Creating Realistic Binoculars for Beginners with ZBrush & Substance 3D

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Illia Bashkir, I’m a 3D Artist from Kyiv, Ukraine, and I’d like to share some of the tips, tricks, and tools I use in my workflow as a beginner to achieve solid results early on when creating props. 

I’m 25 years old, and I got into the industry very recently. At the time I created the binocular project, I had been learning 3D for only three months.

Before that, I had no experience in the industry, and I wasn’t involved in art at all – no drawing background, no modeling, no artistic education.

Getting into 3D Art 

Like many others, I began with the basics – free tutorials on YouTube. The first step is to get comfortable with the fundamentals. Any 3D software can seem intimidating at first, like the control panel of a spaceship. But the magic is that knowledge in this field grows exponentially. If you stay consistent, things start to make sense faster, and each new program becomes easier to learn – most of them share the same principles. 

I study every day for about 12 hours. I wanted to see results as soon as possible. There’s a saying that 80% of the results come from 20% of the knowledge — and that applies to 3D. By mastering the most essential tools in each piece of software, you can achieve almost anything.

My first month was all about learning the basics in Blender – things like move, scale, rotate, extrude, etc. I quickly realized how much I enjoy working in 3D and how motivated I felt to keep improving every single day. That’s when I decided to switch to Maya and take things more seriously. 

Eventually, I enrolled in a course that introduced me to a modern AAA production pipeline. After completing it, I finally gathered the courage to start my first personal project. 

References

Every project starts with an idea. And it’s important that you genuinely enjoy what you’re working on. To make it easier to decide what to create, I asked myself a few questions at the very beginning:

• Style – Realism or stylization? This one’s usually easy, just think of your favorite games.
• Setting – What’s closer to your heart: fantasy worlds, sci-fi, or maybe the mood of the Wild West?
• Complexity – Don’t start with tanks, high-detail machinery, or complex organic forms. Be realistic about your current skill level.

If you’re looking at a concept and it checks all three boxes, you’re ready to start collecting references! 

My reference board helped me at every stage – from modeling all the way to the final renders. 

I collected images of the binoculars from every possible angle – to understand both the technical side (the mechanism needs to be accurate) and the creative side (materials, colors, wear and tear for texturing). 

Why Binocular Model?

There were a few reasons. First, it’s a fairly complex object (glass, metal, paint, leather), but it has a simple structure thanks to its symmetry. The two sides of the mechanism are identical, so I only needed to model one and mirror the other. 

Start of Modelling

I specialize in subdivision modeling, so I chose this approach for the binoculars. I started the modeling process with a blockout. For me, the first step is always establishing the correct size and proportions. It’s important to define an accurate real-world scale early on to avoid technical issues later

My blockout was a bit more detailed than what’s typically required – I included screw, grooves, and dents. That’s not a strict rule, though. You can block out the major shapes using cylinders and primitives to check proportions – that works too. But I prefer to flesh things out a bit more at this stage, as it helps me visualize the final piece more clearly.

In general, I like to follow the principle of “big to small.” So, I began with the largest and most defining part of the binoculars – the main body. From there, I moved on to the lenses, the objective, and then the finer details 

High-Poly Modeling: Topology Matters 

Once I completed the blockout, I moved on to building a detailed high-poly model. This is one of the most critical stages of the process. I aimed to make the high-poly as accurate and refined as possible without deviating from my references. 

Сreating clean topology is still something I’m learning – but I can confidently say that my current results are much more reliable than when I tried to brute-force good shading through bad topology. Good shading, ≠ good topology. Clean topology is especially important for models with organic shapes or animations. 

Here are some of the key rules I follow: 

• Triangles – Use them carefully. They're fine for breaking up non-planar polygons or on flat surfaces. While it was possible to make this binocular completely quad-based, I didn’t want to spend a lifetime on it. 
• Stars (poles) – A vertex with five or more edges converging should only appear on flat areas. Otherwise, it can ruin the shading. 
• Support edges – I avoid placing them too close to the edge. Super tight bevels may look clean up close, but when viewed from a normal in-game camera distance, sharp chamfers can break realism. I always zoom out to evaluate how the edge reads at gameplay scale 
• Ngons – Just no. All models should be free of ngons to ensure proper triangulation for game engines. 

Leather Parts & Organic Imperfections 

As you can see, the leather elements aren’t perfectly smooth or tightly glued to the body of the binoculars – and that’s intentional. I wanted to stay true to the references and replicate the subtle imperfections that make the prop feel real and used. 

To achieve this, I sculpted the folds in ZBrush. I exported the base mesh into ZBrush because, in my experience, it's the fastest and most intuitive way to create organic, natural-looking deformations. 

I masked out everything except the leather parts and used the Move Topology brush to slightly pull the edges away from the main body. This helped simulate the look of aged leather that's started to peel or loosen over time – a small detail, but one that adds a lot to the realism of the final model.

Creating a Game-Ready Low Poly 

Since this was a portfolio piece, I intentionally prioritized visual quality over strict polygon limits. However, I still tried to maintain a balance between aesthetics and performance. If I were creating this model for an actual game, I would sacrifice the folds on the leather parts – this would save a significant amount of polygons.

Working on the UVs

I did all my UV work in Maya. Since my model is mostly made up of cylindrical shapes, I paid special attention to minimizing cuts on the horizontal rings to reduce visible stretching. 

I unwrapped the entire model manually and placed everything into a single texture set, without any overlaps. Even though the binocular is perfectly symmetrical, I chose not to mirror the UVs because I wanted to create subtle variations between both sides, which wouldn’t have been possible with overlapping UVs. 

However, if I were making this prop for a real-time game environment, I definitely would have mirrored the UVs to get higher texel density and optimize the texture usage. 

Baking Maps

I baked all my maps in Marmoset Toolbag. Before baking, I always carefully match the low- and high-poly meshes to make sure there’s no clipping or gaps. I usually create a custom cage for each part of the model to get the cleanest result possible. Even a slightly incorrect cage can ruin the entire bake with skewed normals or artifacts. I adjust the cage mesh manually, pushing it just enough to cover all high-poly detail. I bake all major maps – Normal, AO, Curvature, Material ID, Object ID, and Position, at 4K resolution.

Texturing

Texturing is probably my favorite and, in my opinion, the most important part of the whole process – especially for beginners aiming to achieve a professional-looking result early on. This is the stage where I really focused on applying everything I’ve learned so far and where I’d love to share some of the key tips that helped me make the model feel polished and believable, even at an early stage of my 3D journey. 

I did all of the texturing in Substance 3D Painter. One of the most impactful techniques I discovered is how much difference color and roughness variation can make. Just adding subtle randomness – even to flat surfaces brings the material to life. This single principle took my textures from flat to visually rich, and I encourage any beginner to try this as early as possible. 

Here's how I achieved the black paint surface:

And leather material:

You might also notice that I try not to crank up my layers to 100%. Instead, I prefer stacking multiple layers with different variations of grunge and subtle color variation. These layers are usually only visible at 10–30% opacity. I find that this approach looks much more natural and realistic than using harsh or overly saturated colors. 

Another golden rule I follow: stay true to your reference, especially if you’re working from real-life photos like I did. It's tempting to get creative and invent details, but referencing the real thing keeps your work grounded, balanced, and more believable, like I did here – the paint has worn off exactly in the area where the binoculars often came into contact with surfaces, and on the objective side,  there are no scratches or wear at all, since that part only touches the human face, and therefore the paint simply couldn’t wear off there. 

Also, pay attention to the gradients – this is where all the color variation comes into play: red, green, and brown. It’s nearly impossible to pick out each color individually, but together, all the layers form a very lively and realistic surface that feels rich and natural. 

I also try to avoid “procedural-looking” results. Toward the end of my texturing process, I go in manually to break repetition, adjust masks, or paint small details by hand. These final touches make a big difference. With the right references and a bit of patience, it’s possible to create textures that look like they belong in a professional portfolio – even early in your learning path. Just start by using a color variation.

Rendering

For this project, I used Marmoset Toolbag because it’s quick, flexible, and perfect for real-time rendering. When you're working on a piece for your portfolio, rendering becomes one of the most critical stages – even the most well-crafted model can look unimpressive if the renders are boring or flat. 

Before I even open Marmoset, I take a pen and notebook and write down a rendering plan. This helps me stay focused and intentional with my shots.

Even though my render plan might look like a chaotic mess of notes, without it, it would be easy to get lost or forget what I’m trying to achieve. I spent several hours putting it together – not randomly, but based on imagination and thorough research. 

I went through some of the artworks I had saved on ArtStation, carefully analyzing what made them stand out to me. Then I took the elements I liked most and reinterpreted them in a way that would work for my project, like it was with shots where I added a logo and text.

I also searched for “binoculars” on ArtStation and analyzed the most successful artworks featuring similar props.

Based on that analysis, I felt much more confident when starting my rendering process. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but I also don’t blindly copy existing work. As a beginner, I prefer to rely on well-established visual rules – some of which have existed for centuries, since the time of Da Vinci – such as the rule of thirds, symmetry, and the golden ratio.

I also used Photoshop to add text and a logo to my renders. As for post-processing effects like grain, vignette, saturation, and contrast, I prefer adjusting them directly in Marmoset. I find it extremely convenient since Marmoset offers a very user-friendly way to tweak these settings. For me, it’s important not to spend too much time learning how to do the same thing in different software if I can achieve the desired result all in one place.

These are my settings for studio and environment renders (videos look better with a lower grain effect).

Lighting & Composition 

I positioned the binoculars in the frame so they don’t take up too much or too little space – the sweet spot for prop presentation is usually around 60–70% of the frame. This helps keep the focus on the model while still leaving room for breathing space and proper lighting. 

For lighting, I use a universal setup that works well for most props: 

• Key Light – the main light source that defines the overall form and direction of shadows.
• Fill Light – softens the shadows created by the key light and brings out more detail.
• Back Light (Rim Light) – adds a subtle rim or edge highlight that helps separate the model from the background.
• Correction Light – used to fix any areas that feel too dark or need extra highlight and balance. 

Also, take a look at the screenshots below. Rendering in an environment requires a more individual approach. For example, I used a minimal lighting setup: just a few omni lights to simulate the glow of lamps, a soft fill light from above, and a subtle backlight to separate the object from the background.

Thanks for taking the time to look through my work — I hope this article inspires new artists to start creating their work and not be afraid. You can learn all of it – the most important thing is to simply start. Even beginners can achieve a professional-looking result through careful observation and attention to detail. Even if you’re starting, don’t underestimate what you can achieve. Master the fundamentals, observe carefully, and take your time – results will come. I’m still learning, and I’m excited to see where this journey goes.

Feel free to check out more renders here.

Illia Bashkir, Props Artist