Dreamy Ghibli-Inspired 3D Scene Powered by Unreal Engine 5

Check out NIA's Alchemy Castle, a dreamy stylized 3D environment inspired by Studio Ghibli's timeless classics, brought to life by Environment/Level Artist Manuel Glez.

Based on Merlin Ambrosuis' eponymous 2D illustration, NIA's Alchemy Castle was modeled with Blender, textured in Substance 3D Painter/Designer, and rendered with Unreal Engine 5, with ZBrush having been used to sculpt the smaller props. In addition, the artist utilized the techniques showcased in Modeng's Stylized Scene Creation, Viktoriia Zavhorodnia's Stylized Flowers, and Tyler Smith's Cloud Creation tutorials, as well as William Faucher's EasyFog, to create the scene.

According to Manuel, the most challenging part of the project was setting up painterly-style clouds seen in the final renders. Going forward, the creator aims to share his approach to tackling the task with a dedicated post, so we highly encourage you to follow Manuel on ArtStation so as not to miss the upcoming breakdown.

Also, check out Merlin Ambrosuis' original concept: