Although the image above makes the differences look quite harsh they will be blended out as more assets are added to the scene. Each texture is a seamless texture which allows for vast repetition and when up close, a seam cannot be seen.
These textures will be changed as I believe that currently they are too vibrant and do not accurately replicate some of the textures seen at Plas Newydd.
The Terrain material requires a node network within unreal to allow different paint layer for the terrain.
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