RESEARCH
project description
When you hear the word pyramids, what picture do you see in your head? More likely than not, you see three magnificent stone structures rising out of the desert sands. These are the pyramids of Giza, Egypt, famous not only for their stupendous size and dramatic shape, but also for the astonishing skill with which they were built thousands of years ago. The pyramids of Egypt are fascinating, however, they remain to be a mystery. The well-built architecture is located in Giza, Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile River. The pyramids of Egypt are the oldest and only surviving member of ancient wonders. It is also the pride and one of the most important factors in Egyptian culture.
Although the precise age of the pyramids has long been debated, and there is little evidence to prove when the pyramids were built, some assume that they were built from about 2700 to 2500 BC. Another issue that has been long debated is who exactly built the pyramids. and that is one of the main reason to why i choose to focus on this project, and that it allows me to implement new ideas and plot lines into my models
The Pyramid of Djoser (c.2630) (Saqqara)
Djoser (also known as Netjerikhet, Tosorthos, and Sesorthos, c. 2670 BCE) was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt, reigning for over twenty years. Some sources indicate a king named Sanakht as the first ruler of the Third Dynasty but this claim is challenged as Sanakht's name is only known from two reliefs, the Abydos king list, and the Turin papyrus, not from archaeological evidence. Early archaeologists identified Sanakht's tomb as mastaba K2 at Beit Khallaf based on the two reliefs mentioned above, which were found there; but this identification has been challenged and largely discredited. Manetho's chronology, routinely used to date the reigns of the kings of Egypt, is also unclear on who he was or when he ruled. Djoser's reign, following Khasekhemwy, is far more certain than the vague suggestions of a king named Sanakht and so he is now accepted as the first king of the Third Dynasty. Djoser is best known for his Step Pyramid, the first pyramid built in Egypt, although he initiated many other building projects; so many, in fact, that scholars have suggested a reign of almost thirty years to account for the number of tombs, temples, and monuments he commissioned.
REIGN
Very little is known of Djoser's youth or family life. His name Netjerikhet means "divine of body" and 'Djoser' is derived from the Djed symbol of stability. He succeeded his father, Khasekhemwy, the last king of the Second Dynasty, and his mother was the queen Nimaathap. His wife was Hetephernebti who was probably his half-sister. Although it was common for the pharaoh to have a queen and lesser wives, Djoser took no other women besides Hetephernebti.
When you hear the word pyramids, what picture do you see in your head? More likely than not, you see three magnificent stone structures rising out of the desert sands. These are the pyramids of Giza, Egypt, famous not only for their stupendous size and dramatic shape, but also for the astonishing skill with which they were built thousands of years ago. The pyramids of Egypt are fascinating, however, they remain to be a mystery. The well-built architecture is located in Giza, Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile River. The pyramids of Egypt are the oldest and only surviving member of ancient wonders. It is also the pride and one of the most important factors in Egyptian culture.
Although the precise age of the pyramids has long been debated, and there is little evidence to prove when the pyramids were built, some assume that they were built from about 2700 to 2500 BC. Another issue that has been long debated is who exactly built the pyramids. and that is one of the main reason to why i choose to focus on this project, and that it allows me to implement new ideas and plot lines into my models
The Pyramid of Djoser (c.2630) (Saqqara)
Djoser (also known as Netjerikhet, Tosorthos, and Sesorthos, c. 2670 BCE) was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt, reigning for over twenty years. Some sources indicate a king named Sanakht as the first ruler of the Third Dynasty but this claim is challenged as Sanakht's name is only known from two reliefs, the Abydos king list, and the Turin papyrus, not from archaeological evidence. Early archaeologists identified Sanakht's tomb as mastaba K2 at Beit Khallaf based on the two reliefs mentioned above, which were found there; but this identification has been challenged and largely discredited. Manetho's chronology, routinely used to date the reigns of the kings of Egypt, is also unclear on who he was or when he ruled. Djoser's reign, following Khasekhemwy, is far more certain than the vague suggestions of a king named Sanakht and so he is now accepted as the first king of the Third Dynasty. Djoser is best known for his Step Pyramid, the first pyramid built in Egypt, although he initiated many other building projects; so many, in fact, that scholars have suggested a reign of almost thirty years to account for the number of tombs, temples, and monuments he commissioned.
REIGN
Very little is known of Djoser's youth or family life. His name Netjerikhet means "divine of body" and 'Djoser' is derived from the Djed symbol of stability. He succeeded his father, Khasekhemwy, the last king of the Second Dynasty, and his mother was the queen Nimaathap. His wife was Hetephernebti who was probably his half-sister. Although it was common for the pharaoh to have a queen and lesser wives, Djoser took no other women besides Hetephernebti.
Book Reserch
Arguably the most famous form of late Prehistoric art, the pyramids of Ancient Egypt are the world's largest funerary edifices or tombs. Developed from the mastaba tomb, they are one of the most enduring symbols of Egyptian art in general and Egyptian architecture in particular. Ancient Egyptians believed in an eternal afterlife, and the purpose of the pyramids was to safeguard the Pharaoh's body and all the belongings he would need after death, in order to facilitate his passage into the after-life. Thus each pyramid routinely contained a wide variety of Egyptian sculpture, mural painting, jewellery and other types of ancient art necessary to sustain the deceased in his after-death existence. So far, about 140 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, most of which were built as burial tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts, during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods (2650-1650).
Arguably the most famous form of late Prehistoric art, the pyramids of Ancient Egypt are the world's largest funerary edifices or tombs. Developed from the mastaba tomb, they are one of the most enduring symbols of Egyptian art in general and Egyptian architecture in particular. Ancient Egyptians believed in an eternal afterlife, and the purpose of the pyramids was to safeguard the Pharaoh's body and all the belongings he would need after death, in order to facilitate his passage into the after-life. Thus each pyramid routinely contained a wide variety of Egyptian sculpture, mural painting, jewellery and other types of ancient art necessary to sustain the deceased in his after-death existence. So far, about 140 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, most of which were built as burial tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts, during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods (2650-1650).
- How Did Egyptian Pyramid Architecture Evolve and Develop?
- a flat-roofed,
- rectangular structure,
- made from mud-bricks,
- with slightly sloping walls,
- inside which, a deep burial chamber was dug into the ground and lined with stone or bricks.
Quick sketches
Environment
Although this project only required us to Select a interior environment from a book. I thought it was in my best interest to actually built a whole city around it. and to do so I gather more reference images and concept art that I find to be very helpfully through out creating Al-haram.
I have I had recently completed Rise of the Tomb Raider, and was amazed by the narrative direction and visual upgrade the game took. Taking inspiration from the game, I wanted my final year project to be an extension of the Tomb Raider narrative.
I started by researching and creating mood boards of different environment components. Using the Principles of Design documentation, I looked specifically at Architecture and Proportion since the tomb had to be engineered realistically to accommodate such a tight space. Especially when designing the pillars and murals, they had to look carved from the rock. When researching, I considered Petra, the rock city, to gain an idea of how to model those components. Using Emphasis and Repetition, I added authentic Egyptian elements (e.g. the mural drawings, vases, hieroglyphics and the tomb area). Ultimately I wanted to expand on the narrative aspect of the game, as Lara Croft discovers this tomb from her father’s research, eventually leading to her finding a journal that belonged to him next to the sarcophagus.
Although this project only required us to Select a interior environment from a book. I thought it was in my best interest to actually built a whole city around it. and to do so I gather more reference images and concept art that I find to be very helpfully through out creating Al-haram.
I have I had recently completed Rise of the Tomb Raider, and was amazed by the narrative direction and visual upgrade the game took. Taking inspiration from the game, I wanted my final year project to be an extension of the Tomb Raider narrative.
I started by researching and creating mood boards of different environment components. Using the Principles of Design documentation, I looked specifically at Architecture and Proportion since the tomb had to be engineered realistically to accommodate such a tight space. Especially when designing the pillars and murals, they had to look carved from the rock. When researching, I considered Petra, the rock city, to gain an idea of how to model those components. Using Emphasis and Repetition, I added authentic Egyptian elements (e.g. the mural drawings, vases, hieroglyphics and the tomb area). Ultimately I wanted to expand on the narrative aspect of the game, as Lara Croft discovers this tomb from her father’s research, eventually leading to her finding a journal that belonged to him next to the sarcophagus.
COLOR PALETTE
Computer Roughs
Graybox 1 by Hermon.Abraham on Sketchfab
Alpha Cracks
Alphas
I Originally stared with only 5 alphas but over time I ended up with 17 of them.
I Originally stared with only 5 alphas but over time I ended up with 17 of them.
Textures
Below are texture I used inside Substance-Painter for my base colors, metallic and height map.
Below are texture I used inside Substance-Painter for my base colors, metallic and height map.
Modular asset #1 The Loot
With the loot being such an important section of the story, they had to be made in a modular fashion to be naturalistic and believable – as well as efficiency in time. Embarked on a very low-poly model of the loot inside Maya, then removed it to Z-Brush to give it details such as cracks and weathering effect. Then baked the high poly model onto the low inside substance painter. While in substance painter as I started to apply textures onto the low poly loot model, I realized I had only made very few cracks, while in Z-Brush and my model was starting to look very new like and because I was going for very old/beat down environment this meant I had to take my high-poly model back to Z-brush to add more details. However, I decided instead to create cracks alphas inside Photoshop using threshold adjustment. They were a lot easier to produce and a good deal more efficacious in terms of redeeming time.
With the loot being such an important section of the story, they had to be made in a modular fashion to be naturalistic and believable – as well as efficiency in time. Embarked on a very low-poly model of the loot inside Maya, then removed it to Z-Brush to give it details such as cracks and weathering effect. Then baked the high poly model onto the low inside substance painter. While in substance painter as I started to apply textures onto the low poly loot model, I realized I had only made very few cracks, while in Z-Brush and my model was starting to look very new like and because I was going for very old/beat down environment this meant I had to take my high-poly model back to Z-brush to add more details. However, I decided instead to create cracks alphas inside Photoshop using threshold adjustment. They were a lot easier to produce and a good deal more efficacious in terms of redeeming time.
Tomb Valley of the Kings
Creating the tomb, I think for me was the easiest one out of all my assets, I again used references of actual tombs and patterns, I produced a mood control panel to gather inspiration. Going off with a simple box mesh in Maya, I fed it a few steps to add variation and height. After importing the asset into Z brush, I used Zremesher to retopologise it for better polygon distribution. Adding a few subdivisions Using standard brushes like Trim-dynamic and Clay-brush, I started to chip away at the quoins of the tomb and areas where weathering and age would take office. I scattered them appropriately using a mixture of crack and damage brushes, without putting down the whole asset. Overall, I’m really delighted how the tomb turned out.
When it came time to create Djoser pyramid I originally created a very typical pyramid you can see it in mage number 3. It consists of one rectangle and four triangles with each base, edge and apex form a triangle being the same. Which was a big mistake on my part, thus I decided to take my very a symmetrical triangle to Z-brush and give it a little polish/shape. And I ended up with Image 1.
couple of more assets
Using Wold Machine For The First Time....
For this project, World Machine was used for the outdoor vista, to give a greater sense of scale of the world. When working with World Machine, I find it’s all about choosing a unique terrain that makes it the viewer think: ‘wow’. I had originally planned to recreate the Valley of the Kings, and wanted to use topographical data of the location. However, after several failed attempts, this unfortunately didn’t work as expected and so I created a terrain from references and my own imagination. I took a lot of inspiration from Assassins creed Origins because of its unique cinematic vistas. In the end I was able to create a simple seamless desert land inside World Machine. As you can see below.
For this project, World Machine was used for the outdoor vista, to give a greater sense of scale of the world. When working with World Machine, I find it’s all about choosing a unique terrain that makes it the viewer think: ‘wow’. I had originally planned to recreate the Valley of the Kings, and wanted to use topographical data of the location. However, after several failed attempts, this unfortunately didn’t work as expected and so I created a terrain from references and my own imagination. I took a lot of inspiration from Assassins creed Origins because of its unique cinematic vistas. In the end I was able to create a simple seamless desert land inside World Machine. As you can see below.
Hermon by Hermon.Abraham on Sketchfab
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