Please introduce yourself and your team. How did the development of The Precinct begin?I'm Lewis Boadle, Art Director at Fallen Tree Games. We're a small indie developer based in the UK with a core team of five. The company was founded in 2012 by Joe Moulding, our Game Director, and myself after working together at Free Radical Design.We started out developing mobile games, but in 2015, we shifted the focus to PC and console development with the start of our first major title, American Fugitive. Released in 2019, Fugitive was a top-down action arcade game inspired by early Grand Theft Auto titles, where you played as a felon on the run from the law.During development, Joe and I often wondered what it would be like to experience the story from the other side, to play as the cop chasing the bad guys. At the time, it seemed like a simple idea. Six years later, here we are...What kind of world can players expect in The Precinct? What are some of the core gameplay mechanics? How did you ensure the game doesn't become boring or repetitive?First and foremost, this is not a simulator. Like American Fugitive, it is an over-the-top love letter to action games and movies, especially those from the 1980s. The game throws you into high-octane chases and shootouts, balanced with slower-paced activities such as issuing parking tickets and conducting traffic stops. You can patrol the city in a variety of vehicles, travel on foot, or take to the skies in a helicopter. You can also commandeer civilian vehicles as you deal with graffiti artists, pursue bank robbers, and confront violent gangs in firefights.The game is roughly split 50/50 between a story-driven experience and an open-world sandbox filled with randomly generated crimes. The narrative follows the player as they work alongside detectives to dismantle the gangs terrorizing the city. Along the way, they will also investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding their father's death.When responding to crimes, expect a wide range of suspect behaviors. A sweet-looking granny might suddenly pull a shotgun. A cornered criminal could hide in a dumpster, hijack a passing car, or grab a bystander as a human shield during a shootout. Routine traffic stops might spiral into high-speed chases, while gang firefights can break out without warning in dimly lit alleys. Even the most harmless-seeming civilians may be quietly nursing a deep hatred for the police.In short, we've aimed to make every shift feel unpredictable and dynamic, no matter how routine it starts.From a technical perspective, what was the development process like for The Precinct? Could you discuss any custom tools the team created? How did you approach optimization? What were the main challenges?The following technical insights were provided by one of our programmers, Harry:"One of the main optimization challenges we faced was in building a dense open world filled with interactive elements. This included physics-based props, dynamic civilians, and criminals, all of which are central to The Precinct's gameplay. These systems place a heavy load on the CPU, so most of our optimization efforts were focused on that area. Streaming destructible props and buildings, simulating roaming vehicles, running emergent crimes, and supporting a highly complex AI system that manages a wide range of behaviors and reactions were all major technical hurdles.Our early decision to use Unity's legacy built-in renderer did have some repercussions. While this choice offered the most stability and efficiency for our team, the drawback was that it limited our access to some modern high-performance rendering features. Despite the constraints, we were able to implement features like FSR upscaling, stochastic reflections, and screen space global illumination. These additions helped us achieve strong visual results, especially considering that all lighting in the game is fully real-time.Lighting, particularly at night, was another area that required significant optimization. The city features a very high density of lights from streets, shops, and vehicles, many of which use volumetric fog. Getting this to perform well involved a lot of tuning and technical work to deliver the best possible balance between quality and performance."On the tools front, we tried to find ways to speed up production wherever possible. One notable example was in creating a Building Generation Tool, which allowed the artists to assemble buildings from a suite of modular panels, at the click of a button, dynamically generating the collision and other dependencies.You delayed the game earlier, what caused it, and what improvements have you made since then? What has been the community reception so far?Actually, we've delayed the game twice. In hindsight, we were a little too optimistic about how quickly we could polish, bug-fix, and optimize the game across three platforms at the same time. With an open-world game, the potential for things to go wrong is practically endless, and we weren't willing to release anything less than the best version possible. Fortunately, our publisher, Kwalee, was fully supportive of that decision.Beyond bug fixes and polishing, we also made a number of improvements and enhancements based on the feedback we received from the demo we released in October 2024. For example, when arresting a suspect, players can now itemize the crimes to earn maximum XP. We've also upgraded the visuals, made further performance optimizations, and introduced a broad range of quality-of-life and accessibility features.There was understandably some frustration around the second delay, especially since the announcement came so close to the original release date. But as we've continued to share new footage and updates with the community, players have come around to our perspective; that the delay means a better, more refined game. Expectations are incredibly high these days, even for indie titles. We know we made the right call.What does the future look like for The Precinct after launch?Our hope is that the game is well received, giving us the opportunity to continue building on it with new content and updates. As you can imagine, we have plenty of ideas for additional crimes, story expansions, and other fun features, and the community has been incredibly vocal with their own suggestions, too.This is the most ambitious project we've ever undertaken as a studio, and we're immensely proud of what we've created. With a bit of luck and continued support, we'd love to keep growing and evolving The Precinct for an extended period.The Precinct launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on May 13th, so add it to your wishlist now.Lewis Boadle, Art Director at Fallen Tree GamesInterview conducted by Amber Rutherford

Introduction Hello everyone! My name is Daryna, and I’m an 18-year-old 3D prop artist from Kharkiv, Ukraine. I began my journey into the world of 3D art in 2022.Before transitioning to 3D, I spent two years studying classical art, focusing on academic drawing and painting. My passion for game development and the idea of contributing to immersive, interactive worlds led me to explore 3D modeling. From the very beginning, I gravitated toward creating realistic game-ready assets.I've been self-taught so far, learning through online resources and courses, always striving to improve with each new project. Although I’m still early in my journey, I treat every piece as an opportunity to grow and refine my skills.Over the past year, I’ve worked on several projects, including the one I’ll be breaking down today: The Mad Science Gun.For this piece, I used a variety of tools: Maya, ZBrush, Marvelous Designer, RizomUV, Marmoset Toolbag, Unreal Engine 5, and Adobe Photoshop.Let’s dive into the process!Mad Science GunSince I’m always looking to push my skills further, I had a clear vision for my next project. I wanted to focus on metallic surfaces, explore cloth simulation in Marvelous Designer, and experiment with glass shaders in Unreal Engine 5.While browsing for inspiration, I came across a concept by Bruce Yu that immediately caught my attention. It had the perfect combination of materials, interesting shapes, and just the right level of complexity to challenge me, so I chose it as the foundation for my project.Once I found the concept, I started gathering real-world references for specific parts of the model. My goal was to better understand the design elements that weren’t fully detailed in the concept art. I collected everything I needed for the modeling stage, focusing on form and construction details.As always, I organized all the references in PureRef, grouping them to make the navigation easier throughout the process. These kinds of small workflow optimizations end up being huge time savers and help keep my pipeline efficient and focused.Once I had all my references in place, the next step was to create a simple blockout and establish the correct scale inside my modeling software. I use Autodesk Maya, and for this project, it was especially helpful to start modeling in the orthographic side view, using the main concept art placed on a plane as a visual guide.To set this up, I created a separate display layer in the Channel Box, added my reference plane to it, and toggled it to "R" mode, which keeps the plane visible but unselectable. This helps prevent accidentally moving or editing the reference during modeling.Throughout the process, I adjusted the transparency of the mesh material as needed to better see the concept art behind the geometry. This simple technique helps maintain accuracy and alignment during the early stages of the model.While the image below shows a more refined version of the model, it still demonstrates how I aligned the shapes early on using the concept art as a guide. By overlaying the reference in the orthographic view, I was able to keep proportions and silhouettes accurate from the very beginning.High Poly ModelingRight after, I moved on to creating the high poly model, refining the geometry in preparation for sculpting in ZBrush.I primarily work in Autodesk Maya, and I genuinely enjoy spending time in it—it’s where I feel really comfortable. For certain parts of the model, I used a subdivision workflow, which felt more intuitive and efficient for achieving the smooth, detailed shapes I wanted before moving into the sculpting phase.Sculpting Damages in ZBrushWith the high poly base mesh ready, it was time to bring the model into ZBrush and add surface details and damage.Even though not every component required sculpting, I imported the entire model to get a better sense of how everything worked together visually. To prepare the mesh for sculpting, I ran a DynaMesh pass, followed by Polish by Features, which gave me a clean, smoothed base to work from.From there, I started sculpting subtle damages, adding another layer of realism to the piece.Metal Damage SculptTo add realistic damage to the metal surfaces, I use the Morph Target brush in ZBrush quite often. After making sure the polycount and subdivision level were suitable for sculpting, I stored a morph target. This step is crucial – morph targets only work properly when stored at the correct subdivision level, so it’s important to do this before starting any sculpting.With the morph target saved, I could sculpt freely, knowing I could revert specific areas back to their original state using the Morph brush. This technique was especially helpful for cleaning up edges or dialing back intensity in certain spots.To create the actual damage, I used the Clay Buildup and Trim Smooth Border brushes to roughen up corners and edges. Then, using the Morph brush, I refined the sharpness of chipped or dented areas, subtly reducing excessive height to enhance realism.At this stage, I also gathered additional references – both from real-life objects and from the work of professional artists. This helped me ensure the damage placement was logical and grounded in reality, rather than randomly applied. I also stayed mindful of the original concept art to avoid straying too far from the intended look.Duct Tape in Marvelous DesignerOnce I wrapped up the hard-surface modeling, I jumped intoMarvelous Designerto simulate a duct tape element. I followed a helpful tutorial by Dmytro Mykhailykon ArtStation, which offered a clear step-by-step guide. You can check it outhere.In short:I imported my model into Marvelous Designer and created a rectangle.Attached one end of the rectangle to the avatar, then wrapped it around gradually, extending the fabric as needed.Tweaked settings like Pressure, Collision, and Strengthen, and used pins to create folds and creases.While Marvelous Designer handled the base simulation well, I wanted more detail, so I brought the mesh into ZBrush and sculpted additional folds manually for a more refined and realistic result.Grey Tape SculptFor the final detail pass, I sculpted an additional grey tape entirely in ZBrush, using a combination of basic fabric alphas and manual adjustments. Most of the detail came from a fantastic free brush pack – Cloth Folds by Seán Forsyth – which you can find here.Once the sculpting was complete, I assigned temporary materials to the high poly mesh in preparation for baking the ID map later on.Mid Poly ModelingSince I already had fully optimized models in my portfolio (for instance, the Game Boy project), I decided to go with a higher polycount for this project, just to explore and enjoy the process more. I even added additional bevels to make surfaces appear smoother, especially from the side view.That said, I still kept optimization in mind and followed a high-to-mid poly workflow, which is commonly used in game production. I treated this project as a learning opportunity and a way to keep refining my approach to real-time asset creation.To optimize the model, I removed hidden polygons, deleted unnecessary edge loops, and modeled in some of the larger damaged areas that I had previously sculpted in ZBrush, where they made sense topologically.For a bit of extra fun and challenge, I also modeled the inner structure of the diodes. I'd never worked with such small details before, so it was a great chance to experiment and learn something new.UV EditingFor UV unwrapping, I used RizomUV, which I find especially effective for precise control and a clean layout. I chose to work with a UDIM workflow, deliberately making the model unique and non-repeating to give myself more freedom during the texturing phase.While most parts of the model were deliberately made unique, I still applied some optimization techniques: straightened the UV shells wherever possible, resized less visible shells, and only stacked repeatable elements, like the diodes and their interior parts. The textures were planned to be 2K.BakingNext came baking, and fortunately, Marmoset Toolbag 5 makes this step fast and intuitive with UDIM support.I adjusted the settings to match my UDIM setup, painted skew maps where necessary, tweaked the cage, and baked the model.TexturingIn Substance 3D Painter, I worked with a PBR metallic roughness workflow. I began the texturing process by setting up base folders for each material type. I find that having an organized structure from the start makes it much easier to stay focused. I also added a layer above all others with a slightly visible curvature map plugged into the base color. This gives the model a subtle sense of form and depth right away, even before diving into fine details.I prefer to work on each channel separately, starting with the base color to introduce tonal variation, then moving on to roughness. Ideally, each color variation is supported by a corresponding change in roughness to keep the surface interesting.Often, I’ll start with a smart material as a base, deleting layers I don’t need, and then tweak the rest to suit my model. I move gradually across the asset, switching between areas instead of fixating on one part. This helps me maintain a cohesive look across the entire model.The most exciting part of the texturing process for me is adding dust, damages, and micro variations. At this stage, having a large number of references is essential. I use generators and anchor points to lay down initial damage and dirt layers, then go in manually to add hand-painted details.Lastly, I quickly modeled a few simple curved shapes for the lighting effects in the final scene and added an emissive pass in Substance 3D Painter to boost the atmosphere even more. This small touch helped tie everything together and gave the render that extra spark of visual interest.Lighting & RenderingAs I mentioned earlier, all final renders were done in Unreal Engine. One of the trickiest aspects of the scene was making the glass look good while integrating the emissive materials. I found videos by William Faucher incredibly helpful in solving this – clear, concise, and packed with great tips:Raytraced Glass, Translucency, & Refraction (UE4)Lumen Explained – Important Tips for UE5 (is also useful for general understanding)This time, I wanted to experiment more with rendering, so I created two separate scenes in Unreal Engine. Let’s start with the first one.Scene 1: Hero Lighting SetupI began by establishing the basic lighting setup: key light (Directional Light), fill light (Sky Light), and back light. After locking in the main camera angles, I added support lights to draw attention to specific areas and bring out nice highlights across the surface.I also used Exponential Height Fog and a Post Process Volume to fine-tune the atmosphere and overall tone. For color theory, I stuck to my usual preference – complementary lighting with blue and yellow tones. The model’s emissive elements helped guide the viewer’s eye and naturally fit into this color scheme.Since emissive materialsoften lack enough intensity on their own, I placed static lights directly over some emissive areas to better mimic glow and enhance their visual impact.And finally, white cubes under the model were added for better reflection on the light bulb.Scene 2: Cinematic EnvironmentFor the second setup, I placed the model in a more environmental context to give it a narrative tone. I downloaded rock and cliff assets from Quixel Megascans, arranging them to suit specific camera angles. My goal was to create a natural vignette around the model, helping viewers immediately recognize the prop as the focal point.The lighting setup was similar to the first scene, but I adjusted the camera lenses to give the composition a more cinematic feel. I also used simple planes to fake cast shadows from off-camera objects, adding extra depth and realism to the frame.Final Adjustments & Technical RendersBefore wrapping up the project, I made a few final adjustments in Photoshop – mainly fine-tuning colors, contrast, and sharpness to give the renders a finished look. I also created several technical renders to showcase the model.Feedback ImportanceI’d like to give a huge thank you to Niels Couvreur and Gerben Pasjes for their valuable feedback and guidance throughout the project! Their input helped me see things from new perspectives and pushed the quality of the work further.And this is a great reminder of how important it is to seek outside feedback. It’s a step in the creative process that should never be underestimated.ConclusionThis project took around two to three months, working during my free time. Along the way, I tried to implement new techniques and continue expanding my skill set. It was both a creative and technical challenge – and a rewarding one!If I had to pinpoint my biggest area for growth, it would still be texturing. I plan to continue focusing on this aspect in future projects, refining my workflow and aiming for even more realism and storytelling in my textures.ChecklistOne small tip I would like to mention that’s made a big impact on my workflow: I always use a personal checklist to stay organized throughout each stage of the project. It might seem like going back to fix things like pivot points or triangulating a mesh doesn’t take much time, but those little steps add up.A checklist helps catch those tasks before they’re forgotten, saving a lot of time and frustration. I highly recommend creating your own!Final NotesI’d like to thank 80 Level for the opportunity to share this breakdown with the community. It’s been an amazing experience to reflect on my process!I can be found on ArtStation and LinkedIn, where I share my projects and communicate with everyone. Thanks for reading! I hope this breakdown gave you some useful insights and maybe even a bit of inspiration for your next project.Daryna Kurhan, 3D Prop ArtistInterview conducted by Amber Rutherford

After a tough week at work, watching water lilies is what you need. Take a seat and just let yourself be with Yuasa Yuu's beautiful animated Blender scene that looks like a painting. The water looks like it was moved into action with varying brushstrokes, and the fish complete the overall peaceful atmosphere.If you want to stay in Yuu's mesmerizing world a bit longer, check out the artist's X/Twitter.This painting-like style has been getting more attention lately in the 3D community. Take a look at Lars Rongen's stunning lily pads, Omar Faruq Tawsif's food composition, and Caspar David Friedrich's landscapes.Caspar David Friedrich'sAlso, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Suit for Hire is a top-down action shooter that "combines strategic gunplay with intense martial arts combat." You play as a hitman going for his targets with style. "With a limited supply of ammo and resources, you'll need to outsmart and outmaneuver your enemies to survive. Utilize a wide array of weapons at your disposal, including pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles, but it's not just about firepower – masterful martial arts moves will allow you to take down foes in stylish and brutal ways."The game is available in Early Access, but its developer, known as Crimson, is still actively working on it. In its latest showcase, he demonstrated a dynamic fight in third person and an unusual mechanic that allows your guns to look at different enemies at the same time.This is a 'mix of cool animation stuff and targeting," according to the creator, "the player still is aiming their guns but it randomly switches between the left and right hand."Godmode InteractiveSuit for Hire is described as a top-down game, but Crimson added the traditional third-person mode to the beta branch of the game, which you can already try on Steam. The 1.0 version should be out this month.Godmode InteractiveGodmode InteractiveAnother great project by Crimson is his parody of The Day Before, an infamous zombie survival game that shut down less than a week after release, failing to deliver its promises. By the way, its developer Fntastic returned last year to ask people to fund their new game.Follow Crimson's developer journey on X/Twitter and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Digital Artist and cel-shading specialist known online as Hotty 3D continues their series of stylized beauties by presenting a fantastic NPR take on an old-school Volkswagen Transporter Type 2 from the 1950s.Featuring appealing outlines and a neat gloss effect on the windows, the model was set up using Hotty's go-to digital art software Blender, which they previously used to create a cozy Japanese bar diorama with adorable animal customers and a cool 3D model of a cat driver. Within Blender, the artist noted, they relied heavily on nodes and the Grease Pencil tool to produce the piece.Also, check out some of Hotty's earlier works:We highly encourage you to visit Hotty's Twitter and Instagram pages to see more of their fantastic projects.Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

The legal battle Nintendo continues to wage against Pocketpair, the developer of the hit 2024 game Palworld, has claimed yet another victim. Following last year's forced change to the Pal summoning mechanic – where the ability to summon Pals by throwing Pal Spheres was cut – the devs now had to remove the feature that let players use certain Pals as gliders, reducing Celaray, Galeclaw, Hangyu Cryst, and others to little more than passive buffs.PocketpairAs revealed by the team in the latest patch notes, with the release of the 0.5.5 update, players will no longer be able to use Pals as gliders and will now have to make do with a regular glider.On the bright side, the Pals that previously allowed players to glide through the air will still provide special gliding-related perks – Killamari will still let you float for longer, Galeclaw will still allow you to fire while gliding, and so on. However, the affected Pals themselves will no longer be usable as methods of transportation, requiring players to have a glider in their inventory should they wish to perform this action.In a subsequent Twitter post, Pocketpair officially confirmed that the removal of Pal-gliding and the previously mentioned summoning mechanic were the result of "prolonged legal proceedings regarding alleged patent infringement," initiated by Nintendo last September.In its statement, the studio described the changes as "compromises" they had to make in order to avoid disruptions to Palworld's development and distribution, apologizing to fans for the inconvenience these alterations have caused and for being unable to share more details due to the ongoing litigation, while also thanking the gaming community for its support."We understand that this will be disappointing for many, just as it is for us, but we hope our fans understand that these changes are necessary in order to prevent further disruptions to the development of Palworld," Pocketpair wrote. "We also want to extend our apologies to our fans for the discomfort and concern this ongoing litigation has caused. We remain committed to developing Palworld and delivering exciting new content to our fans. On behalf of everyone at Pocketpair and Team Palworld, thank you again for your continued support."For obvious reasons, the gaming community largely sided with Pocketpair, with many criticizing Nintendo in the comments for its aggressive lawfare tactics and questioning whether the "gliding with a creature" action can even be patented:As appalling as it is for a larger studio to bully a smaller one with patent infringement accusations – especially when all those patents were filed after a game's release – few were actually surprised by Nintendo's actions.In recent years, the once-beloved company has earned a reputation as one of the most consumer-unfriendly game developers in the industry, with some considering Nintendo to be worse than Activision, Ubisoft, and even EA. Countless threats of legal action, the patent war against Palworld, ruined lives over relatively minor offenses, general anti-user practices – these are just a few examples of the actions Nintendo has taken to alienate more and more gamers.What really takes the cake here is the company recently becoming the first AAA game studio to raise the price of their games to $80, something many justifiably view as a bad precedent to set in an age when AAA games are flopping left and right, while more affordable AAs and indies like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Schedule 1 are outperforming big-budget releases both commercially and quality-wise.Unfortunately, it appears that even this isn't enough to shake millennials who grew up playing Mario out of their nostalgic haze and make them see Nintendo for what it truly is, with Nintendo Switch recently selling 152 million units and projected to become the best-selling console of all time, while Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to sell 15 million units in its first year. Maybe one day, gamers will finally stop financially supporting those who hate them, but considering these projections, it seems that today is not the day.Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

In this example, Oleg Frolov used vertex colors to define regions for visual effects and spatial transformations in the shader, such as color shifts and knob animations. Time-based interpolation is handled through a C# script, while the mesh transformation logic is implemented in HLSL via Shader Graph in URP.As Oleg shared, he enjoys using shaders for mesh transformations due to their performance benefits and ability to encapsulate visual design decisions at a lower implementation level, all while exposing a lightweight yet expressive API.Oleg plans to build a small 3D UI library for VisionOS (using RealityKit and SwiftUI) and Unity (with the XR Interaction Toolkit), leveraging this shader-based approach.See more of Oleg's projects below and follow him on X/Twitter:Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

This incredibly chaotic sequence of cooking spaghetti and meatballs is the result of months of hard work by Bernat Martinez, who had a blast while tackling the challenges of bringing it to life. The attention to detail is fantastic, like the moment when the meatballs fly off the tray and land back in or the messy way the ingredients fall onto the pan. It would be great to learn more about how everything came together, but in the meantime, you can check out some behind-the-scenes shots on Bernat's Instagram.The artist shared that for the chopping animation, he modeled the food with all the cuts already in place and then simply disabled the nConstraint holding each piece right at the moment of the chop. That way, the pieces fall apart naturally when the knife hits.No motion capture was used, instead, Bernat employed a mouse movement recording script to sketch out the animation, then refined it with multiple animation layers.Visit Bernat Martinez's Instagram page for more great 3D art and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Amber RutherfordSenior EditorAmber RutherfordSenior EditorPublished08 May 2025TagsShowcase Your Product to Our Creative AudienceLet's TalkNodes Interactive released a new Geometry Nodes modifier.Solidify Plus is an advanced version of Blender's native Solidify Modifier, offering features like loops, full control over crease and bevel weights, custom profile shapes, and more. Perfect for hard surface modeling, extrusion, and shell editing, Solidify Plus is compatible with Blender 4.2 and newer.Piotr Popek, also known as Nodes Interactive, is the creator of many great Blender tools. We highly recommend checking out his UV Stretch Preview, GSurface Gen, or Retopo Planes: Purchase Solidify Plus here and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

IntroductionHello, my name is Valentina. I've been working as a 3D Character Artist since 2021. Before working in 3D, I studied at an art university as an art restorer. In my final university years, I learned about such a direction as 3D graphics. I was playing a lot of video games at that time, and I was quickly drawn to the prospect of creating models for video games. I studied everything to get into the game industry as a character artist. When I got a job in the industry, I became interested in expressing myself through 3D work. I was both learning new techniques to boost my skills as an artist as well as starting to come up with my own ideas for my own enjoyment.From the beginning, I have been a self-taught artist using tutorials on the Internet. However, I learned important skills while working in an outsourcing studio as a junior 3D artist with good lead artists. After that, I improved my skills again, but more through practicing making more complex models. Sometimes, but much less often than before, I also turned to various tutorials on the Internet to become a more professional artist.During this time, I tried my hand at different projects as a character artist. I've worked in gamedev, on cinematics, and for 3D printing. A famous project I was a part of was Spider-Man 2.The Shrek ProjectWhen I started work on Shrek, I thought about the fact that I wanted to do something funky. I wanted to practice my armor sculpting skills, but I also wanted to just have fun. A realistic dark fantasy-style Shrek is pretty fun, in my opinion. In this project, I tried to imagine what Shrek would look like if he were a bit more realistic, but I didn't want to lose the likeness to the original, so I tried not to change his appearance and proportions too much.ReferencesMy references included many screenshots from the original cartoon so I wouldn't forget what the original Shrek looks like. I also found references for armor of approximately what type I would like. I didn't want to copy something real, but looking at pictures of real armor, I decided that I wanted to make armor with more patterns. I also found some references of aged clothing. I checked ArtStation to see how other artists have done Shrek and thought about what I liked about their work and what I didn't like so much to decide how I wanted to stylize my work. I also just looked at a lot of different dark fantasy artworks for inspiration. In this work, I mainly wanted to try to create my interpretation of a well-known character in a different style for him: dark fantasy.ModelingThis is what the process looked like under the hood:For both character models, I started with basic meshes to speed up the creation process. I made Shrek in T-pose first because it was easier for me to control the process of creating the other elements. But Fiona could be made immediately in the required pose, as she doesn't have a lot of additional details. By placing her on Shrek's shoulder, I sewed the clothes in Marvelous.For the dress, I used two materials:Default for simulation (green material) with particle distances of 10Silk Organza (pink material) with particle distances of 5For places where I wanted to get softer and more airy pleats, I also made seams for clothes right away in Marvelous. I think it's easier and looks more convincing than adding them later in the sculpting process. The seams are added with the internal lines at different angles.All armor has a basic, simple low-poly base created in Zbrush, and then detailing is done on high subdives using a layer system. The detailing looks a bit chaotic because of the number of patterns, but I added each new type of pattern separately on each layer so that I could control the strength of the extrusion of the different types of patterns. For example, I ended up making the pattern more visible on the edges than in the center.Basically, the details were made with projections alpha, but I also added a small pattern on the edges of the helmet and a large pattern in the center of a separate object to make it more visible. On top of the alpha, I sculpted armor using Orb brushes. Specifically, Orb Flatten to create flat areas and orb slash/orb cracks for scratches. On top of that, in some places, I added a little bit of different noise. On the rest of the armor elements, I used the same method using the orb brushes. For the scratches on the dragon, I used orb cracks.In general, in this project, I got a lot of subtools; I tried to do everything as much as possible on different subtools for easy editing, collecting subtools on thematic folders. But in the end, it certainly took a long time to combine it and export.I sculpted small clothes like gloves and shoes by hand, starting with a simple shape. All folds were added with a standard brush. DamStandart did creases, damage, and torn edges. In the end, the noise was added with alphas.I edited the Marvelous garment a bit, sculpting the body to fit the pose and adding torn edges and fabric damage.To speed up the work of creating fabric damage, I created my custom brush alphas. I made the threads on the edges of the fabric using fiber mesh. Simply select a mask border of the garment and create a fiber mesh in place of the mask, adjusting the gravity down, thickness, amount, and length. The extra threads between the fabric I added using a curved tube.I made the skin using Super Skin – 41 ZBrush Brushes Set for Realistic Human Skin.TopologyThis is not a game-ready model, so I didn't do hand retopology for this model. For subtools with subdivisions like clothes, armor, and body, I just exported the first subdivision and automatically unwrapped it in RizomUV. Some subtools I lightened with decimation and also did an automatic UV.TexturingThe main task of texturing Shrek's clothes was to make them dirty and greasy, with a lot of stains, different from Princess Fiona's dress, which is absolutely clean because she was just stolen from the castle. I made the dirt in different colors so it wouldn't look the same.Some of it is brown, some of it is reddish, some of it is yellowish, and some of it is blue spots, which is good to dilute the overall color palette of the shirt. With the white color, I lightened the scuff marks a bit. Shrek's skin was made of material from Substance Skin Face. Next, using an empty layer in passthrough mode with levels base color and HSL Perceptive filter, the color was changed from flesh to green. Next comes a layer with a translucent flesh texture to diversify the homogeneous skin tone.Then, using the ambient occlusion and light generators, I darkened the depressions on the face. I added different spots and dirt on the face with the spot brush manually. I also added some color variations manually with a soft brush. Again, I did a little color correction on all of the existing layers. With a curvature filter with a dark color, I emphasized sculpted pores and small hollows on the face. At the end I added some rougness to Shrek with fill layer dirt4. I decided it suited Shrek to look a little sweaty.For armor, just like with clothes and leather, I took a base of some ready-made material and then added color variations according to the same principle. I wanted to keep some balance between still shiny, beautiful armor and already looking a bit old lying down. It's not new armor, after all; Shrek picked up someone's armor that had been lying around for a long time. In the shoulder armor and helmet, I wanted to keep a reference to the dragon they were escaping from to further tie those events together in this scene.Lighting & RenderingI used four light sources. Directional for the main bright light and omni for additional illumination of the model from the top and back/side of the model.In the camera settings, I edited curve RGB to edit the color tone a bit and make the image contrast on the curve. Next, I added the fog. I added sharpen to make the details stand out better. And, of course, I added a vignette. I prefer a 50 mm perspective. I also used sticky focus for focus and added a little chromatic aberration.In post-production, I tried not to change the image too much, but I did make a couple of edits. I made the image a cooler tone. I added darkening at the bottom using a gradient on the soft light layer. With the lightener tool, I lightened the top of the model a bit. And at the end, I added some gaussian noise.ConclusionIt's hard to say exactly how long this project took because I took quite a few breaks, including a break for another project. In total, with these breaks, I worked for 4 months.The main difficulty is probably the lack of any supporting concept, so I had to keep all the details in my head, and in the process, I invented and implemented new ones. For example, from the very beginning I thought to make just Shrek in armor without Fiona, but now having the final image, I can't imagine this model without Fiona on his shoulder.I learned to be more flexible in coming up with my own ideas in the process. And quite patient, this is probably one of my longest personal projects. I've also learned how to interpret well-known characters in a different style while keeping them recognizable. And got better at sculpting armor. I advise beginners to do what they like first, think about how to apply their art and learn the necessary skills for further work.Thank you for reading, bye!Valentina Iudina, 3D Character & Creature ArtistInterview conducted by Emma Collins

Game developer Erik Liermann came up with a cool concept that both kids and adults will surely find interesting. He made a prototype of a video game where you solve puzzles using real-life LEGO bricks and a webcam.The idea was born from Liermann's desire to play games with his daughter but limit the screen time. He did the conversion via the OpenCV computer vision library using Unreal Engine 5.5.Liermann says that this is just a tech demo, and he doesn't plan to release the full game, but I think it's a great idea, even though, as some people mentioned, it's easier to make the mechanics in-game only, without the real bricks.Liermann has some curious hand-tracking experiments with Unreal Engine on Reddit, check out his account to see where his projects lead him.Also, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Despite recent decisions by major game publishers like Nintendo and Xbox to raise the price of video games from the industry-standard $70 to $10 or $20 more, EA has announced that it will not be doing so, at least "at this point."During its latest earnings call (via Yahoo Finance), when asked if they would follow the same approach of increasing prices for their own key franchises, EA's CFO, Stuart Canfield, stated that "from a guidance perspective, we put out, we have reflected no changes in the current strategy at this point.It's true that the upcoming Madden NFL 26, which is coming this August and available for pre-order now, is priced at $69.99. It is also safe to predict that the upcoming Battlefield, which will be fully revealed this summer and set for release during the FY 26, which ends on March 31, 2026, will likely maintain its standard pricing. Although it's unknown yet how far they can go with this strategy, this news could be a temporary relief for fans, who are probably still digesting the bad news from last week that the cost of games from Microsoft's first-party studios, all those major players in the industry, including Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda, id Software, and many other studios, can be expected to be raised starting this year's holiday season. Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Setting up a new studio is usual for a gaming giant; what's uncommon is that their debut title, a team-based action game, will be a live service title. It "draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and frog-type games. Players will inhabit a lighthearted, comedic world set in brand-new, mythic, science-fantasy universe."Regarding this new title, it's emphasized that the team wants to build it with the community, listening to the feedback and inviting players to be part of the development through "early access playtests." The developers promise to reveal more details about this "ambitious incubation project" – which has made Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, really excited – at a later date. By then, we'll figure out if this is the rumored project codenamed Gummy Bear (speculated by Eurogamer), which, according to The Game Post, would be "a vibrant and colorful game, aiming to attract a younger audience."Obviously, Sony is determined to continue investing and exploring the path of live service titles, despite all the struggles. Bungie's "ultimate live service" Marathon, which would not be free but with "the right price that makes you feel it's worth your value," is coming this September. Do you look forward to this upcoming new game from Sony? Let us know. Also, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

IntroductionHello! I’m Paola Villegas, a 3D Environment Artist student at PlaygroundSquad in Sweden. I am originally from Mexico City, but my dreams are bigger than my obstacles! Thanks to my family’s support, I moved to Europe to pursue my goal of becoming a Game Artist.I’ve always loved art, and grew up watching my big brother play video games, completely invested in the gameplay. In 2022, I realized I could combine both passions, so I took a Games Design and Development course in Ireland, where I learnt programming and 3D modeling. That’s when I knew programming wasn’t for me, but I loved the idea of modeling as another way of creating art. I later completed an online course at Animum Creativity Advanced School, focusing on the 3D Fundamentals in Maya. Here are some of the projects I’ve made at both Animum and a recent project I made at PlaygroundSquad:Eager to keep improving, I moved to Sweden to study Game Art at PlaygroundSquad. As I finish my first semester, I’m excited to share with you my first personal project at PSQ.About The Abandoned Bathroom Diorama ProjectThe Abandoned Bathroom Diorama project started as a personal school project, with my main goals being to strengthen my modeling and texturing skills while getting used to the game art pipeline. My inspiration came from the Bathroom Diorama by Brothers Interactive on ArtStation. I was really drawn to its eerie, almost “abandoned” atmosphere, which reminded me of the unsettling mood in Little Nightmares. That inspired me to create my own version with guidance from my mentor, Martin Henriksson.Since I was starting from scratch, I required a lot of references. Using PureRef, I gathered a collection of photos and video game scenes, picking out the most interesting elements to blend them into my own design.I made a project plan for each week to keep up with the school deadline. My weeks have to be divided into these phases: blockout, low-poly modeling, high-poly modeling and/or sculpting, retopology, UV mapping and baking, tileable materials for environments, props textures, rendering, and post production.Blockout & CompositionThe goal of this project was to create a game-ready scene in Unreal Engine 5. I started with the basic blockout directly in Unreal, which helped me to visualize the layout and composition of the scene. It allowed me to play around with asset placement and silhouettes to get a better sense of the overall distribution.Composition was definitely one of the biggest challenges. To guide the process, I studied real bathroom layouts and kept adjusting the assets until the scene felt more balanced and visually interesting.Lighting is also a big part of the scene, and that is why it is important to make a blockout of it. I played with point lights and the temperature of the light. At the same time, I placed and played with camera angles. As I had a Diorama scene, I wanted to capture the whole room in one image. Blender was my main software for modeling and cloth simulations, and ZBrush for sculpting details like the wooden planks ceiling. I used a low-poly to high-poly workflow for optimization and to prepare in advance for the baking of assets. The trick to save time is keeping the naming conventions used in Unreal, so when I modelled in Blender, I could export the same-named asset into the Content Folder of my Unreal project, and it would update into the scene automatically. RetopologyFor most of the assets, I duplicated the low-poly mesh and added more detail on top to create the high-poly version. This saved me time, since I didn’t need to spend extra work on remeshing. For the sculpted wooden planks, I did the retopology in Blender. The shape was simple enough, so I created a mesh from scratch, then added some bevels and extra geometry where needed for details. As these planks would be repeated, I only made four modular versions. Later, I instanced and rotated them around in Unreal to break the repetition while also saving time and resources.To expand my knowledge in texturing, I decided to unwrap the UVs myself. I made a plan to categorise the objects that could share the same UV space to optimise performance. Using Blender’s “average islands scale” tool, I made sure the texel density was consistent across all UVs. Then I packed each category into a single texture space. I chose to make unique textures because I wanted to have more control over the look of each prop and push my learning in texturing, as this was my goal for the project.TexturingBefore getting to the most exciting part for me, texturing, I first had to bake the assets, which consisted of importing the high-poly details onto the low-poly mesh using texture maps. I used Substance Painter for both baking and texturing, since it allows me to create unique textures for each prop. In Painter, I am not only able to paint on the base color channel, but also on roughness, height, metalness, and even ambient occlusion, which helps to enhance detail. I decided to make my textures 2k resolution, and I wanted them to look sharper.My texturing workflow starts by organising the materials needed for each asset into folders. In the sink texture example, I had one folder for each asset, and subfolders inside with the materials, like wood (for the cabinet), ceramic (for the sink), metal (for the pipes), and so on. From there, I created a base material with a base color and average roughness. This helped me to narrow down what I needed and build up details gradually using masks. I used subtle generators for dirt, tweaking the settings to add randomness to the color. Masks with grunge fill layers helped me to add the leaks. I sometimes used filters like blur or warp for the leaks to look more natural and wavy, and gradients so the dirt would build up more at the bottom of the sink. In other cases, I used anchor points for the dirt to accumulate in crevices. For example, I assigned an anchor point to the “Dirt Base” layer, then created another fill layer with a black mask and a mask builder generator. Inside that mask, I added a fill that uses the anchor point in the grayscale channel. This setup is shown in the image below:The last step in finishing my texture was adding a Levels effect to balance tones and color values across the material. I choose to keep an analogous harmony of color, spicing it up a little by adding those green olive tones on the curtain and carpet.The tiling textures were made in Substance 3D Designer so I could keep them procedural. These textures would be used for larger surfaces like the walls and the floor, and I looked at real-life references for each one. The texture I am most proud of is the wall tiles. I focused on making the wear and tear feel realistic — adding cracks, dirt, pores, roughness variations, height details for the missing tiles, corner damage, and color variation. It was my first time working in Substance 3D Designer, and with some help from YouTube, I managed to get the results I was aiming for. Every tiling texture I made started by creating the basic shape or pattern, then building up the medium to large cracks, followed by the smaller details and height. The workflow was similar to sculpting, where you begin with base forms and gradually add in the finer details. After that, I added roughness detail and brought everything together with ambient occlusion and color. Here is a showcase of the procedural wall tiles:Here are some renders of the rest of the tiling materials I used in my scene, including concrete, terracotta, and another tile variation for the floor.I wanted my diorama to look like a room that was being pulled apart. I took inspiration from other artists’ Diorama projects on ArtStation, aiming for that same kind of atmosphere. I felt it fit the “abandoned” theme I was going for. So, I put together a collage of the references that matched the vibe:I created mesh corners for the walls and modular tile pieces to scatter across the floor. Then, I set up my materials in Unreal to use vertex painting between the terracotta bricks and the concrete wall. I also added decals to the walls for cracks, dirt decals for the corners to have that “gritty” look, and a roughness decal for the floor to simulate water spills. I designed the decals in Substance 3D Painter by working on a 3D plane and painting only in the necessary channels, like using the roughness channel for the water spills. Then, I exported the textures into a Deferred Decal material in Unreal. To help with the decal creation in Unreal, I followed a step-by-step YouTube tutorial.Assemble The Final SceneMy goal for the composition was to keep the abandoned feel, which ended up being one of the most challenging parts of the project. I followed the initial blockout and kept adjusting the asset placement all around. From real-life references, I noticed that bathroom furniture is usually pushed into corners or grouped along the same wall. I wanted to follow that layout while also adding some storytelling. So, I placed the stool in the middle to break the pattern, and added the broken wood plank as a subtle narrative detail. The water spill decals helped to add variation to the floor, and the dirt decals on the walls and corners kept that “gritty” look I was going for.Throughout the project, I received some amazing feedback from teachers and classmates. Being open to critique really helped shape the final piece, even when it meant reworking things as I did. One of the biggest changes I made was the texture of the boiler. As you can see below, I ended up redoing it, even though it was towards the end of the project. I spent more time on it this time, giving it the love and detail, like water drips and rust. I felt it was worth giving it a rework, and I am a lot happier with how it turned out.LightingThis was my first time lighting up a scene, and honestly, it was such a struggle. I mostly used four-point lights around the room. I had a vision of how I wanted it to look, but translating that into reality was trickier than expected. I learnt how much of a difference light colors make. At first, I thought colder tones would work best for the “abandoned” atmosphere, but they didn’t quite click. I ended up going with warmer tones, which felt more fitting and worked better with the textures I had created.I also took inspiration from other diorama projects and realized how important camera setups are. I decided to frame the whole scene into my main shot camera and have other cameras for the close-up shots to showcase the props. I set up several cine camera actors around the scene and adjusted their lens settings, keeping the focal length around 25 for most of the shots. For my render video, I adjusted the focus distance and key-framed it in a level sequence.In the post-processing settings in Unreal, I tweaked a few effects, like softening the shadows and adding some bloom. My goal was to have a strong main shot that showed the full environment, followed by more detailed close-up shots to showcase the textures and storytelling elements.SummaryAs part of a school assignment, I completed this project in five weeks, with an extra week for polishing and posting. My biggest challenge was sticking to the schedule. Even though I had a plan laid out, I couldn’t keep up with it. I’m still learning and getting comfortable with the basics, but now I know from experience how long each stage takes me, and I can plan smarter next time.I also realized that while having creative freedom is fun, it can feel overwhelming without a solid structure or concept to work from. Even though I had a plan and references, I learned that I should’ve spent more time on composition and storytelling from the start, instead of figuring it out along the way. That way, my scene would’ve stood out more and had a stronger emotional connection with the audience.One of the hardest parts of this project was dealing with burnout and impostor syndrome. I had tough days when the to-do list felt endless, the deadline kept creeping closer, and I couldn’t see the finish line. But even then, I stayed motivated and disciplined, even if that meant staying after school hours. What kept me going was the desire to see the final result, so I had to trust myself and my skills. Looking back, I now realise every project is a learning experience, both professionally and personally. I can honestly say I’m proud of what I have achieved, and I’m really happy with the results, especially the skills I picked up, like my new love for Substance 3D Designer!This experience taught me about the game production workflow and technical skills like vertex painting and lighting, and it definitely helped me grow creatively.For any beginner artist wanting to create an environment, my advice is to start by defining the story. What happened to this place? Who lived there? What was it used for? What message are you trying to share? Asking yourself these kinds of questions will help the player connect emotionally to your scene. Here is some more personal advice: don’t be afraid to ask for help. Listen to feedback and apply what feels right for your vision. That feedback can take your project further. That said, be conscious of knowing when to stop; it’s super easy to get caught tweaking endlessly. Perfection doesn’t really exist, and honestly, you learn more from mistakes, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Be kind to yourself, take guilt-free breaks, especially when you feel stuck. It can give you a fresh perspective and spark new ideas.Lastly, I want to thank everyone who supported and guided me during this project — my amazing classmates and teachers who helped me bring out the best in me, and my lovely family and partner for always giving me all their love when I needed it the most to keep me going.And of course, I can’t be more grateful to 80 Level for giving me this opportunity to share my project breakdown.Hope you enjoyed reading this! It’s been a pleasure to share the behind-the-scenes process of my project. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a DM on my LinkedIn. I’ll be posting my future school projects on my ArtStation, so be sure to follow me there.See you soon with more projects to share!Paola Villegas, Game ArtistInterview conducted by Gloria Levine

Showcase your creativity by creating a short video guide or speedart that captures your workflow — whether it's crafting 3D art, animation, visual effects, or even sharing a clever life hack that enhances your 3D process.PrizesThanks to Huion, winners will receive fantastic prizes: Grand Prize: Kamvas 16 (Gen 3)1st runner-up: Kamvas 13 (Gen 3)2nd runner-up: Inspiroy Frego MWinning entries will also receive additional promotion across 80 Level’s platforms.How to enter:Create a video guide or a speedart video.Join the 80 Level Community Discord server.Submit your work in the #huion-contest channel.Judging Panel:Entries will be judged by the 80 Level team.The judges' decision is final and binding.Judging Criteria:CreativityArtistic skillInterpretation of the themeOriginalityImportant notes:Deadline: 04.06.25Entries should be submitted to the ⁠#huion-contest channel as an attachment.The video must be under 3 minutes long.All submissions must be original and created specifically for this contest by the participant.Winners will be announced shortly after the contest ends.Participants are allowed to submit more than one entry, but only one can be selected as a winner.AI-generated content is not allowed.By entering the contest, participants agree to allow 80 Level to upload the entries to 80 Level YouTube channel, either as individual videos or as part of a compilation. Credit will be given in the video descriptions. Put your creativity in the spotlight and join the fun! Hop into our Discord, head over to the #huion-contest channel, and get started!

If you're looking to take your concept environment design skills to the next level and integrate 3D into your workflow, Senior Concept Artist Ryan Millard will guide you through the creation of a vibrant night street scene, complete with buildings, shops, and atmospheric lighting.In this course, you'll start by exploring design ideas through 2D sketching, then transition your concept into a 3D blockout using Blender. Along the way, you'll learn multiple approaches to asset creation using workflows tailored for concept development.The course also covers key topics such as composition, quick texture generation, lighting, rendering, and compositing. Finally, you'll bring everything together by enhancing the final result in Photoshop using various painting and post-processing techniques.The Full Process of Street Night Scene course includes all project files and offers lifetime access, so you can follow along at your own pace. All episodes are now available, so purchase the course here and jump straight into the full experience.

Game of the Year 2022, FromSoftware's magnum opus, one of the best-selling video games of all time, the gateway into the soulslike genre for countless players – the list of accolades and titles, both official and fan-bestowed, Elden Ring has collected over the years could go on and on, and with a game of such epic renown, it's hardly surprising that any rumor related to it instantly becomes the center of attention.Recently, one such rumor appeared online, sending many fans into a frenzy – not just because of the rumor's content, but because even now, it's impossible to say with absolute certainty whether it was a genuine insider scoop from a lesser-known source, a malicious, pre-planned hoax, or nothing but gossip, misunderstandings, and hearsay.FromSoftwareOn May 6, a relatively obscure news website primarily focused on movie and TV coverage, Nexus Point News, published an exclusive report claiming that Elden Ring will soon receive a fully-fledged film adaptation, produced by the legendary studio A24.According to the article's author, Matthew W., the movie will be directed by Alex Garland – the writer and director behind Ex Machina, Annihilation, Civil War, and Warfare – with filming expected to begin in 2026. Shortly after Nexus' report went live, another outlet, MovieWeb, also stated that A24 is working on an Elden Ring adaptation, though they were unable to verify whether or not Garland is attached as director.While the apparent confirmation of an Elden Ring live-action adaptation is exciting in and of itself, what followed turned out to be even more intriguing. Less than a day after its publication, Nexus' report suddenly disappeared from the outlet's website and social media pages, and although you can still access its contents, should you wish (thanks, Wayback Machine), the fact that the outlet chose to send such an important scoop down the memory hole made many believe that the entire story was false and got removed after a behind-the-scenes complaint from either A24, FromSoftware, or both.Others have also questioned Nexus Point News itself, making a range of rather condescending remarks about a smaller, lesser-known outlet obtaining such significant material before mainstream news websites (which hits very close to home for yours truly).Examples include ResetEra admin Transistor locking several threads related to the rumor and commenting, "For a site no one's heard of, they sure have a lot of exclusives," and The Verge's Jay Peters stating, "None of us at The Verge had ever heard of Nexus Point News, let alone recognized it as a place that reliably breaks entertainment news, so something didn’t seem right," two statements that just reek of condescension and utter snobbery.So, is Nexus Point News a reliable source or a fake news website that tossed in the Elden Ring A24 story to farm clicks? Let's take a look at the facts: according to Reddit user ChiefLeef22, a moderator at r/MarvelStudioSpoilers and someone familiar with the outlet in question, Nexus is "almost always right" when it comes to Marvel-related scoops, lending weight to the idea that they have real industry connections.The strongest piece of evidence supporting Nexus, however, is their September 2024 article – also written by Matthew W., incidentally – which broke the news about Luca Guadagnino working on a Sgt. Rock movie, months before "reputable news sources" reported it.This article alone – given Guadagnino's ties to A24 – adds credibility to Nexus as at least a somewhat legitimate outlet with insiders at A24, making it far more plausible (though still not 100% certain) that the original Elden Ring report was legit and removed at the request of the movie studio and/or the developer, who may be trying to keep the adaptation under wraps for now.Since the game was launched in 2022, there have been multiple hints at the film's existence, including former Bandai Namco Entertainment CEO Yasuo Miyakawa expressing interest in expanding the Elden Ring IP "beyond the game itself," FromSoftware Director Hidetaka Miyazaki stating he sees no reason "to deny another interpretation or adaptation of Elden Ring, a movie for example," and George R. R. Martin teasing a film adaptation on two separate occasions in 2024 and 2025.With those hints already making it seem like the movie has been in the works behind the scenes for years at this point, it's certainly not impossible to believe that FromSoftware would contact obscure news sites to keep Elden Ring: The Movie out of the spotlight for as long as they can. One way or another, as always, it's wise to take everything with a grain of salt and trust neither Nexus nor its critics until solid facts emerge.Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

This simple yet very stylish and enigmatic character was brought to life by an artist known as Mull, who, despite having no prior experience, crafted the 3D model in just 24 hours with assistance from friends who took care of the rigging and the music. The model was made using Blockbench, a free, open-source tool widely used for efficiently creating low-poly models, textures, and animations, particularly for Minecraft.The name is Loansword, an original character by Mull. She's heavily inspired by O'Rin of the Water, an optional mini-boss in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a haunting shamisen-playing woman. Take a closer look at her design below:Mull specializes in dark fantasy and late Middle Ages historical 2D art and often shares character designs on their X/Twitter:Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Introduction Hi everyone. My name is John Chen, I'm a Taiwan-born, Australia-raised artist using digital and traditional mediums. I have worked in the VFX, theme park, and collectible industries since 2010, as a generalist and digital sculptor.In the past few years, I have gradually transitioned to full-time fine art, developing my own visual style and narrative. I still help out with the occasional freelance project as a digital sculptor and concept artist.Happy Eggster Day ProjectThe happy eggster piece was a fun one-day project during some downtime; it was completed in 6 hours. It is a fan art piece based on the incredible work of H.R. Giger and his original concept for the alien facehugger egg.I’ve always wanted to sculpt something that was closer to his original design, rather than the film-accurate version. And I’ve not seen someone do this before.Giger has a huge influence on my personal art; he and Beksinski are my two favourite modern masters.ModelingI used ZBrush 2022 for sculpting and KeyShot for rendering. ZBrush is my go-to software for sculpting, I also use it as a sketching tool for my fine art oil paintings.Giger’s original concept was already pretty much fleshed out and detailed; I had studied his work for a long time, so I understand his visual language quite well and was easily able to interpret the forms, while adding my own fleshy details.Most of my work starts with a sphere. I use the Sculptris Pro function for 80% of the process. For the egg, it was just a stretched-out sphere, which I cut in half with the knife tool.Sculptris Pro was a game changer back when it was first introduced; it made sculpting without the concern for topology possible and feels more natural like traditional sculpting.It's always important for me to start with simple forms and shapes before jumping into details. I have a custom shortcut key setup in the UI to define various Sculptris resolutions, which acts like using big brushes to small brushes. I will gradually step down in size as I get more detailed.The facehugger itself is pretty basic, as I just wanted to reflect the concept, which only shows the legs and some of the tail. For the legs, I just sculpted one joint and duplicated it 3 times to form a single finger, then I duplicated each finger and posed it in position.The tricky part with the facehugger was trying to fit it into the egg. Giger’s original concept drawing didn’t quite fit the actual space, so some of the back legs are pretty broken. For the tails, I just used the curve tube brushes.For the final detailing, I often utilise the cloth dynamics in ZBrush, such as the Cloth Pull brush, which can take some practice to get subtle effects, but it's a quick way to get organic final details.I also make my own textures/alphas from 3D scanning nature. Some of these were scanned from my clay sculptures as well as a banana skin! Here is a narrated time-lapse video explaining the process for another project:For most of what I do nowadays, I am not concerned with topology for pipeline since it's mostly conceptual or for 3D printing. So I tend to use Sculptris/dynamic topology. If I need to do more advanced texturing with UVs, I will just use ZRemesher with polygroups. For this project, it was just PolyPaint with some procedural textures in KeyShot.I shared a tutorial on how to quickly retopo and UV an asset for texturing a few years ago:TexturingI used basic PolyPaint for this piece, using the Polish brush to paint the cavities and highlights with different colors and values. It's quite simple, as you can see, most of the interest comes from the sculpted forms.I also used mask by cavity and masking by occlusion and fill with a darker color to pop out the details, then go over the top again with some manual brushing, this is a traditional way of painting sculptures/model kits, there are lots of great videos on traditional model kit painting on YT, the methods can be used on digital models too. Lighting & RenderingI used KeyShot for the final rendering. I have an RTX 3070, so running the GPU mode with denoise helps to speed things up; the final beauty render was 3 minutes each. It's important to dial down the denoise settings, otherwise it will blur all the lovely highlights/details from the sculpt.Lighting was achieved with a strong overhead spot light and a front soft light using an IES profile for a more interesting fill. This type of setup is perfect for showing off a model in a chiaroscuro style. The material is a translucent plastic type; the egg and the facehugger have different adjustments to sell the translucency. Be aware that translucent materials are scale-dependent, so I typically work in the same scale across my projects and have a template lighting scene already set up, ready to go. These types of material also tend to look better with a simple lighting setup with high contrast, so I don’t recommend using HDRI with it.ConclusionMy biggest tip for aspiring artists is to keep practicing and try all mediums, even if you plan to only do digital, learning and playing with traditional mediums will help develop your artistic eye and transferable skills.The other advice is to stay away from AI references. AI can only produce filtered images. If you only train your eye on AI images, you will be missing out on the incredible organic details that nature already provides.I have two upcoming art shows at Copro Gallery in Los Angeles and Beinart gallery in Melbourne in May. If you are in the area, please come see some great art in person. All my socials and information can be found here.Thanks for having me!John Chen, ArtistInterview conducted by Emma Collins

As Alexey Testov aka Biuzer explained, the light here is just a sprite, and the shader determines whether it's in front or behind the object, adjusting the brightness accordingly. The shadow is also a sprite, and the tree is flat too.As for performance, Alexey isn't able to provide much detail just yet, as he only recently started learning shaders and is just beginning to focus on optimization. He also mentioned that this is being developed for his game, which is actually 3D but designed to give the appearance of 2.5D. The camera has a fixed rotation angle and a very narrow field of view, and all objects are flat sprites.The ground and objects use separate shaders, but they are carefully adjusted to ensure a seamless visual transition in color. During the day, real shadows are cast by the directional light, while fake shadows are used only for point lights.Biuzer"Each light source has a technical sprite – a radial gradient split into two colors. The top part is green, the bottom is blue. When an object is in the green area of the gradient, it means the light source is in front of it, so we highlight the green channel of its lighting texture. And when it's in the blue area, we highlight the blue channel accordingly.It doesn't work perfectly with multiple sources, but it's good enough that the average player won't notice minor inaccuracies."See the original Reddit post for details here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Do you know what your chair and microwave do when you're not home? Perhaps they jump around and do the opposite of what you expect from them, like in Sebastian Marek's animation called The Secret Life of Everyday Things."The Secret Life of Everyday Things is a surreal animated journey where the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary. With seamless, flowing visuals, household items break free from their usual functions and take on unexpected roles, blurring the line between reality and imagination. It serves as a reminder that even the simplest things can reveal unexpected wonders when viewed through a different lens."An iron making waves of wrinkled fabric, a washing machine horsing around, fans dancing together, and other bizarre things are waiting for you in the animation – proof of Marek's creative mind made with Houdini and Cinema 4D, with Giovanni Dubini's sound design. Here is a little breakdown of the work put into the project:If you want to see more, check out Marek's LinkedIn and Behance.Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

As demonstrated, Wicked Engine can handle 50 simultaneous video streams, each at 720p HD resolution, displayed across a wall of 2000 screens. In this context, decoded refers to actual GPU processing of compressed video data, not simple playback.According to the engine's developer, János Turánszki, testing on an AMD RX 6650 XT graphics card showed performance results of around 55 FPS with 20 decoders, 22 FPS with 50 decoders, and 14 FPS with 100 decoders. This was achieved using the lowest-level video decoding APIs available in DirectX 12 and Vulkan.Have a look at the latest Wicked Engine progress demos below:Also, the vehicle physics, originally shared by János earlier this year, is now ready for use:Wicked Engine is a small, fast 3D engine with a modern rendering system. It fully supports DirectX 12 and Vulkan, featuring hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Built in C++ focusing on performance, Wicked Engine also supports Lua scripting, allowing you to add scripts while the engine is running.The engine supports GLTF 2.0 models with realistic materials and simplifies the import of VRM characters created in other software. It's a single executable, so no installation is necessary, and comes with sample assets. Plus, it works offline, requiring no internet connection.Learn more about Wicked Engine here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Just one week after its release, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has become the third best-selling game of the year in the US market, following only Monster Hunter: Wilds and Assassin's Creed: Shadows. This is according to Mat Piscatella, Executive Director at industry-tracking firm Circana, who shared this result on Bluesky after analyzing data collected for the week that ended on April 26. Out on April 22, it was the best-selling game of the week, which seems quite reasonable as the game attracted four million players in just a few days after launch and reached over 216k concurrent players on Steam alone. As a day-one game available for Game Pass subscribers, it's reasonable to question whether this sales performance takes that into account. Mat has made it clear that it's not included and confirmed that a subscription is not considered a sale in this instance.It's too early to say that the game will be the bronze medalist for the whole year chart, as there is more than half a year left, which will see strong competitors like the soon-to-arrive Doom: The Dark Ages, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Elden Ring Nightreign, Ghost of Yōtei, et cetera. However, the strong start of this remaster of a beloved title from nearly two decades ago and the potential for significant profit, thanks to the zero marketing cost, have undoubtedly created impressive records. Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Solo Game Developer Stanislav Minev shared a demo of a game prototype that screams inspiration from bold, action-packed anime like One-Punch Man, with intense visuals that will definitely require flashing warnings.This is just an early glimpse of the project, and the developer has mentioned there's still a long road ahead as he continues testing and experimenting with more force, physics, and weight.Follow Stanislav Minev on Reddit for updates, and for some incredible inspiration on stylized VFX, check out the work of VFX Artist Jinyi Shao, also known as DoubleCats:Also, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

IntroductionRichard Mans, a New Zealand-based artist and filmmaker, is renowned for his fantastical short films. His 2011 animated short Abiogenesis received widespread acclaim, winning multiple awards and screening at festivals worldwide. Mans continues to push the boundaries of animation and user experience, focusing on prototype display technologies in the automotive industry.Excited by the possibilities of high-quality real-time rendering, he is now dedicated to creating captivating short-form videos. “Fuzzyrealms” serves as his online portfolio, showcasing his latest works. Passionate about crafting brief glimpses into fantastical worlds, Mans finds inspiration in daily creativity.From Kitbash3D to iCloneI started the project by selecting the “Flower Shop” model from Cargo (an app by Kitbash3D that comes with their entire library of 3D Assets) and importing it into Unreal Engine.I then transferred the “Flower Shop” to iClone using the iClone Unreal Live Link plugin. It makes transferring assets between the Unreal Engine and iClone super fast and easy, and ensures perfect alignment of all my assets between the programs.Bringing it all to life with MD PropsWith the building now in iClone I place the MD props around my scene. Then create a “Navmesh” for where I want my characters to go. Then generate the crowd with iClone's Crowd Generation tool.In Motion Director, I select all the characters, then change the “Agent Radius” slider. The Agent Radius affects how much the characters will try to avoid each other and is a great way to tweak the crowd simulation. To scatter the crowds from ActorCore, I added my actors and Motion Director files, then selected pick object and picked the plane area, then deployed actors to populate the crowds.When I run the simulation, the characters automatically interact with the MD Props. This automatic interaction works with an adjustable radius around each MD Prop. When a character walks into the radius of a prop, it has a chance of interacting with that prop.I can also control the characters manually. In Motion Director I switch a character to “Player Control”, click “Start”, then move the character around using an Xbox controller. I then click on the MD Props, which brings up a radial menu where I can choose the interaction I want my character to have with the prop.Return Trip to Unreal EngineNow that I’m happy with how the crowd is animated in iClone, I attach the props that I want to transfer to Unreal Engine to the Dummy Props. Make sure the prop is attached to the “AxisDummy” of the MD Prop. This is so the Prop will move in the same way as the Dummy Prop.Using iClones Unreal Live Link I transfer the crowd and animated props to Unreal Engine. Selecting the “Include Motion” and “Bake all animations to Sequencer” options and selecting the characters and animated props that I want to transfer to Unreal Engine. With the crowd and animated props now in Unreal Engine, I import a “Two Bedroom Apartment” model from “Cargo” and piece together my scene. Lastly, I animate my main character in iClone using the Motion Live Plugin. Then transfer the main character to Unreal Engine.Final ThoughtsThanks for joining me through this process. You can also visit this page for the detailed walkthrough. I found using iClones MD Props was a lot of fun, and it made animating complex crowd animations much easier.With tools like iClone, Unreal Engine, and Cargo, the possibilities are endless. So, whether you’re an aspiring filmmaker or a seasoned pro, keep pushing the boundaries of creativity and never stop dreaming big! Richard Mans, Artist and Filmmaker

Amber RutherfordSenior EditorAmber RutherfordSenior EditorPublished05 May 2025TagsNewsBlenderShowcase Your Product to Our Creative AudienceLet's TalkThomas Marcos started a new project.This time, Thomas Marcos, whose work on Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and custom scratched car paint shader we previously shared, kicked off a motion design project. This setup explores detailed fabric structures forming from microfibers, pushing the boundaries of Blender's Geometry Nodes instead of hair system.The result features full animation control, with the first render completed in Cycles at 4K resolution, taking between 1 to 5 minutes per frame:Thomas will be sharing a breakdown and some tips soon, so stay tuned and grab his recently released free procedural clouds shader:Also, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

A key element in creating and rendering small-scale liquid simulations in Houdini is understanding how nested dielectrics work. Nested dielectrics address the issue of having one geometry within another that requires distinct physical rendering properties.For instance, as Sergey Kharitonov explained, when simulating sparkling liquid pouring into a glass, you'll need to assign different index of refraction values, as well as potentially different roughness and dispersion values for the glass, liquid, and bubbles. A common problem in such simulations is the liquid geometry intersecting with the glass, resulting in unrealistic outcomes where the liquid appears to penetrate the glass.Rather than relying on complex modeling techniques, such as using Boolean operations to cut away intersecting areas or scaling down the liquid to create a gap (which can be inaccurate and time-consuming), nested dielectrics offer a simpler solution. By assigning priorities to different shaders, only the shader with the highest priority is rendered in overlapping areas. This functions similarly to a lightweight Boolean operation at render time: higher-priority shaders override lower-priority ones, effectively carving out overlapping geometry volumes."You can assign dielectric priorities using the Render Geometry Settings node or the Karma Material Properties node. Lower numerical values mean higher priority. For instance, in this case, I set the glass (index of refraction 1.5) geometry priority to 0 (highest), the bubbles (index of refraction 1.0) to 5, and the liquid (index of refraction -1.33) to 10 (lowest). This setup ensures that the glass and bubbles correctly override the liquid where they intersect", commented Sergey.Take a look at an earlier example of his small-scale fluid simulation featuring foam-liquid interaction and bubble behavior:Here's more:Follow Sergey Kharitonov on LinkedIn and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

ActivisionCall of Duty: Black Ops 7 will reportedly arrive in 2025, and with it, some changes are imminent, supposedly. According to leaker TheGhostOfHope, with the release of Black Ops 7, Activision and Treyarch will hide some of the limited-timed modes (LTMs) in the Battle Pass, putting higher tier skins, loot, and crossover operators there instead of the Premium Event Passes."Black Ops 7 will reportedly have more seasonal LTM’s and some of them would be considered “higher value” with unique rewards and different game mechanics/modes BUT the only way to play the LTMs will be to have the battle pass unlike how it's currently free for everyone," TheGhostOfHope said.We'll see how it goes when Call of Duty 2025, a reported sequel to Black Ops 2, gets released, set around 2035 and allegedly featuring Black Ops 2 remastered maps.Join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Theodore McKenzieHead of ContentTheodore McKenzieHead of ContentPublished05 May 2025TagsShowcase Your Product to Our Creative AudienceLet's TalkReportedly, the Shift Up team has decided not to switch to UE5 for the upcoming PC release.According to recent reports, the soon-to-be-released PC version of Stellar Blade, the acclaimed 2024 action-adventure game developed by Shift Up, will be powered by Unreal Engine 4, the same engine used for the original PlayStation 5 release.Shift UpDespite Unreal Engine 5 being available for over three years – or five years if you count the initial reveal – and the Epic Games team gradually revealing more details about Unreal Engine 6, Shift Up appears to be sticking with Unreal Engine 4.26, which was released back in December 2020.This information comes from a modding enthusiast known as somnus, who recently shared a blurry screenshot on AyakaMods' Stellar Blade-focused Discord server, claiming that the game is indeed powered by UE4.26. As AyakaMods pointed out, "UE4 tends to run more smoothly and offers better FPS compared to UE5" and "makes modding a bit easier and more accessible," meaning that the developer's choice of engine is ultimately "good news for modders."The 80 Level team has reached out to Shift Up for official confirmation and will update the article upon receiving a response.In the meantime, wishlist Stellar Blade on Steam and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

The Art-To-Experience Contest inspires creators globally to explore the power of immersive storytelling through Emperia’s Creator Tools, which empowers users to create captivating virtual experiences without the need to write a single line of code.To Enter the Contest:1. Sign up for Creator Tools on the Emperia website, start your Free Trial, create a project using Emperia’s Creator Tools, and transform it into a web-based virtual experience. (Unreal Engine is required to run the plugin).2. Publish your experience on the Emperia's platform and copy the link to the project. 3. Complete the entry form by sharing the link to your virtual experience with us.We're welcoming KIRI Engine, a state-of-the-art 3D scanning and photogrammetry platform, as a prize provider of our contest.KIRI Engine enables users to create detailed 3D models from smartphone images or professional-grade captures. Whether you want to replicate architecture, scan objects, or build environments based on real-world locations, KIRI provides an accessible, high-quality workflow for photorealistic digital assets.Prize offering:3 x 2-Year Subscriptions to KIRI EngineThese long-term subscriptions allow winners to scan, reconstruct, and integrate 3D assets into their creative projects across various platforms - including their contest submission built on Emperia.KIRI EngineKIRI EngineThere’s still time to enter. Submit your vision by July 2, 2025, and let KIRI Engine help bring your reality into your virtual world.