Chaumont
I discovered Chaumont-sur-Loire's Castle on a trip along the french Loire river, and really felt like trying to give it life in 3D. It's a curiously "CG" looking medieval fortress redesigned into a luxurious palace during the Renaissance. What immediately attracted me in this castle is the way it achieves a great looking style and identity with sparse use of microdetail and ornaments while still transmitting an idea of elegance.
I worked ont the castle's meshes, materials, set dressing and lighting of all the scenes. Big thanks to all the kind people who took the time to give me great feedback along this quest!
You can buy it here : https://www.artstation.com/a/14446334
Credits
- Foreground medieval props (tents, lances, arrow targets etc.) from Dekogon
- Skyboxes from Velarion
- Terrain and vegetation from Brushify
- Characters from Polyphoria
I felt like keeping a clean look on the castle while staying away from a too damaged, wrecked and repaired feeling would help keep its fancy and luxurious feeling.
I drifted away from the the real Castle's (Chateau de Chaumont) structure on this sunset shot
The castle is to feel more cozy than war proof
Couldn't resist doing a black and white version
It's satisfying to push the contrasts further on BnW
GIF of my progress on the different shots. Lots of fun playing around with colors!
Through conception and production, I tried to keep the minimum amount of kitbash pieces.
I tested different mesh assemblings to see if I could get some variety going.
In reading order: Roof tiles, painted wooden window frame, verdigris, Tuffeau stone bricks, stained glass (for windows), and limestone mortar.
The main inspiration (top left) looks very "CG". I figured that blending it with other similar castles helped in adding details and silhouettes to the orginal shapes.
Keeping the material shader and parameters as simple as possible was my goal, along with clean naming and folder organization
Thanks for watching :)