TSUMAGO-JUKU

My references were based off a specific town within Tsumago-Juku, Japan. As my scene started to grow in scope, I started to search for other images for color palettes, props, and other cyberpunk style ideas.

This was my original blockout for the scene. It was much smaller and focused on a very specific street composition that I ultimately decided to scrap. I felt that this composition was too small in scope and decided to push myself into building a bigger scene with more visual and narrative appeal.

I ended up with an extended street scene of the original blockout with differing ground levels and building heights to give the scene more depth. I had originally wanted to have the street wind around at the end, but opted for a shrine to allow me to add more objects of interest.

The release of Unreal Engine 4.27 included dynamic sky and light setups which I decided to play around with and add to my scene. It allowed me to forgo my previous HDRI setup and opt for a more realistic and real-time sky. I also used this opportunity to compose my key street lights for areas of focus and contrast. I also started adding in more props into my scene as I saw fit.

At this point, I had originally intended to keep the scene modern and true to its present day location. I had previously played a game called The Ascent, and was so impressed by the worldbuilding that I wanted to try to add some of that feeling to this scene. I decided to add cyberpunk elements to show a contrast between a high tech cityscape and a slowly modernizing historic street.

I used Substance Designer to create all of my skyscraper materials. I used an emissive mask on the window lights with the intention to vertex paint different light values on the buildings.

My Speedtree was originally going to be a live tree in the middle of the shrine. In trying to figure out what to add in terms of futuristic props, I thought it would be more interesting and relevant to turn the tree into a hologram to add even more cyberpunk into the scene. This blueprint allowed me to add more holographic objects into my scene for a more futuristic and Blade-Runner style feeling.

Here I started using vertex painting, materials, and blend materials to put the scene together.

Here, I started adding decals, along with VFX effects such as rain, scrolling LEDs, holograms, and media decals. My references also had vines growing on buildings, so I emulated those vines best as I could without having it overtake too much of my composition.

I used Unreal Engine Post Processing and LUTs to add more vibrant colors and contrast to the scene. After, I used some basic compositing with Photoshop and Adobe After Effects for some final touches to add this piece to my portfolio.