Alexey Nalotov - Hard Surface Modeling 2022/23

This year has been a dive into the world of hard surface modeling and texturing. I became a part of two independent development teams, pouring my heart and soul into promising games. Nevertheless, I managed to squeeze in a couple of personal projects. These side ventures have allowed me to experiment with new techniques, helping me in game production and transforming me into a better artist.

1. N7 Helmet - Fan Art

The first project I am pleased to present is my fan art of the iconic N7 Helmet from Bioware’s Mass Effect Game Series. My aim was to create a mid/high resolution version of it, perfect for a cinematic cutscene. I only could find references with game-optimized helmets to take inspiration from, which added an extra layer of challenge to the project, also making it more interesting!

For references, I turned to the original artwork from Mass Effect: Andromeda by the talented Herbert Iowis, as well as a couple of concept arts I stumbled upon on DeviantArt (shoutout to Troodon80) and Eric Jarman's blog. 

Modeling

To enhance my hard surface sculpting skills, I blocked out the general shape of the helmet in ZBrush.  Then I simplified the topology and broke it down into parts to create the base mesh. Using Maya, I polished it up, adding all the necessary details and followed the subd workflow to create the high poly version of the helmet. Having that done, I went back to ZBrush to add sculpted damage details to the helmet's surface.

Texturing

For the first major material, I decided to craft a fictional metal alloy that exudes both strength and lightness. Taking it step by step, I ensured the helmet had a well-polished yet worn appearance. To simulate damage spots, I utilized gradient masks, reducing their number from the front to the bottom.

To recreate a realistic coated carbon material, I played around with a clearcoat channel, which allowed me to incorporate a second normal map and add an extra layer of roughness details on top of the carbon fibers.

I was eager to explore the legendary Pixar’s Renderman. So, naturally, this was my choice for the final turntable and beauty still shots. I can tell the learning curve was surprisingly smooth learning curve and I quickly found my rhythm with the engine.

As always, I tried to go beyond a just regular turntable by adding extra keyframes to manipulate material values and included an emissive AOV. This allowed me to composite a nice blur effect around the LED lights using DaVinci Resolve. I also utilized the color dodge blending mode to create a striking wireframe appearance.

As a finishing touch, I added a mysterious sci-fi melody from Productioncrate on top, et voila, I sincerely hope you guys like it!

2. Old Circuit Board

Since I joined an Indie game project that focuses on realistic visuals, I aimed to level up my 3D asset optimization techniques. The goal was to create a game-optimized prop based on a real-life reference—a circuit board from an old Radio (Abava RP-8330). 

Now, modeling this wasn't the most challenging task, but it provided a good number of details and opportunities to practice optimization techniques. My objective was to maintain the model's visual realism while adhering to a strict polycount limit of 4500 triangles. To keep track of the total polygon count, I color-coded the reference image and created a mesh list. 

Modeling

The modeling process was straightforward, from low to high poly mesh. Throughout this process, I kept an eye on the polycount, planning which details to bake or paint during the texturing stage. Once I achieved the desired low-poly shape for each component, I reduced the polycount using triangulation. To maximize the texture resolution, I overlapped the UVs of all repeating shapes.

Texturing

Each smart material has been created from scratch, diligently mixing different colors as well as values of height and roughness to match the reference Since I challenged myself with a strict polygon budget, I used the height channel to paint nice details, such as the cured glue and copper wire coils on the model's top. The thinnest cylindrical shapes, like cables, wires and resistors have just 3-4 sides, which didn’t prevent them from looking curved from the viewer’s perspective. For some of the parts, it was enough to use just flat planes, lending them a sense of volume by painting in the height channel.

I used 2 K textures with a texel density of 40.96 px/cm² for presentation shots. Depending on the perspective in the game (first-person or third-person), 1024 x 1024 or 512 x 512 textures are also working just fine.

This little project turned out to be a delightful learning experience. It forced me to approach my workflow differently, incorporating optimization techniques like triangulation, UV overlapping, decaling, and normal painting in a more systematic manner. I hope you enjoyed this breakdown! Feel free to explore the prop yourself using the attached Marmoset viewer.

3. Tool Kits

Last but certainly not least, as I already mentioned, I’m working on a game alongside with a team of passionate creators. Currently we all work voluntarily, because the project didn’t get funded yet. Anyhow, together we’re striving to deliver an exciting virtual experience with high quality visuals and today, I’m happy to present some of the props I've modeled for the game.

These closeup shots were rendered within Unreal Engine, taking advantage of the the Lumen system. I have used a textile asset from Megascans as a backdrop to showcase my props. You may also want to have a look at the wireframe  - just drag the sliders below the images to do so.

All assets were modeled based on real-life references. My goal was to recreate their visual appearance precisely, of course with a couple artistic adjustments to make sure they look volumetric and appealing from a third-person perspective. 

Creating materials for these props was a truly enjoyable task. I have modeled two kits, comprising a total of 16 props, and packed them into two texture atlases. You can drag the sliders below the images to switch between each texture map.

Now, I would love to share more artwork with you, but this is all I can show for now. 

I’d like to thank all my peers and mentors who was supporting me, providing feedback and sharing their knowledge. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have crossed paths with such incredible people and artists. 

And of course, I want to extend a gigantic thank you to YOU for taking the time to explore my entry! Your support and interest are invaluable. Cheers!