Dunguaire Castle
A project at SCAD where I used Maya, Substance Painter, Photoshop, and Unreal Engine to render a 3D environment.
The project inspiration was towards accurate historical representation. This is an accurate 3D rendering of the real Dunguaire Castle in Ireland to scale.
Development Process
I wanted to focus on optimization on the polygons in the structures I created. So I made sure to effectively create as low polys as possible while maintaining a semi-realistic design.
The first part I made was a tool, and in this case, it was a furnace and a bellows. Once again, I was focusing on optimization in the poly count.
Next I made a decorative asset, and that was an open wooden structure for an outdoor forge. I created the main structure then reduced the poly count by 50% 2 times to create other LOD designs so it could reduce quality the further away the player/viewer is.
I started to build the layout/skeleton for the castle, and I used reference of scale with someone standing by the gate of the entrance. The margin of error was almost perfect to the proportions I desired. I used Google Maps to create the skeleton for the layout.
For the main building, I designed models in which I could use with seamless UV textures. It makes the work flow for texturing the buildings much easier.
After essentially making the lego bricks I needed, it was just putting them all together and making the structure.
From here I began using Unreal Engine 4 to place and organize the structure to make sure everything works. Then I began to make and experiment with textures that I made either in Substance Painter, Photoshop (for the seamless textures), or directly in the Unreal Engine asset editor.
From here I began using Unreal Engine 4 to place and organize the structure to make sure everything works. Then I'll begin to make and experiment with textures that I make either in Substance Painter, photoshop (for the seamless textures), or directly in the unreal engine asset editor.
Next, I began to create foliage assets to fill the area and ground as well as making a landscape. This was my first time working on such a scale and I'm happy with how it turned out.
Finally it's placing and adjusting the desired lighting.
I tweaked with the lights and rendered out a short film of the castle.