Jonathan Ma | 3D Environment Art Showcase | Rookies 2023

Welcome!

Hello, thank you for stopping by! Below are my personal projects where I focused on learning the ins and out of what it takes to become a 3D Environment Artist for games. I decided that I wanted to create a variety of projects to tackle the different challenges that come with this profession and it ended up being a great educational journey. I'm excited to share with you all that I've done.

Xinran Cottage Overview

The goal of this environment was to focus on creating and utilizing materials and trim sheets throughout the scene. I wanted an excuse to dip my toes into Substance Designer and experience a part of the pipeline that I was previously not familiar with.

This project was also a great chance to recreate the original concept art through my own artistic perspective and add elements that I believe would elevate the storytelling and narrative.

Xinran Cottage Breakdown

A challenge that I found immediately during this project was how I would modularize the scene. The non-repetitive nature of it made it difficult, but I eventually told myself to step back and look at the bigger element of the concept art and to broaden my scope of modularization. After re-evaluating my thought process, I was able to modularize the pieces in a way that satisfied me.

During this process, I also learned much more about poly efficiency, shaders, and optimization.

Xinran Cottage Timelapse & Comparison

I want to give thanks to Xinran Li for allowing me to use their concept art for this project. It was a wonderful learning experience that allow me to grow much as an artist and I'm very thankful for the opportunity.

Original Concept Art: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JeB2Pd

Ancestral Overview

Ancestral Breakdown

One of the more difficult parts of the project was getting the rocks and trees to look exactly the way I wanted them to. I went through a lot of self-deliberation on how I could get them to look close to what the concept art was. I eventually had to learn that I shouldn't be trying to mimic the concept pixel to pixel, but rather translate the ideas into 3D and through my own artistic view. It was a great lesson to learn and I ended up happy with the results!

Ancestral Progression/Timelapse/Comparison

I want to give a huge thank you to Tim Kaminski for allowing me to use his concept art and giving me feedback during this project. This was my first time working with another artist's art and it was a great experience.

Tim's Artstastion Link: https://www.artstation.com/tim

Lost Treasure Overview

Lost Treasure Breakdown

I had a lot of fun creating all of the assets in this scene and getting more experience with Zbrush. The treasure chest ended up being one of my favorite assets I've made and I'm really happy with how to project wrapped up!

Lost Treasure Timelapse

I want to thank all the artists the helped me in creating this environment. It went through a lot of fazes to get where it is now and I'm really thankful to everyone who gave me advice on how I could improve the scene.

Fin

Thank you for stopping by and scrolling through my entry! I know I still have much to learn and improve upon, but that makes the future all the more exciting.  Special thanks to all my friends, teachers, and fellow artist that have supported and helped me get to where I am today!