Research Focus

For Voyage, I researched hard-surface modelling as a production method for building believable sci-fi assets. This was important because the film included multiple mechanical and manufactured objects: the robot companion, spaceship, sci-fi pistol, pendant and environment props.

My aim was not only to model visually detailed assets, but to create assets that were readable, efficient and suitable for a realtime Unreal Engine pipeline.

Industry Context

Hard-surface modelling is commonly used for mechanical objects, vehicles, weapons, props and architectural forms. Unlike organic modelling, it depends on clear geometry, controlled edges and precise surface transitions. Industry discussions often emphasise that good topology is not about making every surface perfectly quad-based, but about whether the model serves its production purpose: clean shading, stable baking, readable silhouette and efficient performance.

Polycount’s topology resources define topology as the arrangement of vertices and edges across a mesh, and connect good topology with realtime performance. This was relevant to my project because Unreal Engine assets need to look strong in camera while remaining technically stable.

I also researched face-weighted normals and bevel workflows. Polycount describes face-weighted normals as a method for improving hard-surface shading by combining bevels with adjusted vertex normals. This influenced my modelling approach because many sci-fi assets need crisp edges, but completely sharp edges can look unrealistic under cinematic lighting.

Application to Voyage

In the film, I used hard-surface modelling to support both world-building and production efficiency.

The robot companion required a balance between mechanical construction and emotional appeal. Its body needed to feel engineered, but its proportions and face screen had to remain cute and readable. Therefore, I focused on simple large shapes first, then added smaller mechanical details only where they supported the design.

The sci-fi pistol and spaceship used a more industrial design language. For these assets, I focused on silhouette, panel separation, bevel consistency, and functional details such as handles, vents, bolts, seams and material breaks.

The pendant was smaller, so the design needed stronger shape readability. At small scale, excessive detail can become visual noise, so I prioritised clear forms and controlled surface detail.

Production Workflow

My asset workflow followed this structure:

1. Blockout — establish silhouette, proportion and function.
2. Hard-surface modelling — refine panels, bevels and mechanical forms.
3. Detail pass — add seams, vents, bolts, decals and secondary shapes.
4. UV preparation — organise texture space and maintain consistent texel density.
5. PBR texturing — create material separation through roughness, metallic values and edge wear.
6. Unreal Engine testing — check lighting response, scale, readability and render stability.

This process helped me avoid treating modelling as an isolated task. Each asset had to work inside the wider cinematic system: lighting, materials, camera distance and realtime performance.

Realtime Considerations

Because Voyage was produced in Unreal Engine, I also researched realtime asset optimisation. Unreal Engine’s Nanite documentation describes Nanite as a virtualised geometry system designed to render high detail and high object counts by processing visible detail efficiently.

However, this research also reminded me that optimisation is not only about using one technology. For a student film, I still needed to make careful decisions about mesh density, material count, texture size and scene organisation. Hero assets could hold more detail, while background props needed simpler geometry and stronger silhouettes.

This helped me separate assets into production categories:

• Hero assets: girl character, robot, spaceship, pistol
• Secondary assets: pendant, equipment, smaller props
• Background assets: environment set dressing and repeated details

This hierarchy helped me spend time where the camera would actually notice it.

Reflection

This research changed how I approached hard-surface modelling. I learned that a successful asset is not simply a detailed model. It must have clear design logic, clean shading, efficient structure and a purpose inside the film.

The most important lesson was that modelling decisions affect every later stage: UVs, baking, texturing, rigging, lighting and rendering. A poorly planned model can create problems throughout the pipeline, while a clean asset supports smoother production.

For future projects, I want to improve my modular asset workflow further. I would like to build reusable sci-fi parts, shared trim sheets and stronger asset libraries so that production can become faster and more consistent.

Research Links

Polycount — Topology
https://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Topology

Polycount — Face Weighted Normals
https://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Face_weighted_normals

Polycount Forum — Topology Standards for Hard Surface Modeling
https://polycount.com/discussion/208575/topology-standards-for-hard-surface-modeling

80 Level — Hard-Surface Modelling and Lighting in UE4
https://80.lv/articles/high-voltage-hard-surface-modeling-and-lighting-in-ue4

Unreal Engine — Nanite Virtualized Geometry
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/nanite-virtualized-geometry-in-unreal-engine

Polycount Forum — Game-Ready Asset Modelling Workflows
https://polycount.com/discussion/234552/questions-about-game-ready-asset-modeling-workflows

Research Focus

For Voyage, I researched how PBR materials and look development could create a consistent visual world across characters, robots, props and environments. The aim was not only to make each asset visually detailed, but to ensure that all surfaces responded believably under Unreal Engine lighting.

This was important because the film combines stylised sci-fi design with cinematic realism. The girl character, robot companion, pistol, spaceship and alien planet needed to feel part of the same world, even though they used different material types: fabric, painted metal, rubber, glass, emissive screens, plastic panels and worn hard-surface details.

Industry Context

PBR, or Physically Based Rendering, is a material workflow based on how light interacts with surfaces. In Unreal Engine, physically based materials use inputs such as Base Color, Roughness, Metallic, Normal and Ambient Occlusion to produce more consistent results under different lighting conditions.

Adobe’s Substance PBR guide explains that the metal/roughness workflow relies mainly on Base Color, Metallic and Roughness maps, while also using Normal, Ambient Occlusion and Height maps when needed. This helped me understand texturing as a controlled material system rather than only a painting process.

Marmoset’s PBR writing also emphasises consistency as one of the key reasons to use measured material values. This is especially relevant in team-based production, because consistent materials make assets easier to art direct and more predictable in different lighting environments.

Application to My Project

In Voyage, I used PBR research to guide the look development of the main assets.

For the robot, I focused on painted metal, rubber joints, small scratches, edge wear and emissive screen details. The aim was to make the robot feel functional and manufactured, but still cute and approachable.

For the girl character, I used material contrast to separate soft fabric, hard suit panels, helmet glass and technical equipment. This helped the character remain readable in both close-up shots and wider cinematic compositions.

For props such as the sci-fi pistol and robot pendant, I used layered roughness variation, subtle damage and decals to suggest usage and scale. These details helped the props feel integrated into the world rather than appearing as clean isolated models.

Material Decisions

The most important material decision was controlling roughness. I learned that roughness has a major effect on how cinematic a material feels. A surface with no roughness variation can look flat or artificial, even if the base color is detailed.

I also avoided painting strong lighting information directly into the base color. PBR research suggests that Base Color should describe the material’s color, while lighting and shadow should come from the renderer and environment. This helped the assets remain flexible under Unreal Engine lighting. Adobe also notes that data maps such as Roughness, Metallic, Normal, Ambient Occlusion and Height should be treated as linear data rather than regular color textures.

For the final look, I used a stylised-realism approach: the forms and colours are simplified enough to feel designed, but the materials still follow believable physical logic.

Reflection

This research changed how I approached texturing. Before, I mainly thought about whether a texture looked detailed. Through PBR research, I began thinking more about material behaviour: how glossy a surface should be, whether it is metal or non-metal, how it reacts to light, and whether it remains consistent across the film.

The main lesson was that look development is not just surface decoration. It is part of world-building. If the robot, character and props share a consistent material language, the audience is more likely to believe they belong to the same cinematic universe.

For future improvement, I would like to develop a more organised material library for the project, with shared smart materials for painted metal, rubber, fabric, glass and emissive screens. This would make the workflow faster and more consistent for future production.

Research Links

Epic Games — Physically Based Materials in Unreal Engine
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/physically-based-materials-in-unreal-engine

Adobe Substance 3D — The PBR Guide Part 1
https://www.adobe.com/learn/substance-3d-designer/web/the-pbr-guide-part-1

Adobe Substance 3D — The PBR Guide Part 2
https://www.adobe.com/learn/substance-3d-designer/web/the-pbr-guide-part-2

Marmoset — Physically-Based Rendering, And You Can Too
https://marmoset.co/posts/physically-based-rendering-and-you-can-too/

Polycount Wiki — PBR
https://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/PBR

Epic Games — Real Shading in Unreal Engine 4, SIGGRAPH Notes
https://cdn2.unrealengine.com/Resources/files/2013SiggraphPresentationsNotes-26915738.pdf

Research Focus

For Voyage, I researched how a customised MetaHuman workflow could support a production-ready digital character in a realtime cinematic pipeline. The goal was not only to create a visually appealing girl character, but to make her technically reliable for animation, facial performance, Sequencer shots and mocap retargeting.

This research was important because digital characters are not just models. In production, they must work across rigging, deformation, animation, materials, lighting and rendering. Therefore, I treated the MetaHuman system as a technical foundation, then adapted it to fit the visual style and production needs of the film.

Industry Context

MetaHuman is widely used because it provides a high-quality digital human structure with established rigging and animation tools. Epic’s documentation shows that MetaHumans can be animated with Control Rig and IK Rig, which made it suitable for a small production needing reliable character performance.

I also researched Unreal Engine’s IK Retargeter workflow, which allows animation data to be shared between different characters without rebuilding animations from scratch. This was important for Voyage because retargeted mocap and existing animation assets could speed up production while still allowing manual refinement.

Application to My Character

The girl character used a customised MetaHuman integration workflow. I kept the core rigging advantages of MetaHuman, but adjusted the look development, material response and costume design to better match the sci-fi world of Voyage.

The main production decisions were:

• use MetaHuman as a stable digital human base
• preserve compatibility with mocap and retargeted animation
• refine the character visually beyond the default MetaHuman look
• use Control Rig for shot-level animation correction
• test the character inside Unreal Engine lighting and Sequencer
• keep the workflow flexible for future animation changes

This allowed the character to remain both artistic and production-ready.

Technical Research and Problem Solving

A key part of the research was understanding that retargeting is powerful but not automatic. Forum discussions around MetaHuman retargeting show that artists often experience issues such as incorrect arm positions, hand deformation or animation mismatch when transferring motion between skeletons.

This helped me approach the workflow more carefully. Instead of assuming animation would work immediately, I treated retargeting as a test-based process. I checked skeleton compatibility, animation quality, body proportions and final shot performance before committing to the final cinematic setup.

The research also showed me that community forums are useful because they reveal real production problems that official documentation may not fully explain. This made my process more practical and less idealised.

Reflection

This workflow changed how I understood character creation. A strong digital character is not only defined by appearance, but by how well it performs inside the production system.

Through this research, I learned that MetaHuman is valuable because it provides a reliable base, but artistic control still requires customisation. The challenge is to balance standardisation and individuality: keeping the rig stable while making the character feel specific to the film.

For future development, I would like to improve this workflow further by exploring MetaHuman Animator for facial performance capture and MetaHuman for Maya for deeper character customisation and technical fixing.

Research Links

Epic Games — MetaHuman Animation
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/animation

Epic Games — IK Rig Animation Retargeting
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/ik-rig-animation-retargeting-in-unreal-engine

Epic Games — Create a Custom IK Retargeter for MetaHuman
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/create-a-custom-ik-retargeter

Epic Games — MetaHuman Animator
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-animator

Epic Games — MetaHuman for Maya
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-for-maya

Unreal Engine Forum — MetaHuman Retargeting Issues
https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/ue5-mannequin-metahuman-retargeting-deformation-ik-rig/541543

Rokoko — Retargeting Rokoko Animation to MetaHuman
https://support.rokoko.com/hc/en-us/articles/19390947288465-Unreal-Engine-5-4-and-prior-Retarget-a-Rokoko-animation-to-a-Metahuman

For Voyage, I researched how realtime production workflows can support a small-scale cinematic animation project. Instead of using Unreal Engine 5 only as a rendering tool, I treated it as a central production environment for layout, lighting, animation, camera work, look development and final output.

This was important because the project involved multiple connected elements: a customized MetaHuman character, a robot companion, hard-surface props, PBR materials, mocap retargeting, Sequencer and final cinematic rendering. As Lead 3D Artist and 3D Generalist, my role was not only to create assets, but also to ensure that these assets could function reliably inside a shared realtime pipeline.

The Unit 3 brief asks us to discuss process, research, collaboration, development and individual contribution, so this research became a key part of how I evaluated my production role.

Industry Context

My research was influenced by Epic Games’ Virtual Production Field Guide, which presents realtime production as a method for making visual decisions earlier in the filmmaking process. This helped me understand Unreal Engine as a space for active creative testing rather than only final rendering.

Compared with a traditional offline CGI pipeline, realtime production allows lighting, materials, animation and camera composition to be tested together. This was especially useful for Voyage, because the emotional tone of the film depended on atmosphere, scale and quiet companionship rather than fast action.

For example, the girl character and robot companion needed to feel small within a large alien environment. Testing them directly inside Unreal Engine allowed me to judge their scale, silhouette and emotional relationship more effectively.

Application to My Project

This research shaped several production decisions:

• Unreal Engine was used for early look development and shot testing.
• Sequencer supported cinematic framing, pacing and camera planning.
• PBR materials were tested under final lighting conditions.
• Assets were prepared with realtime performance and render stability in mind.
• Render previews were used to communicate visual direction within the group.

Through this process, I learned that realtime workflow is not simply faster; it changes how creative decisions are made. The pipeline allowed me to iterate quickly, compare visual options, and identify technical problems earlier in production.

Reflection

The main lesson from this research was that pipeline design directly affects artistic quality. A model may look strong in isolation, but it must also work inside the full film system: animation, lighting, camera, materials and rendering.

This changed my thinking from asset creation to production integration. Instead of only asking whether a model looked good, I began asking whether it worked reliably inside the cinematic workflow.

This was one of the most valuable outcomes of the project. It helped me understand the role of a 3D artist not only as a maker of visual assets, but also as someone who contributes to technical structure, workflow stability and production efficiency.

Research Links

Epic Games — Virtual Production Field Guide
Useful for understanding realtime production and virtual production workflows.
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/virtual-production-field-guide-a-new-resource-for-filmmakers

Epic Games — Welcome to Virtual Production
Useful for understanding Unreal Engine as a production environment.
https://dev.epicgames.com/community/learning/paths/Pv/welcome-to-virtual-production

Epic Games — Sequencer Documentation
Useful for researching cinematic shot layout and camera control.
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/sequencer-basics

Epic Games — Movie Render Queue Documentation
Useful for final cinematic rendering and high-quality output.
https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/movie-render-queue

As I continued studying 3D asset creation, one of the most consistent standards I encountered—across games, film, VR, and even product rendering—is the PBR workflow. PBR (Physically Based Rendering) is basically a universal shading system designed to make materials react to light in a predictable, physically accurate way. The more I researched it in professional pipelines, the clearer it became that PBR isn’t just a “texturing method”—it’s an interconnected process that starts at modeling and ends at lighting.

Below is a breakdown of the PBR pipeline as I now understand it, with each step based on industry practice.

1. Preparing the Model (Before Texturing Even Begins)

The PBR workflow starts earlier than I expected. Before I can even touch textures, the model must be prepared correctly:

• Clean topology ensures shading behaves correctly.
• Proper UVs with consistent texel density prevent stretching and artifacts.
• Correct smoothing groups/normals create smooth or sharp transitions exactly where needed.

I learned that bad modeling decisions will always show up in the final PBR material—PBR is unforgiving that way.

2. High-Poly Sculpt > Low-Poly Retopo (for Game Assets)

In real-time pipelines, PBR relies heavily on transferring surface detail from the sculpt to the low-poly mesh.

Pipeline:

• Sculpt high-res detail (ZBrush/Blender)
• Create clean, low-poly retopo
• Bake all surface information down into texture maps

This is where the foundation of a believable PBR material begins.

3. Baking Maps (The Core of PBR Start)

Through research and practice, I realized baking is where PBR gets most of its “micro detail.”
Common maps include:

• Normal Map – replaces high-poly surface detail
• Ambient Occlusion – grounding shadow information
• Curvature Map – helps auto-generate edge wear
• World/Position Map – useful for procedural masks
• ID Map – speeds up material assignments
• Thickness Map – used for subsurface materials

For games, these maps are essential.
For film, they support displacement and shader networks.

4. Base Material Setup (The Heart of PBR)

When texturing in Substance Painter/Mari, every PBR material follows two core values:

Metallic

0 = non-metal
1 = metal
No in-between, no guessing.

Roughness

Controls how sharp or blurry reflections are.

I learned that these two channels do most of the heavy lifting in PBR.
Color (base color/albedo) only describes true material color—no lighting painted in.

5. Building Materials Layer by Layer

The more pipelines I researched, the more I saw the same workflow repeated:

• Start with a flat, correct base color
• Add roughness variation (fingerprints, dirt, smudges)
• Add micro detail using baked maps
• Add edge wear using curvature maps
• Add dirt/dust using AO masks
• Finalize with manual painting where needed

PBR materials feel believable because of roughness variation, not because of noisy textures.

6. Exporting PBR Maps (Game or Film)

Once texturing is complete, studios export PBR maps depending on whether the final asset goes into:

Game Engines (Unreal/Unity)

Export:

• Base Color
• Metallic
• Roughness
• Normal
• AO
• Emissive (if needed)

(Some studios pack channels into a single texture to optimize memory.)

Film / Offline Rendering (Arnold, RenderMan)

Export:

• Albedo
• Roughness
• Specular Depth
• Displacement
• Normal (if used)
• Additional masks for look-dev

Offline renderers allow more complexity, but the principle is the same.

7. Look-Dev: Testing Materials Under Real Lighting

This was one of the most important things I learned:
PBR is only “finished” once it’s tested under proper lighting.

In production, look-dev artists check materials using:

• HDRIs
• Direct spotlights
• Backlights
• Studio lighting rigs

If a material only works in one lighting setup, it’s not ready yet.

This is why so many breakdowns show turntables with multiple lights:
Good PBR materials are lighting-independent.

8. Integration Into Rendering or Game Engine

Finally, the asset moves downstream:

Games:

Plug maps into the engine’s PBR shader, test under real-time lighting, adjust roughness and metallic values, and optimize.

Film:

Shader artists plug maps into more complex networks, often adding displacement, SSS, or custom layers on top of the PBR base.

By the end of this step, the asset becomes production-ready.

Conclusion of My Research

As I researched PBR workflows across multiple studios and tutorials, I realized that PBR is less about “hitting the right settings” and more about building accurate materials from the ground up—starting with modeling, UVs, bakes, and consistent physical properties.

PBR forces me to think like both an artist and a technician:

• Artist (shape, color, material identity)
• Technician (maps, accuracy, lighting behavior)

Understanding this pipeline has made me appreciate how much the texturing and look-dev stages rely on solid modeling and preparation. It’s a system where every step affects the next, and small decisions early on can shape the entire final result.

Some of my Texturing Artworks:

3D Modeling in the Industry

As I’ve researched the CG world more deeply, 3D modeling has become one of the clearest and most universal foundations across film, games, and animation. No matter which studio I look at—whether it’s a AAA game team or a feature-film VFX house—the modeling pipeline follows a surprisingly similar structure. What changes is the level of detail, the technical requirements, and how the asset is used downstream. Understanding this pipeline has helped me see exactly where modeling sits in the bigger production ecosystem, and why it’s such a critical position.

How I Understand the Standard 3D Modeling Pipeline

As I studied professional workflows and artist breakdowns, I realized that modeling usually follows these core steps:

1. Concept & Reference Gathering
Everything begins with solid references—silhouette studies, material boards, anatomy charts, even screenshots from films or games. I’ve learned that modelers don’t just “start modeling”; they first build a visual library.

2. High-Poly Modeling / Sculpting
This is where the main forms come to life. Artists sculpt in ZBrush or model in Maya/Blender to nail down the shape, structure, and proportion. From my perspective, this is the most creative stage—pushing forms, experimenting, and defining personality.

3. Retopology (Clean, Industry-Standard Topology)
A beautiful sculpt doesn’t mean it’s usable. Retopo is where the model becomes efficient, clean, and animation-ready. I now understand why studios emphasize:

• quad-based topology
• good edge loops for deformation
• minimal Ngons
• optimized mesh flow

It’s not just a rule—it determines whether your asset survives the pipeline.

4. UV Unwrapping
UVs used to intimidate me when I encounter Heavy-Load polycounts, but the more I researched industry standards, the more I realized it’s all about consistency:

• even texel density
• clean UV islands
• strategic seam placement
• UDIMs for film, simple tiles for games

Good UVs directly affect texturing and shading later.

5. Baking (Primarily for Games)
Game artists transfer high-poly detail onto low-poly models. Learning about normal maps, AO, curvature, and cage settings showed me how much detail can be preserved without heavy geometry.

6. Texturing & Surfacing
This is where color, material definition, and realism come in. When the model finally enters Substance Painter or Mari, the forms I built earlier get brought to life with roughness breakup, edge wear, and material variation.

7. Look Development (Film/High-End Production)
In film/VFX pipelines, assets go through look-dev to make sure shaders react correctly under studio lighting. This is where modeling connects to shading, displacement, and render engines like Arnold or RenderMan.

8. Integration into the Next Department
At this point, the asset is ready for rigging, animation, lighting, or game-engine import. The cleaner my model is, the smoother this hand-off becomes.

Where I See Myself in This Pipeline

Learning all this has made me appreciate how foundational modeling really is. Modelers are the first people to “build” the world—characters, environments, props, everything. The choices made in the modeling stage ripple forward into rigging, animation, texturing, and lighting.

For me, that blend of artistry and technical precision is exactly what I enjoy. Modeling feels like the perfect balance between creativity and logic, and exploring these industry pipelines has only made me more excited to specialize in 3D modeling, asset creation, and texturing as I move further into the film and game industry.

About My Journey

I began my journey as a 3D artist during the COVID era, a time when digital creation became both a refuge and a professional doorway. My first exposure to 3D was through Rhino, a NURBS-based modeling tool fundamentally different from the polygonal pipelines used in film and game production. Starting with precise, mathematically driven surfaces gave me a unique foundation, but as my interests expanded, I gradually moved into broader areas of 3D art. That transition led me to Cinema 4D, where I explored motion graphics and briefly worked within the advertising industry. Through this experience I gained an understanding of fast-paced production environments, procedural workflows, and visual communication for commercial clients. However, as I continued growing, I realised that my long-term passion extended beyond motion graphics. I wanted to work more deeply in the game and film industries, where storytelling, world-building, and complex technical pipelines intersect. This shift prompted me to investigate the wider landscape of CG roles, workflows, and opportunities across both industries.

Industry Roles

The 3D industry spans animation, VFX, games, advertising, and virtual production, but most studios follow a similar end-to-end pipeline that moves from early planning to final output. A typical 3D production pipeline can be understood through the following major stages:

1. Pre-Production — Planning & Visual Direction

• Concept art and style development
• Storyboards and animatics
• Previs and 3D layout (early blocking, cameras, staging)

2. Asset Creation — Building the World

• 3D modeling (characters, props, environments)
• UV mapping and texturing / surfacing (PBR materials, maps)
• Grooming (hair, fur, feathers)
• Look development / shading (materials and rendering behavior)

3. Character & Technical Setup — Making Assets Functional

• Rigging and character TD work (skeletons, controllers, deformation)
• Creature FX / CFX (cloth, fur, muscle simulations)
• Technical tools and pipeline preparation for animation

4. Animation & Simulation — Bringing Things to Life

• Character and creature animation
• FX simulation (fire, smoke, water, magic, destruction)
• Crowd simulation and behavior systems

5. Lighting, Rendering & Finalization — Creating the Final Look

• Lighting (mood, clarity, realism)
• Rendering and optimization (AOVs, passes, farm management)
• Compositing (final image integration, color, depth, polish)

6. Game-Specific Integration — Real-Time Implementation

• Shader creation and real-time look-dev
• Technical art and engine tools
• Importing assets into Unreal/Unity
• Performance optimization, LODs, and real-time VFX

Across film and game workflows, these stages form a highly interconnected system where assets move from team to team, growing more refined at each step. Studying these pipelines has helped me understand how many different specialties contribute to a finished production. While I find the entire process fascinating, the areas that resonate most strongly with me are 3D modeling, asset creation, and texturing, where both artistic design and technical craft come together at the foundation of CG production.

This project, inspired by Animal Farm, focused on building a fictional dystopian environment using a PBR workflow with Substance Painter. I created modular assets like fences, walls, and propaganda boards, applying weathered materials such as rusted metal, chipped concrete, and decaying wood to reflect neglect and oppression. Using smart masks, decals, and custom textures, I layered dirt, rust, and worn edges to enhance realism and storytelling. The scene was assembled with careful composition and lighting, using muted colors and fog to evoke an eerie, authoritarian atmosphere, capturing the breakdown of control and ideals central to the story.

The process for this project was very complex, starting with sculpting a stylized character to match the dystopian theme. After completing the high-detail sculpt, I had to retopologize the model to create a clean, optimized mesh suitable for animation, ensuring proper edge flow and manageable topology for rigging and deformation. This workflow required balancing artistic detail with technical usability, making sure the final asset retained the stylized look while being efficient enough for use in animation and the overall scene.

For rigging, I used Auto-Rig Pro as my solution, which significantly streamlined the process but still required a lot of time to set up and refine for the layers of animation I needed. After animation, I composited the final renders in different passes, separating elements like characters, background, and effects, which gave me more flexibility to tweak colors, lighting, and atmosphere during post-production, ensuring the final look matched the dystopian tone of the project.

During this simulated work experience, I found myself extremely disappointed, both in the tasks I was assigned and the overall planning of the project. The only task given to me was finding references and gathering a model list, but the list itself made absolutely no sense. Many of the objects on the list were extremely simple — things that could easily be found online for free or modeled from scratch in literally five minutes. There was no logic behind outsourcing such trivial work to team members when the group leader could have handled it independently in less time than it took to type out the request.

This left me feeling like my role was completely insufficient and unnecessary, with no real opportunity to apply my skills or contribute creatively. What made it worse was the fact that the entire assignment was scheduled to last two weeks, yet my actual workload amounted to barely 30 minutes of effort. The mismatch between the timeline and the amount of work was frustrating and illogical, and it felt like a complete failure in project planning and team management.

On top of that, the group leader’s refusal to meet or discuss the project properly only added to the disorganization. Even though I asked to meet in person to clarify the goals and workflow, he insisted on communicating purely through text messages, which made everything slower and less clear. With almost 80% of the work already completed by the group leader himself, there was practically no room left for the rest of the team to contribute anything meaningful.

This experience stood in stark contrast to my time working with the Brown RISD Game Development Club, where communication was smooth, the work was well-distributed, and everyone had a clear role with real creative input. That experience taught me how important collaborative planning and communication are for any successful team project, and this simulation highlighted exactly what happens when those are missing.

Overall, this project felt like a waste of time and a missed opportunity to learn anything useful. It also showed me just how irresponsible and inefficient poor project planning can be, especially when the work isn’t properly matched to the schedule or the skills of the team. I hope future projects will be better structured, with clearer communication and more meaningful work for all team members.

The following images were assigned to me by the team leader as part of my tasks for this two-week project. However, upon reviewing them, it became clear that these are some of the most basic, primitive shapes imaginable — objects so simple that they could either be sourced online for free or modeled from scratch in just a few minutes. Assigning these for a two-week period is completely illogical and unnecessary, showing a lack of consideration for both time management and team members’ skills:

The team leader mentioned that the project would follow a low-poly art direction, and as part of my assigned tasks, I was asked to find reference photos to support that style. Below are some of the references I found and selected, which I dedicated time to developing into a useful collection.

However, this task raised several concerns for me. Researching references is something that should typically be part of the pre-production phase, where the overall visual direction is decided before the actual work starts. Being asked to do this after the project was already underway felt unorganized and unprofessional, especially for a project with such a tight and simple scope.

This kind of disorganized workflow — assigning basic pre-production work mid-project — wastes time and prevents the team from focusing on actual production tasks, where creative and technical contributions are more valuable. It also made it difficult to feel like the project had any clear direction or plan, which contributed to the overall lack of efficiency and clarity throughout the experience.