Daniel Norman - Rookies 2024

A Tranquil Cottage

Inspired by my love of the Lake District growing up, I decided to create a full real time 3d medieval environment scene that was set there.

The scene depicts a set of tranquil cottages, tangled with the environment around them. Smoke bellows from the forefront house while it is being worked on by a thatcher.

The thatch building takes major references from the thatch house on Culloden. The scene takes considerable visual and modular structure references from Assassins Creed Valhalla. The English painter John Constable has been used for artistic direction of the colour and lighting. This scene was built to a 1k per metre textile density.

Other than the chickens, all assets have been made by me. Some images from google have been used for some of the background and quixel bridge atlas textures have been used for some of the foliage.

Software used:

Unreal engine 5, Maya, Substance Suite, Zbrush, Speed Tree

Over new years, I spent a week in the Lake District. This was mainly for a holiday but it was also to help gather research and references to aid the construction of my scene.

The biggest thing that I noticed when I was in the Lake District was the almost blend of nature and civilisation that was present. The houses were almost made out of the rocks they were standing on, many intertwined with the moss around them. Reflecting these elements in my own scene was something that I definitely wanted to do.

This document is split into sections with sliders, detailed descriptions and explanations. Reading everything isn't necessary to get a general idea of the process but feel free to pick and choose what to read based on what you are interested in. 

Research and system planning

Trim sheet, general textures & props

Thatch Roof

Walls

Modular house pieces

Nature

Scene building, Development & Feedback

Critical Review

Into The Slate Mine

Every year my family has a tradition of climbing a mountain in the Lake District called Haystacks. Located on this mountain is Honister slate mine, it is one of the UK's last working slate mines. I wanted to recreate the brutalist claustrophobic environment present in the mines.

This scene allowed me to practice light and colour fundamentals under the constraint of a traditionally dark space. Honister slate is unique because it has a strong blue-green colour which I thought would produce an interesting outcome when represented in this kind of environment.

This scene also allowed me to practice zbrush hard surface sculpting. I believed that a slate mine scene would give me ample time to learn, practice and prototype rock sculpting.

It was built to a 1k per metre texile density. Everything made by me.

Software used:

Unreal engine 5, Maya, Substance Suit, Zbrush

Research, concepts & tests

Asset production

Scene Construction, Analysis & Critical Review

Slate Mine Renders

Food Stand

A French crepe stand set in the 2024 olympics. It was made for a mock art test for my 3rd year at university. Everything made by me other than the design on the shirt.

Software used:

Unreal Engine 5, Maya, Substance Painter, Zbrush, Marvelous Designer

Production

Renders

Barbed Wire Baseball Bat

The purpose of this small project was to get a better understanding of spline based systems and the MASH editor in Maya. It was also to see if I could produce a model of complex detail within what is an acceptable polycount for a first person weapon of a triple A title.

Uses single UV map with 2048 x 2048 textures

Bat individually: ~0.6k polys

Wires, barbs and nails at the top of the bat: ~3.6k polys

Wrap + bottom nails: 0.8k polys

Final polycount: Almost exactly 5k

Software used:

 Unreal Engine 5, Maya, Substance Painter, Zbrush

Summary

I'm happy with where I am at with my current portfolio. There is definitely room for improvement in all areas and there is a massive amount I still want to learn on various software. I've now finished studying at University of South Wales and i'm looking forward to what is to come.

Thank you so much for reading my submission to the Rookie Awards 2024!