Forest House

Idea and Concept

At the beginning of the project, I got inspiration from Eddie Mendoza, a concept artist at Apple. I really liked the ideas and details that he uses, and because I felt that the project I chose had the potential to be a great-enough challenge for me, I decided to take one of his works, give it life and make it 3D.

It was my first time working on something with this style. In terms of composition, details, or even lighting, so this was one of the most important reasons that prompted me to do this project.

Concept Art Breakdown

I collected the artwork that Eddie made and began to divide it into more than one section to know the details of the house and the environment that I would work on and to understand what I needed to work on.

Big, then smaller and smaller, so that I don’t waste anything, and I have a picture of the size and shape of the work, how it will look in the end

I also brought more than one reference for the project so that I have more than one picture of the scene, and I can mix them up and create a new spirit for the scene, not just make a replica of the original concept.

Preparing the Project Files

Arranging the files.png

The organization is a no-brainer when it comes to scalable projects. I tend to the organization part
whenever I start on a new project. First, it saves a lot of time and effort.

So I start creating a file for the project that I will do, it usually consists of the following:

• 01-Concept
• 02-Progress
• 03-Downloads
• 04-Renders
• 05-Exports
• 06-Music
• 07-Stills

The same applied to Unreal

Project Name – Maps – Materials -Cinematics – Models -Animation And always, when I want to make a map in Unreal Engine, I have to follow a certain order in naming it SceneName_LightType_Vxx This always makes the scavenging of anything you need easier and faster!

Preparing the Scene assets

After I extracted everything I needed from the concept and knew what elements I needed, I began to look at the assets I had for the Master projects, in which I considered everything I might need to make a project work, so I started looking for wooden poles, wooden boards, and shelves.

I look for the things I need to begin molding the scene first, even if that would mean I may change some elements after that, but I still have a preliminary conception of the setting and the overall model.

How will it work? Soon after that, I began stitching all the objects and models that I had collected to reach the desired final look of my dreams.

Blockout

I start with basic shapes like cubes to build the house and know its sections and size, and I also get to pointing the main camera to know what details I should focus most on.

Quxiel Megascans and Unreal modeling tools

The MegaScan library helped me get results fairly quickly and with the highest quality guaranteed.
At the beginning of my choice for this project, I wanted to build this house by collecting pieces of wood and everything I might need to build the house with, without seeking help outside of Unreal, and that is what I found difficult to pull off.

After collecting all the possible materials I could use, I started distributing them in their place as if I were building the house. The experience was exciting and different from the normal modeling method.

We then come to the Unreal modeling tools. Through the tools, I saved a serious deal of time. I even used the brand-new tools that were recently made.

One of the tools that I use is the Boolen tool, and through it, it allowed me to open places for windows and doors easily. Another tool is “WarpTool” which enabled me to cut wood to the desired degree. Without it, you need something in the basic model.

The Developing of The House Shape

Environment

I used the new Quixel Megascans Trees: European Hornbeam for the Environment.

And it did help me a lot, especially with nanite and the pivots Paint tree that has wind interaction, so I did add a lot of realism to the scene.
There is one more useful tool that helped a lot with level design .

Materials

Below is a video on the fake interior shading.

Below is a video on the waterdrop shader material.

Lighting

Lighting is one of the most important elements of a scene because it has the ability to highlight the scene and convey many messages through it. Lighting in this project was indeed a challenge for me as it was a whole different ordeal than the traditional lighting I usually did for the other projects.

Nevertheless, I wanted to perfect 95% of the look that I had in mind, and manifest it into Unreal Engine.

Night Scene Lighting Breakdown

Rainy Lighting Breakdown

Cinematic and Sequencer

SettingUp ACES for UE5.1 To Davinci

Coloring Breakdown

Outro

To conclude this, I would like to admit that at first, the result will most certainly not please you and that’s more than fine, actually.
It allows you to learn, practice more, and work even harder on yourself. Push yourself to the limit and reach a point of excellent mastery.

I absolutely would love to thank GameArtists for their warm invitation to write this article, and I hope you guys found it handy.