3D Environment Art - 2024

Medieval Passageway

This was my first time creating a full 3D environment, as a large part of my second year of university, we were briefed with creating a modular environment based on the theme of 'Passageway'. I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to learn how to create a 3D modular kit and to learn how to best utilise tileable materials and trim sheets as I had never used them before. 

Final Renders

During this project I learnt a lot about different approaches within environment art and started learning some new software. I learnt much more about Unreal Engine when creating my passageway. I had to use particle systems to create the smoke coming out the chimneys which I had never used before, as well as simulating cloth physics for the bunting so they would flow in the wind. I had to display all of this by using the sequencer and keyframes to create a short video of my passageway, none of which I had previous experience with. I think this project was a great learning experience and I am very proud of the outcome of these final renders.

Modular Kit

To get myself more familiar with modular assets, I did a small test where I modelled 5 modular pieces that I could use to make a larger asset, in this case I decided to make one of the buildings from my scene. These pieces would be a wall, beam, window, roof and door. From this test, I gained a much better idea of how to use modular assets, and how I wanted to use them in my scene. I realised that I wanted to have a few variations of windows, doors and beams as well allow to for more variation in my scene.

After my modular building test, I had enough confidence that I could create a full asset list for my passageway scene. I noted which assets were higher priority; namely the bulk of the building pieces, extra details such as shop signs, bunting and lampposts would be left to last and will only be made if I have the time to. After I had created the list of all the assets I would be making, I did a small sketch for each of them so I would have a visual reference when modelling. I then started modelling them all in Maya. During this process I realised there were a couple of assets I had planned to make that were too complicated, and not worth making as they would take too long and not add to much to the scene. 

Overall I'm really pleased with how my first modular kit turned out, I was able to create quite a detailed scene from a relatively small amount of pieces and I love the result.

Substance Designer Materials

Initially I tried creating a brick tileable texture by hand, however when I started this process I quickly realised that it would take far too long, I realistically would not be able to texture my whole scene using this process, so I stopped working on that. I then needed to use another process to create my tileable textures, I decided to start learning Substance Designer. I started watching some tutorials on the basics, how the program works, how to navigate it etc. I got used to the concept of Designer quite quickly as I have used node based programs to create textures before in Blender. I then used a tutorial that was specifically about how to create a stylised brick texture, to create my first material for my scene. These are my finished substance designer materials, I am really pleased with how they look, I think I have managed to achieve a very painterly style, in some examples you can even see individual brushstrokes. 

Vintage Film Camera

I created this vintage film camera asset as part of university project. We had to create a hero asset among 8 additional set dressing assets  for an industry set art test, ensuring that our assets matched the artstyle and setting of the existing environment we were given. 

The setting was a 50's detective's apartment, where he had been working late into the night. I decided that my hero asset would be a film camera. I started by researching examples of 60's cameras and decided on the Contax 11a, as I really liked the look of it and thought it would be fun to recreate. 

Final Renders

I learnt lots more about using cameras and lighting in unreal engine when creating the final renders for this project. Changing aperture among other camera settings and using multiple different light sources to highlight details to best showcase my modelling and texturing on the camera was very fun. I am very happy with the outcome of this, I managed to capture the mood I was going for, and my asset fit cohesively within the rest of the scene.

Wireframes

When it came to modelling the camera, it was nice considering we didn’t have a polycount to adhere to, so I could add a decent amount of detail to it. However looking back I think there were some places where I still restricted myself too much and could have added some more geometry to really push the look of this asset, especially as it is a hero asset. This is something I am taking into consideration more in the future.

Textures

When texturing the camera, I really had to pay attention to the artstyle, as the existing scene we were given was very distinct. I really wanted my asset to have a visual cohesion with the rest of the room, so I tried to make sure that it didn’t stand out too much, and replicated the same style. I also had to ensure that I packed textures correctly according to the studio's texture naming conventions. This has been a really good learning experience, to be able to have some insight into what working in the industry is really like is extremely helpful. I really enjoy being set projects with specific limitations. I like the challenge as I feel as though I can really push myself to see what I can do within certain limits.