B.R.U - Balloon Rescue Unit
Inspired by the childhood nostalgia of toy robots and helium filled balloons, my entry for this contest will be B.R.U: The Balloon Rescue Unit. An affectionate and charismatic hero, B.R.U courageously searches for balloons lost among the clouds and safely returns them to the children who love them.
Update - 11 Nov 2022
Final Renders
These are my final renders of my robot B.R.U! Thank you to The Rookies for giving self-taught artists like me a chance to display their work, and thanks to Adobe for proving us with the fantastic Substance 3D apps. I have truly enjoyed working with Substance Painter and Stager and I hope you enjoy my entry!
Story - Inspired by the childhood nostalgia of toy robots and helium filled balloons, this is B.R.U: The Balloon Rescue Unit. An affectionate and charismatic hero, B.R.U courageously searches for balloons lost among the clouds and safely returns them to the children who love them. Searching high and low through blue skies and cotton candy clouds, B.R.U's appearance and personality mimics the colorful and whimsical adventures they encounter during their daily balloon rescue operations.
Model made in Blender 3D. Texturing done in Substance Painter. Rendered in Substance Stager.
Thank you again to The Rookies, Adobe, and Wacom for sponsoring this contest! It has been a lot of fun designing B.R.U and participating in this contest.
Thank you for visiting my entry!
Update - 9 Nov 2022
One last update before I submit B.R.U's final renders! I've been composing the scene in Substance Stager, adding the balloons and clouds. I still want to spend some time adjusting the props in the scene, but here's where I am so far.
Process View
And here's a look at B.R.U design process over the last month!
Thank you so much for following me on this adventure designing B.R.U. I have really enjoyed taking the time to learn the Substance 3D apps. Looking forward to submitting the final renders!
Update - 7 Nov 2022
After importing B.R.U into Stager, I spent a few days working on the environment lighting. I love working with lighting and I wanted to make sure B.R.U looked as adorable as possible in the final renders. Here's our super cute hero alone in Stager.
I took a few renders to test the lighting from different angles. By mixing the original cloud panorama with an overlay of sky-blue color, I was able to achieve a nice balance of realistic reflections with a slightly stylized backdrop. Here's a process view of testing the light from different angles.
After examining B.R.U from different angles, I was very satisfied with the materials and textures I made in Painter. Here are some of the texture sets I exported from Painter.
Body Textures
Top Row - base color, emissive, height, opacity. Bottom Row - normal, rough, metal, ambient occlusion.
Arm Textures
Top Row - base color, emissive, height. Bottom Row - normal, rough, metal, ambient occlusion.
Metal Paneling/Engine Textures
Top Row - base color, emissive, height. Bottom Row - normal, rough, metal, ambient occlusion.
Now it's time to stage B.R.U with the colorful balloon and cartoon cloud models. See you in my next update!
Update - 2 Nov 2022
This week I made a simple collection of props to display B.R.U with in Substance Stager. Of course, you can't have a flying/balloon catching robot without colorful balloons and cotton candy clouds. So I spent a few days modeling some props in Blender. Here are the results in Substance Stager!
Here is my design process.
I wanted to make some bright balloons for B.R.U to rescue, but I wanted to keep them relatively simple so they would not take away attention from the star of the scene. I made three variations with subtle differences. I worked mostly on the shapes of the strings to give the impression of movement.
I decided to texture the balloons directly in Substance Stager. After watching a few tutorials, I used a glossy material for the balloon and a fibrous texture for the string.
Here are a few renders to test the lighting in Stager. I used a bright blue background to mimic a clear sky, and the same cloud panorama I used in Painter for realistic reflections.
Next, the clouds! I went back to my original moodboard and tried to create stylized clouds that mimic the rounded shapes found in B.R.U's design. After a few attempts this is what I came up with.
Again I skipped Painter and went straight to Stager for texturizing. I tried various materials from translucent glass to metal, just to see what they would look like. I wanted a cartoony, stylized look. I eventually decided to use the paper material in Stager for a fluffy, cotton candy inspired texture. Although I unwrapped the models in Blender, I still used triplanar mapping in the material for a seamless finish. For each cloud I added a different pastel-like tint of color for added interest.
Here are a few renders to test the lighting and texture.
Update - 25 Oct 2022
Today I get to show off B.R.U's new paint job! I wanted to use a variety of different materials including glass, coated metal, and emissive light. Here is a process view in Substance Painter.
Using bright colors and smooth textures reminiscent of colorful balloons, I changed the glass materials to a purple color and used alpha blend shaders to create the transparent effect. The hourglass section is a slightly lighter color than the face shield glass for a subtle contrast effect, and I added a little brass paint on the glass parts for a gold foil inspired effect. I also changed the computer sphere material to be slightly emissive so they would stand out better on the model.
For the metal paneling I used the MatFinish Powder Coated filter for a smooth yet detailed finish, then added additional details including B.R.U's name to the metallic parts.
The most detail is in the balloon catching arms. I decided to combine an emissive material with coated metal for the magnetic panels. This helped to highlight them against the deep purple backdrop. I painted a few decals for added interest, and used a little edge wear to give depth and contrast to the mechanical design.
Here you is how I organized the materials in Substance Painter. The body materials are on the left, the metal paneling and engine parts center, and the arm materials are the final photo.
Now that B.R.U paint job is complete, I want to make some props to stage them with in Substance Stager. See you in my next update!
Update - 19 Oct 2022
For today's update we have UV's and vertex painting done! To keep the workflow organized I divided B.R.U's UV's into three individual parts: the body (which includes most of the glass parts along with the face and micro computer spheres), the metal paneling (this includes the levitation system and the lights), and the state-of-the-art balloon catching arms.
I have never worked with Substance Painter before, so I watched several tutorials before unwrapping the model. I made sure the UV islands were not overlapping. Then I packed them accordingly just as I would with unwrapping meshes for Blender shaders or Unreal Engine.
Here are the UV maps in Blender which from left to right include the body, paneling, and arm maps.
Next, I set up vertex colors on all parts of the model so I can easily map materials to specific parts. I tried to set them up so my workflow would be as streamlined as possible while working in Substance Painter.
Here are some photos of vertex painting B.R.U in Blender.
And now B.R.U is ready for their paint job! I jumped into Substance Painter and started working on the materials for the body. My experience building shaders in Unreal Engine certainly helped me transition to Substance Painter. The UI was very well designed and extremely intuitive. After a few hours in the editor I was able to build a couple of materials including B.R.U's glass shield, the hourglass material, a metallic material for the micro computer spheres, and a super cute face for B.R.U's main computer. Here is where I am so far!
I was especially happy with the glass material, but I am still experimenting in Substance Painter. I chose the cloud environment as a temporary backdrop. I wanted to mimic the lighting conditions B.R.U encounters when searching for balloons. Up next I need to finish the materials for the lights, metal paneling, and the electromagnetic levitation system.
In my next update I will be working on the additional materials and explaining my process for designing them in Substance Painter. See you soon!
Update - 14 Oct 2022
I spent a little more time brainstorming and staring at the cutest balloon designs online. Then I jumped into Blender to start modeling B.R.U's appearance. I wanted to use smooth, semi-stylized shapes that blend the playfulness of a hot air balloon with robotic details and features. The end result should have the viewer questioning whether what they are looking at is a balloon or a flying robot.
After a few hours of modeling in Blender, here is B.R.U's prototype!
The first photo is the model, the second is the wireframe, and the third has temporary materials added to help with vertex painting in Blender.
I also gave consideration to the types of materials I want to create in Substance Painter. Below is a diagram I made of B.R.U's mechanical systems to help with the material design process.
Next I'll be working on B.R.U's UV's and hopefully we can jump into Substance Painter soon! See you soon!
Update - 12 Oct 2022
B.R.U - Balloon Rescue Unit
Inspired by the childhood nostalgia of toy robots and helium filled balloons, my entry for this contest will be B.R.U: The Balloon Rescue Unit. An affectionate and charismatic hero, B.R.U courageously searches for balloons lost among the clouds and safely returns them to the children who love them. Using Adobe Substance 3D Apps, B.R.U's appearance will mimic the colorful and whimsical adventures they encounter during their daily balloon rescue operations.
To help with the design process, I started by creating a mood board that combines adorable robot expressions with the candy-like appearance of buoyant balloons.
Photos used are from Unsplash.com.
Thank you for visiting my entry! More updates coming soon!
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