Scott Warren
Fiat Lux💡
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Unreal Engine 4 Subway Train Daylight Re-Light (2018)

Scene is the modular subway kit that Clinton Crumpler graciously provided to the Unreal Marketplace: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/X02eY

I wanted to turn on every bell and whistle in the current UE4 raster renderer before raytracing debuts some time next week. I also wanted it to look photographed on film, so I used the same post production techniques on the stills that I'd use on my own film scans. (Incorporated some Kodak 500T film grain into these images for more of an analog feel.)

The lighting setup itself was fairly basic:
-Directional light for the sun (using intensity values of 110,000 lux for a noon time intensity)
-Static skylight with HDR cubemap of a plain blue sky (Set at 20,000 lux)
-Volumetric fog for a bit of atmospheric haze through the windows
-Lightmap resolution set to 512-1024 for most pieces
-Baked raytraced shadows enabled for the stationary sunlight for natural blurring of the shadow penumbra
-Physical camera controls used for the shots
-Lightmass portals

The convolution bloom filter was used in place of the default bloom effect for more realistic optical glints off the chrome and plastics. Real film grain was added to break up the image with texture to help it feel less "gamey".

The convolution bloom filter was used in place of the default bloom effect for more realistic optical glints off the chrome and plastics. Real film grain was added to break up the image with texture to help it feel less "gamey".

I'm a big fan of images that live in the darker end of the spectrum, so the gamma was pulled down in the engine tonemapper before final coloring in Affinity. Color grading included an OCIO color space conversion to Sony Sgamut3.Cine and curve adjustments.

I'm a big fan of images that live in the darker end of the spectrum, so the gamma was pulled down in the engine tonemapper before final coloring in Affinity. Color grading included an OCIO color space conversion to Sony Sgamut3.Cine and curve adjustments.

The overhead lamps are glowing based on a kelvin blackbody material node in their material vs using an arbitrary emissive value.

The overhead lamps are glowing based on a kelvin blackbody material node in their material vs using an arbitrary emissive value.

For the dynamic reflections, screen space reflections were set to 100% quality and three box reflection actors placed along the length of the train took care of the static reflections.

For the dynamic reflections, screen space reflections were set to 100% quality and three box reflection actors placed along the length of the train took care of the static reflections.

The physical camera was set to a 54 degree horizontal view angle which is roughly what a 35mm lens would see on a full frame camera. Virtual aperture of F2.4 was used for some subject isolation.

The physical camera was set to a 54 degree horizontal view angle which is roughly what a 35mm lens would see on a full frame camera. Virtual aperture of F2.4 was used for some subject isolation.

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