Virtual Reality Library
Library Process
References:
These are the references I used most in the modeling process. I wanted the room to have a sophisticated yet warm and comfortable look to it. The furniture is based on antique gothic style tables and chairs.
Modeling:
I modeled two different table variations, a rectangular one to have between shelves and a spherical table to have in open spaces. The layout of the room required three different variations of bookshelves: one for open spaces, one for the corners of the rooms, and one for separating sections of the room. I modeled three different kinds of plants and two different pots for those plants.
Because the books were going to be a problem, given the poly count required to make them and the fact that the space would be filled to the brim with them, I had to improvise. Closed and open books were made. Then I modeled clusters of books that tilted and leaned in three different patterns. I then took these three different book-clusters and created a secondary level of detail for them so that the poly count could be lowered.
Texturing:
Most of the models in the scene required wood and leather. To add variation I gave the tables a darker and slightly more saturated wood than the pillars and bookshelves. The books themselves were given several different colors of leather. When I created the second level of detail for the book clusters, the second LOD did not have any maps or adjustments made to the normal and specular channels.
Lighting:
I wanted the lighting in the area to be warm with heavy focus on the stained glass windows. Two chandeliers with large point lights below them cast the majority of the light in the space. The stained glass is a flat plane with a PNG of stained glass applied to it. The cast light is a decal of that PNG blurred in photoshop. I placed a Rect light purple light around the stained glass with two spotlights pointing at the closest pillars to the windows. The rest of the light sources come from spotlights above tables and more trained on the paintings covering the walls.
The lights from the chandeliers, which cast the most amount of light in the room, are stationary lights. All other lighting in the scene have static mobility and are therefore baked onto the lightmap.
