Scarlet Diorama - Part 1

Intro

Last time I worked on my 3D diorama project, I had a tower and twisting, green lands all around it. Right in the middle of it, I briefly stopped in order to create a portal VFX and a blueprint that teleports the player from one location to another.

In this video, we will explore how I moved from the tower, and how I created this smaller cut of diorama. It is in the shape of a gateway used as a centerpiece. A curvy pathway leads to it. There are red crystals scattered on grassy hilltops. Golden trim ornament lamps with levitating red crystals decorate the sides of the elegant path.

Creating that portal was relatively quick, but I also made tutorials on the topic, and that took months to edit and publish. I used those months as a break from the tower diorama. I knew that when I were to return to it, I would perceive it all with a set of fresh eyes. That would be beneficial and would make my art only better.

Video

The writing above is from the start of my new video that documents and shows the creation of my new mini diorama. Watch it to see tons of behind the scenes screenshots, progress images, explanations and useful tips.

Video embedded above. Title is "Why I Cut My 3D Diorama Into a Tiny Diorama - Devlog - UE5 and Blender". The video thumbnail shows a red portal. It sits on a grassy ground with a path in front. There are lots of golden trims. Next to the gold are red crystals that match the scarlet portal. A text points to the portal and says - Creating a Diorama? - next to the text is a person wearing a white t-shirt. That is me.

Gallery

Here is a small gallery with screenshots from the diorama. These are images that you can see in the video above. Over here, though, you can explore and observe them at your own speed.

A UE5 screenshot showing flat, dark, blue land. On it sits a portal with golden and stone trims. The portal effect in the middle is blue. This is the start of the mini diorama and there is little progress a part from the portal.

Same screenshot camera angle as before, but now the land and the path leading to the portal are progressed. The land has a green and mud textures. In the middle, there is also a sketch of cobble. There are blue lamps on the sides. On the right side, there is a mini mountain with gray crystals.

A screenshot from the mini diorama. It showcases a red portal with stone frame and golden trims. It looks almost like a cave entrance, sitting on a grassy hilltop. There are red crystals and lamps with floating red glow on them. A cobble path of gray stone leads to the entrance of the portal. There are foliage bushes in the shape of spherical blockout shapes. They have dark, green color.

Another image showcasing progress on the diorama. This time there is grass and bush foliage. The sides of the path are decorated with gold trims and red gems. The lamps have twisting, golden leaves that decorate and give them shape.

Conclusion

In this blog post, and in the video above, we explored how I took a portal prop and put it into a blue cut of ground. I did that in order to scale down the 3D work, away from the much bigger tower scene and onto a smaller piece of ground. By focusing on a compact version of the diorama, I managed to handle the creation of my texturing, props and overall artistic progress better.

Next Time

I’ve started creating foliage in the shape of grass and bushes. I’ve added those to my scene and currently I am also refining the golden trim textures that go on the ground. I will also work on the gateway prop texturing. It has flat stone color and flat gold stylized texturing (in a PBR stylization). Those textures are not yet finished. I’ll paint on them and all of the hand-painted details will be rather fun to shape.

Tune in next time to see all of the above: texturing, stylized foliage, lighting and more. If you enjoyed the current video, there should be interesting gems of information in the next one as well.

All the best,

Pete.

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