Forgotten Paths

This was one of my early explorations of Unreal Engine from the guidance of Clint (pwnisher). While researching a video and experimenting with it I wanted to challenge myself not only to light a day scene, but make it a dark scene.

The day scene.

For the day scene, I assemble the scene using Quixel Bridge (now Fab) to grab and place assets. I started with big pieces of rocks, and layered the scene using small racks, and patches of grass and rocks blend the seams of the enviroment.

For the lighting using a main light and leaning towards the mystical sense I used multiple lights to light and expose all the areas to guide the viewer foward.

The problem became that it became too intensive and had to pivot to use area light, and learn to use lower source areas in my small highlights to bring down the memory cost.

The night scene.

The night scene was my lighting and film practice. Referencing ET, I took out all of the lights and started using a directional light and a point light for the door to create the contrast, but the flexibility wasn't enough.

So, recalling from my film knowledge, I used geometry as flags to block light, like the moonlight, to guide the viewer towards the center. I also used small spot lights to highlight the edge of the door, tree, and plants to show a sense of wonder and adventure insight.

Thank you for your time.