Alexa Miars
3D GENERALIST
STREET MARKET ENVIRONMENT MODEL
The goal for this environment was to achieve a stylized final product that mirrored the imperfect and hand-made quality of models crafted for feature animation and many AAA games.
References for the concept were mostly gathered from personal photos of Savannah, Georgia, specifically the hidden corners of the historic district. For greater detail, I looked into props from the cultures that inspired the visual culture of Savannah, heightening the depth of history in the scene.
Concept made in Procreate, modeled in Maya, high poly details sculpted in ZBrush, normal maps baked in Substance Painter, rendered in Arnold, color graded in DaVinci Resolve.
Responsible for all aspects.
MODEL INSIGHT // TREE
One of the things I challenged myself with this project was to create a tree without using any plugins or premade templates. To do this, I started with the curve tool, created a base mesh using sweep mesh, added volume using primitives, retopologized using quad draw, and added sculpted detail from ZBrush using a normal map. For the leaves, I blocked out a silhouette using primitives, created a couple different leaf opacity maps, and distributed the leaves using MASH.
This approach allowed me to have a final result that matched my animation style reference.
The total amount of reference photos used for this project was over 400 images, but here is an example of how I used references for a single prop- Athena's Helmet (sourced from The Met and Le Louvre).
As the project progressed, I expanded beyond my initial concept, leaning into the imagery of war and wealth as well as weaving a story through my placement of props. Even with the changes to the details, however, I ensured to maintain the layered composition, hand-crafted shape design, and intentional use of light from the original concept.
