3d Scene Layout

Imported models from Photogrammetry

All used models created from Photogrammetry pipeline

There are two large models of entrances. But I also used the meshes to make localised wall and entrance sections of those larger meshes.

Close-up of smaller models

The two rocks in the bottom right are the same rock, but imported with different LODs and texture sizes

Exterior Layout.

I used some shrubs from Megascans to populate some foliage using the foliage painter tool in Unreal. I also used that same technique to add some small pebbles and rocks I also got from Megascans along with the small rocks from the Photogrammetry.

Terrain forming for distant hills

There are some post process fog volumes added here to

Using box actors to obscure sunlight to caves

Obscuring light from the caves was a bit of a challenge. The boxes have to be positioned to block the sunlight, but not clip through the face of the model geometry.

I added an orange interior light to each cave, but the scene is otherwise just lit naturally from the sun.

I would've liked to experiment with the external sunlight some more, I found it to be a very slow process due to the size of my terrain that needed to be processed, so iterative comparisons were time consuming.

There's also discrepancy to what Unreal Engine renders and what is being displayed in sequencer.

Comparision between two external lighting setups. I was unable to light the distant hills properly in the dusk lighting.

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Interior Layout.

The lighting in this scene is done poorly. Instead of removing the template sunlight, I opted to block it with huge planes. This was unnecessary.

Many of the walls and ceiling in this scene are from the Megascans library due to them having some sizes I had not modelled.

I also discovered that Unreal is limited to 4 dynamic lights with overlap. This is a performance limitation within the Engine itself. This led to me researching the differences to each lighting type, and opting for a static light from the lantern on the wooden post, but keeping the lights in the pit as stationary to allow the rocks to obscure the light and cast shadows.

https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.27/en-US/BuildingWorlds/LightingAndShadows/Shadows/

The hole in the terrain

This is not a good way to produce holes in the scene. Your terrain tiles become tied to the size of the hole. This locks you into a size, but it also impacts the tiling of the floor textures, and where the seams of the floor tiles are positioned.

If I were to make this scene again, I'd just sculpt a large pit instead.