Game-Ready Old Well Asset Made with ZBrush & Substance 3D Painter

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Kate, and I’m an Artist. I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember, and I always try to express myself through every medium available to me – 2D art, surface painting, clothing design, decorative elements, jewelry, and even herbarium art. Naturally, digital art became a part of that journey as well!

For the past two years, I’ve been working professionally in 3D as a freelancer, while exploring other creative fields as a form of personal expression in my free time. I started learning 3D on my own – I’d come up with an idea or sketch a concept, then gather the information I needed to bring it to life. My background working with physical materials and forms gave me a solid foundation, and over time, I built up enough skills to begin taking on freelance work – creating models for 3D printing, animation, and other small-scale projects, which I’m still doing today.

However, after exploring different areas within 3D, I realized that what I truly want is to create game-ready assets. That’s the direction I’m now focusing on – actively developing my skills and building up my ArtStation portfolio with 3D models I create in my spare time. I dream of joining a great game studio where I can contribute to creating beautiful visuals and engaging gameplay experiences.

Inspiration & References

I created the Old Well project after completing sessions with my mentor Danil Kuptsov, who teaches a course on mastering game development pipelines and the nuances of optimizing 3D game models. We explored the trim sheet workflow in depth, and I found this technique truly fascinating!

After our session, I went for a walk in the forest park, thinking about what I could create using this new method — how I might adapt or expand the pipeline for my own ideas. I often look at objects around me and mentally break down how I’d model them in 3D. The idea came to me naturally as I walked through the forest – past old fallen trees, swamps, and moss-covered stones. I pictured an old, forgotten well nestled in this kind of environment. The image in my mind was so vivid that I went straight home and started working on the textures.

I enjoy working with realistic references and real-world objects, reimagining them to make them more magical, more interesting, or more decorative – that’s the approach I take in most of my personal projects.

Modeling & Texturing

The trim sheet workflow means that you start by creating a texture sheet with various materials and details, and only afterward build a 3D model that can be UV-mapped onto that sheet. I already had a collection of skulls and bones I had sculpted for other assets and environments, so I created some rocks in ZBrush, arranged everything into a tiling texture composition, and added some planks, bolts, and cloth pieces from my own asset library.

When you already have a library of base elements, the process becomes much faster. That’s why I’m planning to share a large ZBrush brush pack soon – full of bones, skulls, and similar pieces to help other artists build dark environments and props more quickly.

Next, I baked Normal and Ambient Occlusion Maps from the 3D objects onto the trim sheet and began creating color variations in Substance 3D Painter. My texturing process usually starts with base colors applied through layers and masks. Then I go in by hand, painting details and adjusting brush settings like color, alpha, roughness, metallic, and height. This makes the textures feel more unique compared to fully procedural ones. I also apply wear and damage manually so I can control exactly where and how it appears – it’s key to realism and atmosphere.

Retopology & Unwrapping

For UV mapping, I used the DECALmachine plugin, which makes it easy to define and manage key areas of the texture. It automatically unwraps the geometry and applies the relevant sections. I actually started setting up the mapping before the final well model was even built – I already had a clear understanding of how it would look and which parts of the trim sheet I’d need.

Then came the almost-final and most exciting stage. In Blender, I created a low-poly base for the well and a few repeating elements like planks, ropes, and the handle mechanism. I mapped them to the trim sheet using DECALmachine, and then built the well by duplicating and assembling those modular pieces. After that, I added smaller details that were important for composition, like cloth scraps, a bucket, and a few more ropes.

At that point, I could step back and review the whole result – tweak UVs on certain planks to avoid visible tiling patterns, remove hidden polygons – and just like that, the well was done!

Rendering & Lighting

For the final render, I used Marmoset Toolbag, which displayed the textures perfectly. I added a deep blue sky to simulate night, a back light for the moonlight effect, and a spotlight angled from the front and side to highlight the wood textures and roof shapes. I also added a touch of fog for atmosphere.

For the beauty shot, I shifted the back light to a cooler tone and the front light to something warmer. For the texture presentation renders, I used standard white lighting.

Conclusion

I believe the secret to creating a strong, appealing asset is to add a touch of thoughtful, manual work somewhere in the process, rather than relying entirely on automatic generation. That’s what gives an object its originality, both in form and texture.

I didn’t face any real difficulties during this project – partly because I was deeply inspired while working on it, and partly because I already had a clear grasp of the workflow thanks to my mentor. This project helped me refine my texturing skills and deepen my understanding of the technical side of asset creation. I now feel confident creating more complex trim sheets in less time.

My advice to beginner 3D artists is to be patient, take it step by step, and don’t forget to rest. There’s a lot of information to absorb at first, and it can be overwhelming – but it gets easier and more enjoyable with time! 

Kitty Kate, 3D Artist