Tropical Island Campfire - Entry

Tropical Island Campfire

This environment is a campsite set on a tropical island in Hawaii 500 years ago. For this project, I wanted to focus on lighting, environmental storytelling, and good composition in my main shot. To make sure the environment was recognizable as Hawaii, I made sure to use real-world references of assets found in Hawaii, even down to the plants and flowers. I also researched ancient Hawaii and added in objects that were seen around that time. This was my first time using Unreal Engine 4 and advanced lighting.

Previsualization and Original Lighting

At the very start of my project, I created a previsualization of what I wanted my finished scene to look like and made sure to give it good composition and balance. Throughout the project, I was constantly using it as a guide on how my scene should look. After I was finished with it, I then decided to completely change the original lighting I had to the one seen above as I thought it looked much better.

Scene Development

The actual campfire in my scene was one of my biggest focuses seeing as it's a hero asset. Getting it looking right and also visually appealing was very important as it's the main focal point and also the main source of light.