---
# System prepended metadata

title: Independent Game Art Studio Practice (1J6Z1015_2324_9F)

---

###### tags: `Art Studio Practice` `Games Art` `Independent Game Art` 
# <19096503>1J6Z1015_journal
(https://hackmd.io/@JunoFBX/SkXiWncgp)
### Independent Game Art Studio Practice (1J6Z1015)
### Games Art BA(HONS) L6
### Junaid Sheikh

---
## Introduction
Game Art studio practice refers to the process of developing skills to produce high quality assets for a video game. 
The aim of this project is to create a diorama showcasing environments and characters within a fantasy world. Producing a diorama presents an opportunity for me to investigate new technical processes, develop my creative techniques and produce innovative work.

### Project Brief
The project brief 'Fantasy Diorama Scene' presents an interesting opportunity to conceptualise an environment with fantasy influences. I have chosen to create an environment diorama, focusing on creating a habitat that fantasy critters and creatures could reside in.

After consulting about workflow, I decided to collaborate with other Game Artists that could produce character concepts as well as environment concepts that could benefit my working process. 

I would individually work on my own concepts for an environment diorama, whilst also collaborating with others to produce assets, character models and textures/shaders that can be used universally by the group.

---
## Game Concept
After discussing the brief with my studio group, we decided to create a medieval themed Souls-like fantasy world where various creatures, enemies and characters co-exist. 
I had envisioned my diorama as an environment full of historical landmarks and mythical creatures that are common within folklore tales. This meant the scene would be portrayed as a fictional historic environment that reinvents medieval technologies.

---
## Environment Lore Concepts
After considering the potential of this project, I decided upon creating lore for the world environment as storytelling provides a great source of inspiration and can lend to further developments within group production.

The environment concept that I will be presenting to the group will be a mangrove forest swamp, heavily inspired by the Amazon Rainforest.

### Darkroot Forest Lore
The Darkroot forest houses various wildlife as well as magic wielding enemies that could boost the arsenal of those who are willing to challenge this high risk environment for valuable rewards. The trees are known to move, changing orientation and hindering any efforts of navigating out of the forest. Once in the forest, the player is affected by a hex preventing them from escaping and this can only be resolved with the help of a wizarding friend.

The lands of (world name) have various other places of interest, such as the Castle situated at the top of (Mount name), various ransacked villages and remains of ruined buildings that once held a reputation of a thriving society.

### The River of Lost Souls
The River of Lost Souls flows through the center of Darkroot Forest and is a testament to all things dangerous in this habitat. The mangrove trees that line the river are known to drag unsuspecting victims into this river using their roots and those that lose their lives in this river come back as a shell of their former self, haunting the surrounding areas as a creature known as the Hollow. 

The Hollow are creatures that float around the forest aimlessly searching for other travellers they can possess in order to restore themselves and come back to reality. However due to the dark magic that suffocates the forest, their deranged efforts never release them from their torment. They can be temporarily banished in combat, but they will always be restored to the same body they were bound to on death at witching hour every few days.

---
## Moodboard and Visual Research
Prior to concepting ideas, I decided to create a moodboard of all the various concepts I had for my environment. I had a vision of producing a dark rainforest or swamp biome that had a tall landmark that serves as a beacon that can be seen anywhere across the map. Below is a moodboard of all the different ideas I thought of for the environment diorama and what I was considering for development. I took a broad look at flora within the Amazon rainforest, gothic architectural buildings and various exotic creature concepts and existing organisms that live within humid habitats.

![Darkroot Forest moodboard](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByR__0O4a.png)

---
## Initial Environment Sketches
After collecting a variety of references on my moodboard, I began to concept some ideas for what the surrounding swamp would look like, as well as some simple concepts for the cathedral that would be in the center of the swamp/rainforest habitat.

---
## World Environment Thumbnails
I decided upon creating some environment thumbnails for the entire world scene, depicting some key landmarks and locations as a simple graphic concept. I created a variety of simple monochromatic scenes that could be used as a simple but effective visual representation of the world concept. This would be great for my personal use as well as the rest of the group I am collaborating with for use as a simple but tailored reference.

![Crow King Throne](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1AE_IPBp.png)
*Throne Room graphic concept depicting the King Farax's throne and dead trees that serve as a perch for ravens.*
![Knights](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1CEOUPHa.png)
*A corridor showing a part of the castle interior, with gothic windows and knight armor that serve as decor, referencing the Knights of Nackanas.*
![Castle](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ry0E_LDr6.png)
*A closer view of the castle that serves as residence to King Farax and his Knights of Nackanas that have invaded the realm and taken over.*
![Overworld](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/SJ0NdLvrp.png)
*View of the overworld, highlighting the vast grasslands, forests and the castle situated at the highest point of the world.*
![Forest](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryx0VOUwrp.png)
*View of the River of Lost Souls that is situated within the Darkroot forest, with a view of the Seraph Cathedral in the distance.* 
![Sand Dunes](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BkAEu8wHT.png)
*A view of a desert and vast sand dunes, referencing the land of one of the playable characters that travel to this realm.*
![Asia](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryeANdLvB6.png)
*An alternate viewpoint of the mountains depicting a woman of in a village on the outskirts, referencing the land of one of the playable characters that travel to this realm.*

---
# Fields of Research
After creating some light concepts for my environment, I decided to conduct research on existing sources that could aid me in creating the right atmosphere, ecology of biological creatures in the forest and creating a detailed centerpiece for a gothic monument that would exist in the forest.

I proceeded to investigate rainforests as I had a concept to produce a mangrove swamp as an exotic biome within the fantasy realm this would give a detailed and strong visual input towards my production of a rainforest swamp biome, as well as understanding the types of animals and creatures that may exist in this environment. I also researched about Gothic cathedrals, learning about the construction of these buildings and key architectural features that highlight the Gothic architectural style.

---
## Research: Gothic Representation in Media
When looking at the representation of Gothic european era, I chose to look at artistic representation. There were a variety of strong sources, but the ones I chose to research was ***Vermis I*** by Plastiboo.

### Vermis  I
The lore book is best referred to by the publisher's description, "A pure act of world-building inspired by old dungeon crawler games. It could be considered an official guide of a game that doesn't exist, since it's not a game at all!"

The lore book is a compendium of various artworks depicting a souls-like game. There are a variety of UI features, creature and enemy concepts and subtext explaining the lore behind the creatures, items and points of interest that contribute to world building. All of the artwork is produced by Plastiboo and the released book is referred to as an official guide, despite there being no functional game produced from these concepts. It's a rather interesting piece of literature, due to the relation of its thematic style and various artworks that contribute to setting the scene for the nonexistent game, even going into detail about certain mechanics like stats for characters and weapons or items. 
When looking at this book, I found some great aspects of design that I could consider when thinking of my creature concepts and environment concepts when I reach the later stages of production.


![vermis (1)](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJJWqFwra.png)
Figure 1: Front cover of the official guide to Vermis I.
Plastiboo, published November 2023, *Vermis I*, accessed 18th November 2023, available at: https://hollow-press.net/products/vermis-i

---
## Research: Historical Gothic Monuments
In order to create my own stylised models for the environment, I would need to do thorough research on 12th Century - 16th Century Gothic Architecture. Since I wanted to approach the model with a realistic design, I decided to focus my studies on key features of Gothic architecture that separates it from other architectural buildings of different time periods and regions.

I produced a moodboard to provide a generalised thematic reference for different European Gothic buildings, as well as screenshots of Gothic Architecure representation in virtual fantasy environments. This would serve as a key source of inspiration and a good reference sheet while sculpting my Cathedral.

![Cathedral moodboard](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HyYYXAuEa.png)

---
To gain a better understanding of indicative elements of Gothic architecture, I refined my study to look at designs for windows, and archways, whilst also looking at unique features that represent Gothic architecture. For a building to be considered Gothic, they must include flying buttresses,  long pointed arches, stained-glass windows ribbed vaults for the interior and spires. 

The design of gothic spires is referred to as a flèche and is highlighted by its slender, spiked frame. It is typically found on churches, castles and other significant buildings, with the intention of inspiring grandeur and power to locals whilst appearing hostile and dangerous to outsiders.

Gothic stained glass windows are signified by their larger scale designs and patterned frames. Typically on cathedrals and churches of 12th Century onwards, these buildings would feature a large, circular frame window on its front facade, allowing for vast amounts of light to filter inside.

Another key feature of gothic architecture was vastly more stylised patterns with fencing, barriers, archways and window frames. Evolving from Romanesque architecture, it took classic inspiration from Greek Corinthian architecture by implementing floral designs for pillars, windows and barriers to create a more pleasing, classical aesthetic. These decorative elements would be implemented in various churches such as the Notre Dame, Duomo di Milano and Barcelona Cathedral, each a different representation of Gothic architecture within European countries.

Flying exterior buttresses and ribbed vaults are another key feature of Gothic architecture that is vital for structure as well as aesthetics. Due to the tall nature of Gothic buildings, a lot of structural support was necessary. Ribbed vaults provide an illusion of a much larger space whilst providing strong structural support within the roof. Flying buttresses provide strong vertical support, which allow for taller spires to be constructed with a strong foundation. Without flying buttresses and ribbed vaults, Gothic constructions would not be able to be constructed to the size and certain features like the fleche spires would not rise to the heights they could without strong structural support.

---
## Case Study: Gothic Architecture in Video Game Production

### Synopsis
I decided to research the industry standard for environmental production by looking at a variety of articles, interviews and workflows of certain individuals to produce good quality assets with an efficient working process. I wanted to understand more about modular kit building and how to produce good quality textures for detailed models for a realistic environment.

The topic of this case study is on an article titled: *Recreating Gothic Architecture in Substance 3D & Unreal Engine 5*, produced by Environment Artist Mika Kuwilsky who previously worked at Ubisoft to produce environment assets.

### Introduction

The purpose of the case study is to understand the benefit of modular building as a 3D Environment Artist and potentially learn of new techniques or workflows that have been implemented by professional artists.
At this point in the project, I am confident in producing a high quality model with complex assets and modular features, but I would like to understand how to build fully functional modular features for my environment, more specifically my Gothic Cathedral. On top of this, I hope to learn more about Unreal Engine 5 and how I can render and set up scenes with effective impact through lighting, fog and other emissive features that could help to create a unique atmosphere.
I hope with this case study to be able to translate some of the knowledge in the article into a means of efficient workflow for myself.

The article I chose to explore, written by Mika Kuwilsky explores how they produce a modular kit from reference photos, how they textured their model and their steps for rendering in Unreal Engine 5. This is significant as it would provide some valuable information on how post processing works in UE5, as well as their thought process for building modular features.

### Research - Concept Development process

Mika Kuwilsky studied Media Informatics and Interactive entertainment and grew an interest for Environment Art. Their prior experience with oil painting, stone sculpting and programming gave them a more logical approach to constructing environments.

Their workflow was an amalgamation of online tutorials and techniques learned from their time at Ubisoft and from other experienced artists within the industry.

They began their creative process by finding references that could aid in concepting the environment and creating an architecturally correct modular kit. Their choice of references were the Utrecht Cathedral in Netherlands and the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

Conducting primary research is valuable for understanding the construction of buildings in a certain architectural style, as well as being able to figure out components that you could separate when producing your modular assets. During primary research investigation, you are also able to produce more tailored results for your purposes and can focus on the components you wish to recreate a lot easier than it would be to produce something from secondary research photos or sources of media.

During the interview, Mika Kuwilsky said,
>"Since most gothic cathedrals have more detail than I needed for my purposes, I reduced them to the most characteristic elements. This way I was able to use a smaller number of individually baked assets and reduce the total amount of kit parts."

This proved an interesting ideology for optimisation and iteration as her mention of certain components having more detail than necessary for modelling led to her reducing them to their most characteristic components in order to capture the architectural style with sufficient representation. By cutting back on the number of required parts and assets, she was able to provide an optimised modular kit that could be easily iterated with.

### Research - Modelling process

Kuwilsky began her modelling process by producing a blockout consisting of simple shapes in blender and proceeded to iterate with them to find the correct dimensions. Her workflow was built on creating modular pieces that would an easy method of creating a full scene with minimal effort. 
Her workflow for her blockout consisted of building typical ornaments from a small set of baked assets to allow for easier iterations. The key benefit of producing modular assets straight from blocking out would be the ability to create fine tuned assets that could retain a lot of detail and would be entirely reusable for multiple projects. 
This could prove to be a difficult workflow for beginners as producing a full scene from various pieces of assets can be a difficult task if you are unable to construct a scene entirely from reusable assets, but the benefit of having optimised sets of baked assets with fully reusable components makes it worthwhile.


### Research - Texturing process

During Kuwilsky's texturing process, she produced a tileable material for the walls, created some variation through creating protrusions in the stones and added ornamental design variations to create unique iterations on commonly used assets. This would prove to be a useful part of the workflow to understand how the modelled components work with textures and if certain modifications need to be implemented into the assets to provide more detail without having overlapping textures. To protect their model from having overlapping textures, she covered certain elements with an extrustion around the sides or the top in order to hide level of detail transitions for optimisation purposes.

### Research - Lighting and Rendering

At another point in the article Mika Kuwilsky mentioned, 
>"I was also very curious about Lumen, the new lighting system in Unreal Engine 5, so I also used this project to try it out and build some scenes with the kit."

Throughout the process of iterative design, there are various opportunities to learn of new tools that could provide a different opportunity to innovate the workflow. Innovation of the workflow is most likely to occur during experimentation, modelling and post-processing as these stages are likely to be influenced by the artists vision from references, insight from other practising artists or sources of media that could translate to the current project. With these fluid stages of development, iterations are more likely to provide a broad insight that becomes more refined towards the end of the production phase of the pipeline.
Lighting is a useful aspect of composition that goes hand in hand with texturing as it allows for an effective atmosphere to be created. I wanted to understand how to render scenes more effectively through the use of lighting, fog metrics and using the Node Editing system to create more refined results to the environment's atmosphere.

Through investigating the features that are available in Unreal Engine 5, I was able to learn of various practices, both relating to 3D Environment Art and of other industries that rely on similar principles. Below are some of the following:

- Sky lighting as part of Lumen's Final Gather process is able to produce accurate sky shadowing to allow for indoor spaces to be much darker than outdoor lighting, providing more natural effects with lighting.
- Lumen's Final Gather process allows for emissive materials to propagate light at no additional performance cost, making it perfect for controlled light sources.
- Volumetric Fog that can be controlled globally or locally in a scene to produce height fog through a particle system. By utilising Volumetric Scattering Intensity, a more atmospheric scene can be produced as lighting systems would interact with the fog particles.

Although some of these features are exceptionally effective, it can provide some issues with specific model requirements. The effectiveness of emissive materials is inevitably limited by how small and bright it can be before noise begins to appear. Additionally it is more difficult to solve than manually placed light sources. 
Despite this potentially being a problem, it can be noted that volumetric lightmaps are supported through precomputed lighting, meaning that volumetric fog is capable of calculating the correct values of fog particles that interact with a positioned light source.

### Recommendations from this Case Study
Through this case study, I have learned of an applied workflow for an environment model I aimed to produce and of new composition systems within Unreal Engine 5 that I will utilise in order to produce the right atmosphere through lighting and volumetric fog particles. I have learned more about producing effective modular kits which is something I aim for with my model as it would prove to be cost and time effective to have reusable components with slight iterations to provide the illusion of variations through design.

### Conclusion
From reading the article on Mika Kuwilsky, I was able to understand modular kit building for complex structures by breaking them down into their simple components and of new post processing techniques within Unreal Engine 5 to achieve a strong composition for my diorama scene. This will be vital information that I will continue to implement through my modelling, texturing and final stages of post production.

### Reference

The referenced article, written by Theodore McKenzie who interviewed Mika Kuwilsky for the article can be found here:

*80 LV - Mika Kuwilsky, 07 June 2022, Recreating Gothic Architecture in Substance 3D & Unreal Engine 5, https://80.lv/articles/recreating-gothic-architecture-in-substance-3d-unreal-engine-5/, accessed 7th November 2023.*

---
## Research: Amazonian Rainforest
Whilst considering the environment for my diorama and the surrounding scene, I investigated several exotic habitats that currently exist as sources of inspiration for my fantasy environment diorama. I found that the Amazon Rainforest provided a good variety of references, as it has a complex ecological structure with its varying mangrove swamps, rich and lush mainland jungles and thick brush consisting of fallen trees and decomposing organisms.

It is commonplace within souls-like games to have a poisionous biome, more typically a swamp that houses a variety of threatening wildlife, hostile creatures and dangerous enemies which is something I was aiming to recreate with my environment. I had a concept of producing a lush jungle environment with a thick surrounding sludge as part of the mangrove swamp, so I decided upon creating a moodboard of references that I could use as a source of inspiration to aid in creating my environment.

![Darkroot rainforest moodboard](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BkskvRuEa.png)

---
## Research: Rainforest Fauna and Flora

After taking a broad look at the composition of rainforests and their typical sub habitats, I decided upon researching about the indigenous organisms that exist in these humid and competitive environments. Typically a lot of creatures utilise aggressive phyiscal characteristics such as spiky shells and serrated scales, threatening colour patterns to ward off predators or larger appendages than organisms of similar species that provide a more offensive capabilities. Some variants of species have developed more deadlier tactics to fighting off competition or capturing prey such as venomous sacs, camouflaging and utilising the art of deception to lure in prey.

The most notable species of animals that I considered to have unique means of existing in a dangerous and competitive environment have been compiled into a moodboard, as well as some extra concept art I found of particular interest due to their exotic designs.

![Darkroot creatures moodboard](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HyJrwAOET.png)

---
# Concept Development
In order to develop a strong concept, I began to think about the style of art and the approach I would take to produce my environment diorama. I took a look at a variety of representations of swamp/rainforest biomes with souls-like atmospheres. I mostly investigated concepts that provided a dark and gloomy atmosphere as that was something I wanted to recreate with my concept of the Darkroot Forest. Below is a moodboard of some existing concepts from games and various artists on Artstation.

![Darkroot Forest concept moodboard](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BkdQNAuNp.png)

After looking at these examples, I decided to do further research into atmospheric lighting, colour hues that would work well in a gloomy and hostile swamp environment and my finalised approach to producing the main structure, the cathedral. As one of my aims for the project was to explore features within Unreal Engine 5 for environment building, I would be able to use these references for when I begin utilising Volumetric fog and lighting for my scene.

---
## Process: Environment Concepts
During my environment concepting, I took inspiration from my moodboards so I could design an environment that captured the right elements of the Darkroot Forest, the River of Lost Souls that flows through and the Seraph Cathedral that is situated within. 
I made sure to note the types of flora and trees that would exist in this forest/jungle biome hybrid and some of the creatures that would reside in this forest as they would aid in creating the right atmosphere and mood for the environment. Because the concept of this biome is quite heavy and dangerous, I needed to convey a strong visual that could capture the threat that this biome exhibits.

![Darkroot concept-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BkuFMEGSa.png)

## Process: Cathedral Blockout
I began creating a blockout for my cathedral that would serve as the main focus of my environment diorama piece. Because it is a substantial piece situated within the Darkroot forest, I decided to begin the modelling process as early as possible so I could plan out my modular kit for the project and begin the final model. Below are some of the screenshots of my initial blockout, depicting the ground floor, first floor and upper floor with the spire tower.

![Darkroot Forest - Individual Presentation](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1JGiwwHp.png)
*Blockout of the Seraph Cathedral, showing a simple construct of the cathedral's spire towers, pillars, and viewpoints that could serve as a point of interest for storytelling.

---
## Process: Cathedral Modelling Development
Once the blockout was produced, I immediately went on to produce my final model modular kit. This would consist of a variety of arches, spire towers, gothic windows, pillars and walls that could easily be replicated and repurposed around the entire model. This would be a vital part of the cathedral model development as I would need to produce all these assets to a correct scale so they can be used on multiple levels of the castle. Below are some screenshots of some modular pieces I created as part of my modular kit for the cathedral piece.

---
## Process: Creature Research
After producing some initial sketches, I chose to do some research into the representation of the Kraken, a famous sailors supersition that is supposed to have sunk a vast amount of ship fleets. The myth of the Kraken is a key source of inspiration for the creature concepts because of the reputation it holds as a deep sea gigantic cephalopod that is capable of sinking entire fleets.  The representation of Krakens have varied throughout historical context, as well as modern depictions in digital media.

From a historical context, various artists have depicted the Kraken as a large cephalopod, typically an octopus that is capable of wrapping its various tentacles around masts and the body of the ship to crack and break the boat, sinking it and killing all those unfortunate to be on board.

An Italian priest by the name of Francesco Negri travelled across Scandinavia and produced the manuscript *The Northern Lights Route*, in which he writes of what is considered the first description of the kraken. His reference of the "sciu-crak" describes a gigantic fish that is "many horned or many armed", as well as distinguishing it from a sea serpent.
As time went on, many would learn of various tales and artists would begin to produce artworks based off this legend, one of which was the artpiece titled Kraken vs. Ship that was created by William H. Lizars, a scottish painter.

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJAEuuvHT.png)
Figure 2: An engraving of a giant cephalopod creature.
Lizars, William H. 1839, *Kraken vs. ship*, viewed 20th November 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Naturalistslibra25-p326a-kraken.jpg.

These depictions would continue to exist and entertain future generations as a tale of a gigantic creature that brings danger and fear to the Scandinavian region. Within literature, there have been a vast amount of depictions of the Kraken, some of which steer this creature into eldtrich contexts. The mythos of the Kraken has inspired writers such as H.P Lovecraft to create Cthulhu. The concept of Cthulhu is heavily inspired by the poem "The Kraken" by Alfred Tennyson and holds similar lore to the myth of the Kraken.

Further along in time, modern media depicts the Kraken in its original mythological context in movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Deep Rising as a creature that exists as a creature of the deep sea.
These concepts of the Kraken typically represent it as an existing creature that exhibits deep sea gigantism and has evolved to have tough skin, sharp barbed spikes in its mouth and tentacles and has a capability of blending into its environment to attack at the most opportune moment. 

The representation of the Kraken is best shown in Pirates of the Caribbean as it takes inspiration from the original supersition and presents it as one of the antagonists in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. 
The active antagonist *Davy Jones* is based off the legendary character of pirate literature and serves as one of the Rulers of the Seven Seas that condemned himself to captain his ship, the Flying Dutchman. Davy Jones grew continuously bitter and cruel, preying on sailors lost at sea and would command the Kraken to bring more sailors to join his crew.

In the movie, the Kraken doesn't reveal its true size, but from various points of interaction, the audience is able to gauge the size of this deep sea beast by the means of destruction it causes and the size of the Kraken's mouth in relation to one of the main characters, Jack Sparrow.

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJeUlKwSp.png)
Figure 3: The Kraken attacks the Edinburgh Trader.
*Destruction of the Edinburgh Trader*, Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki,licensed screenshot by Stefan, Darth. Viewed 20th November 2023, https://pirates.fandom.com/wiki/User:Darth_Stefan/Images?file=Kraken_attacks_10.png

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BkTDGFwB6.png)
Figure 4: Kraken Mouth opening to engulf Jack Sparrow.
*Kraken (sea creature)*, Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki,licensed screenshot by Kueller. Viewed 20th November 2023, https://pirates.fandom.com/wiki/User:Darth_Stefan/Images?file=Kraken_attacks_10.png

After looking at various creative depictions of the Kraken, its representation in literature and some key characteristics that represent deep sea creatures, I proceeded to create concept designs for creatures.

---
## Process: Creature Concepts
Alongside my environment, I decided to create my own indigenous creatures that exist in this habitat. I had already produced lore for the Darkroot Forest and the River of Lost Souls, so I thought it was fitting to try and model one of the creatures that exists in the forest called the Hollow. I began my concepting by sketching some potential concept designs for eldritch inspired creatures that could exist in the forest, the river and potentially as spawned creatures for night time that could pose as a more dangerous threat.

When concepting these creatures, I did some light research on eldritch concepts, looking at how unnatural designs can instill fear. The fear of something unnatural and unknown is something I could work with for my concepts, so I chose to create some amalgamations of naturally existing organisms that could provide a sense of danger and fear to those that come across it.

![creatures](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkdDVdwST.png)
*A collective page of sketches, showcasing some creatures with unique features such as a spiky coral shell, horns, jellyfish tendrils and octopus tentacles with barbs.*

---
## Process: Creature 3D Model

After concepting creatures, I began to model the creature in Zbrush. I modelled each section separately, making the head+horns, body, tendrils and frills as individual modelled pieces. My creature model can be accessed on Sketchfab and a turntable video can be viewed on YouTube.

**Link to Sketchfab of the Hollow creature 3D Model**
https://skfb.ly/oPwTT

**Link to YouTube of the Hollow creature turntable video**
https://youtu.be/nl_KrYdjJd0

---
## Creature Texturing
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/SJv9zBVOT.png)
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJDXmBEOa.png)

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJjHQH4u6.png)
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJaDQrV_p.png)

### Final Creature Model 

![juno-sheikh-creature-1](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1ZnIPZhex.jpg)
![juno-sheikh-creature-2](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJWnIDW3lx.jpg)

![alien 1](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Hy1iIP-2xe.png)
![alien 2](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJJsIw-hgx.png)
![juno-sheikh-alien-red](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1UjIvZhxl.jpg)
![juno-sheikh-alien-purpl-3](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1Lj8DW2xg.jpg)

---
# Final Cathedral Model
After finalising my modular kit, I proceeded to create my final model. This constructed model consisted of a variety of spire tops, towers, archways, connecting arches, gothic windows, barriers for balconies, flying buttresses and spikes. 

At this stage of development, I decided to innovate some new designs for the cathedral and change some aspects of it, so various features such as the courtyard on the First Floor has four connected spire towers that previously were not part of the blockout model. As well as the courtyard, I changed the facades of the side of the First floor to have Gothic window panels connected to flying buttresses instead of having pillars on the side. This was to achieve a more aesthetically strong gothic architectural design for the cathedral and provide some loadbearing support for the tallest parts of the constructed spires and tower.

![Darkroot Forest - Individual Presentation (1)](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJQUsPvS6.png)
*Screenshots of the Seraph Cathedral First Floor and Upper Floor in a side view and front view.*
![Darkroot Forest - Individual Presentation (2)](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJgKowPS6.png)
*Screenshots of the Seraph Cathedral in a close up view, focusing on the spire top design and tower.*
![Darkroot Forest - Individual Presentation (3)](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJl5iDwra.png)
*Screenshots of the Seraph Cathedral as an exploded diagram, highlighting all of the modular components that were utilised for the First Floor and Upper Floor construction.*

---
## Rendering in Autodesk Arnold
Once the final model was produced, I began testing the rendering settings in Maya's Render program called Arnold. This would allow me to gather some professional render shots of my Cathedral model and understand how the lighting and shadows work within a simulated environment. Using a website called PolyHaven, I installed HDRIs into Maya's lighting system to provide natural lighting to the scene before rendering. I used two different HDRIs, one to simulate dark, ambient forest lighting and another to simulate a sunrise/sunset. Below are some of the results of my renders in Maya Arnold.

![cathedral front-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HyolimGB6.jpg)
*Arnold render of the Seraph Cathedral, front view on ground level.*
![cathedral top-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HkFbjmGH6.jpg)
*Arnold render of the Seraph Cathedral, angled birds eye view showcasing a viewpoint of the tall spires.*
![ground floor bw-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByXNimzSa.jpg)
*Arnold render of the Seraph Cathedral, showing a ground level view of the gothic window designs, pillars and balconies.*
![cathedral render 2-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByRfsQMr6.jpg)
*Arnold render of the Seraph Cathedral, angled view from above showcasing the spires.*
![top view-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HyI8o7zHT.jpg)
*Arnold render of the Seraph Cathedral, a close up view from above, showing the details of the Upper Floor.*

---
# Texturing
After producing all my modular parts and unique assets for my cathedral, I proceeded to texture the models various components. I produced a variety of custom assets that I could use as shaders and textures to set the scene of my model and create the right aesthetic for the location and the architectural style. 

## Front Gothic Window
I first began designing a texture that could fit the Rose window which is the prominent front window of the cathedral. I investigated about the context of flowers within medieval culture and what those flowers represented so I could pick a floral design for the window with subcontext to its design. From a history webpage, I was able to look at the obscure symbolism of flowers in Western Art and after considering the different interpretations, 

I chose to create a texture based off orchids, as they represent jealousy, suspicion and deceit which were key characteristics of the Mage that resides within the Seraph Cathedral. Below are some process screenshots that highlight the development of the gothic centerpiece window that i would use for my model.

![cathedral window process-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BkyWEPwHa.png)
Stage 1: Creating a ring of Moth Orchids and stylising it as a Gothic window. This consisted of reducing a lot of colour values to simple blocks that could be divided into rough outlined sections that represent a classic gothic stained window texture.
![cathedral window forest back](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HkXKrPDrp.png)
Stage 2: Producing a thematic background for the flower, which was a forest concept stylised like a gothic window in the same process as the floral design.
![Cathedral Texture 1 low](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/B13kLDDrp.png)
Stage 3: Combining and modifying the components so they work under the same colour values and adding light and dark points that can be useful for emissive values when texturing in Substance Painter and post processing in Unreal.
![Cathedral Texture 2 low](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJRYIDDra.png)
Stage 4: The result of the final texture for the front gothic window.

After producing the cathedral window texture, I imported it into Adobe Substance Painter, which would be the main texturing software that I would use for all my texturing components. After baking the mesh maps, I began applying some emissive map properties to the texture map to test how emissive maps work in Substance Painter. 

I followed a tutorial from YouTube channel *3D Bros* titled, ""*Substance Painter EMISSION.*" which glossed over the process of creating custom emissive properties on models. I found this tutorial video exceptionally useful as it was concise and easy to follow, whilst also giving a good result for emissive properties for a model. The video I referred to can be found at the webpage address below:

*YouTube - 3D Bros, 30 November 2022, Substance Painter EMISSION., https://youtu.be/8HbNDC-r5do, accessed 26th November 2023.*

---
# Cathedral Model Textures

## Tall Spires
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1sh23XHT.png)
*Texturing of the various tower spires, utilising a tileable material for tiles, a custom moss material and a modified terracotta texture for the stone bases on the spires.*
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Hk3_9YwST.png)
*Completed texturing for the tower spires, using a grouping of brick materials, a custom moss material, a dirt shader and a modified terracotta texture.*

## Central Spire
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/B1vC57VOT.png)
*Texturing of the central spire on the first floor roof, with a bronze spire top texture for a rusted metallic profile.*

## Courtyard Spires
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Sk4PjmN_T.png)
*Textured model of the Courtyard Spires and arched connectors, using a variety of stone, dirt and moss textures.*

## Tower
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJlqhmNd6.png)
*Textured model of the tower spire top, using a base stone material, roof tile textures and custom moss height maps and textures.*
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryyJ07Vd6.png)
*Textured model of the tower body, using the same textured stone patterns, oss and dirt textures as the tower. Also includes a patterned floor tile texture that is used for the first floor balcony area and courtyard space.*

## First Floor
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BkBukVNup.png)
*Textured section of the Cathedral first floor, including the handrails. Textured with stone, dirt and painted moss maps. Also includes the same tile pattern texture as the tower interior floor.*

## Flying Buttress
![flying buttress-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJ7O1BNOT.png)
*Textured model of the flying buttresses on the first floor, supporting the roof.*

## Gothic Window
![gothic window-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HkDFkB4O6.png)
*Textured model of various Gothic windows on the tower and main cathedral body.*

---
# Unreal Engine 5 : Post Processing
Once all the textures were finalised in Substance Painter, I began to import the baked models, texture maps and materials into Unreal Engine 5 to begin setting the scene. I was able to export the model as separate grouped pieces, same as the model groups that I used to texture in Substance and import into Unreal. 

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/SyyONNVdp.png)
*Various imported models with applied textures using materials and baked texture maps from Substance Painter.*
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1uqENNup.png)
*Imported base assets of the Cathedral with applied texture materials.*
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/SJN64VEua.png)
*Imported base assets of the Cathedral with texture materials, view from top.*

There were a few issues that I encountered with importing and after speaking to various other students and staff, I was able to troubleshoot these problems. When importing, I realised that models needed to be exported from Maya at 0,0 or at the center of the world for the pivot point to register correctly at the model's center pivot. This would prevent pivot points having to be realigned in Unreal Engine when importing. 

Another fix to importing a modeled piece that could be solved in Maya is allocating separate materials to each group of objects so that importing becomes easier. With complex models such as my cathedral, I would have benefitted from allocating different materials for the spire towers, building frames, window facades etc. and exporting the whole selection so that in Unity, it would import all the different assets as one, but divided into sections through the imported material, which could then be replaced by the custom materials using texture maps from Substance Painter.

After producing materials from my custom texture maps, I noticed there were some rendering errors with my work and with other students I was collaborating with. I spoke to various staff members and was able to find a solution to the issue everyone was experiencing when rendering in Unreal.
When importing texture maps, the Ambient Occlusion map must be separated into separate channels which can be done using the RGB Channels in the texture settings. This is a better solution than using an ambient occlusion map as it is because the map contains three different texture maps with individual data for metallic, roughness and AO map to add highlighted details to the previous maps. By disabling sRGB in the Texture menu, you are able to separate the AO map into different channels so that the map's data can be read separately to improve rendering.

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HJkpjVN_a.png)
*Material nodes with divided channels from the AO texture map, which changes the material property from automatic to a manually allocated group of texture maps on RGB channels.*

After fixing the nodes in the material editor, I was able to change the properties of my models, making them appear less bland and flat and looking more detailed and realistic. This further improved my knowledge of texture maps as before I was very limited on my understanding of each individual map and their properties. I was able to add further detail to my normal maps so that I could provide an illusion of bricks on a flat profile for models such as the spire towers and use the AO maps in order to provide the correct reactivity for the roughness and metallic channels. The Ambient Occulsion map when applied correctly through the material nodes would add detail in the correct areas, specifically where shadows and crevice details are prominent in models.

## Unreal Engine 5: Rendering the Cathedral

After troubleshooting importing and rendering in Unreal, I was able to finally put together my scene for the Cathedral.

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/SJ4dFVVda.png)
*Front view of the textured cathedral model in Unreal Engine 5.*
![Screenshot 2024-01-04 140003](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rkcfcV4_T.png)
*Textured model of the cathedral, top view.*
![image_2024-01-04_140147853-min](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Bkxdq44d6.png)
*Textured model of the cathedral, close up view of the Center cathedral window and first floor section.*

---
# Final Scene in Unreal Engine 5
Once all of the texturing and rendering issues were sorted, I began importing the model into the group world and tinkered with Volumetric Fog and the Emissive map on the cathedral's center window to provide a far reaching light source that also interacts with fog in the map. 

![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/BJtMnEEu6.png)
*Seraph Cathedral from a distance, with the emissive glow of the cathedral reaching the village in map.*
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Sy7Nh4N_a.png)
*Seraph Cathedral front profile, showing the textures in the world environment and the emissive gothic central window reacting to volumetric fog in the map level.*
![image](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryGHhVNda.png)
*Seraph Cathedral from a front left view, showing the emissive light reacting to localised volumetric fog.*

---
## Final Project Environment Diorama

The final project is available as an .exe file, which showcases all the group member's works individually and can be accessed by contacting any of the following contributors of the group who worked on the project:

Junaid Sheikh
Jack Furlonger
Alexander Leeming
Helena Jackson

The final diorama scene was exported as a video format and uploaded to Steam as a Wallpaper Engine item and can be used as an animated wallpaper. Below is a screenshot of the environment diorama, showcasing my textured model of the Seraph Cathedral, the village and various character models that other members of the studio worked on.

Below is a link to the video format of the environment diorama for the project.

**Final Environment Diorama scene video:**
https://youtu.be/N2KfRb6E8UM


