How to Build Vampire Slaying Kit in 3D

Introduction 

Hello everyone! My name is Razvan, I’m a 32-year-old 3D artist based in Romania. My journey into 3D art started unexpectedly while working as a game tester. As I was reporting bugs, a thought came into my head: "How would it be if I was on the other side?" Initially, it was just a passing thought, but the more I explored, the more I fell in love with it.

In 2021, I had the opportunity to work as an intern at AMC Studio, where I met many talented artists and learned a lot; I am extremely grateful. I also had the opportunity to work on multiple AAA projects, unannounced and, sadly, cancelled. But the game that I'm most proud of that I worked on and got released is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. But enough about me – let’s talk about The Forbidden Archive! Even though it’s... well, forbidden.

The Forbidden Archive – Vampire Slaying Kit

Whenever I plan a new portfolio project, I browse Pinterest for inspiration, it’s a goldmine for ideas. I noticed that most of my past projects featured only a single prop, so I wanted to challenge myself by creating a small scene with multiple props and diverse materials. I didn't have anything in mind, so I kept searching for days for something that could catch my eye, and it finally did.

I fell in love with this photo. I considered the theme to be exactly what I was looking for. This became my main reference. So I looked for similar photos on Pinterest, and I even reverse-searched Google and found tons of references. From each photo, I stole ideas to implement in my scene. And for each prop that I decided to implement, I looked for further references. 

For some photos or textures that I really liked, but which were at pretty low resolution, I would use an AI enhancer and increase their resolution. That helped me a lot and I really recommend it.

Modeling

The modeling process is pretty straightforward. The stages worth mentioning are:

• The belt, where I used an extruded plane at 90 degrees to create that circular shape, as shown in the photo below. After that, I gave it some width and arranged the shape better until satisfied. Then, I smoothed it and arranged everything even better. The same rule applies to the centimeter prop.

• The little monster, who inspired me in the main reference. I created it in ZBrush, starting with Z-spheres. Then, I started giving it the shape I wanted. I recommend working with really low poly when doing so. The most used brushes are: Standard, Clay Tubes, Dam Standard, and Clay Buildup. I also made some masks with Inflate, and at the en,d I used a noise on the whole surface. This is the end result. 

• The knife handle was done 100% in ZBrush, and it was extremely easy and fast. I used Radial Symmetry for all those details, and I played with the numbers until satisfied. For the cross on the handle, just to be precise, I used a photo of a cross from the internet and used Radial Symmetry again. The same rules apply to the brass candle holder.

Unwrapping & UVs

Since it's a portfolio piece, I put in more polygons than I should've, but I did not go crazy. I also wanted to have a pretty high-quality overall, so I had 8 texture sets. Each texture set had around 3 or 4 objects, depending on their size, and one texture had all the glass pieces. Every texture was exported at 4K. 

The UVs are really important, and everything that can be straightened needs to be straightened perfectly, but be careful: this might come with stretches, so I'd apply a material while UVing, so I can see the stretches in real time. For this, I have used Maya's UV Editor. Here are some examples:

Texturing

I consider texturing to be the most crucial phase. Even a mediocre model can be salvaged with a great texture, so I dedicated most of my time to this stage. 

I started with the main wooden box. I searched and found an interesting wooden texture from Quixel Bridge. I used one for the main box shape and a different one for the inner planks. But it was clear that it needed contrast. So I created a layer on Passthrough, with the "Contrast Luminosity" filter and an "HSL Perceptive" to increase the saturation a little. Here are the differences and the settings I used.

From there, I started to create multiple layers with different roughness and color variations. For example, I created two or three fill layers (set on Passthrough), affecting only the roughness, and on the fill layer directly, I create an HSL Perceptive and have different settings each time. You can see my settings and the difference below.

For the edge wear, I like to start with a typical Metal Edge Wear, with certain settings (you'll see below), and on top of that layer, have another grunge fill layer, set on Subtract, so it's not everywhere the same damage. From there, I add a paint layer and add or remove from certain areas where I'd like to have more or less. I also use a lot of wood alphas for the damage, gathered over the years, either from friends or from the internet. Of course, don't forget to give it a little height on that fill layer for the damage. 

Regarding the dust particles, I would create a folder with a mask, with a light generator to affect only the top parts. Then, inside the folder, I would create two fill layers, with almost the same settings but different colors. A Levels node is mandatory, to make the noise not so close to each other.

Let's talk about the monster, who's so chill inside the jar! I started with a simple Leather Skin directly from Substance 3D Painter. For an interesting color variation, I created a fill layer with a mask. In that mask, I put the thickness map with a Levels, here's how the mask looks and the differences.

Then, I just added more layers, like a fill layer with an AO generator, color for the pimples, blood, and more! See here in this video:

The big jar that has the monster was interesting to texture. Even though it's not very obvious, I have the metallic at 1. It's just an artistic preference; I thought it looked better than it would be without metallic at all. Here's a quick GIF with the layers that I've created for the jar.

The rest of the jars are pretty much the same, but the metallic is slightly lower, at .7;

The books and pages are really simple. I just imported many interesting photos I found on Pinterest on the many planes that I've created as pages. From there, I just added color and rough variations. Also, I added opacity and made the pages look ripped.

Lighting & Rendering

Let's dive into Marmoset Toolbag 4, where we'll be rendering. If you have lots of texture sets and don't have a high-end PC, I'd recommend you export the textures at 512 or 1K so you can freely add and move lights. Otherwise, it will be extremely slow and annoying.
For every render, I had a separate folder where I'd put the lights and the camera. Like this:

Here are my render and camera settings:

I didn't use HDRI at all on this project. I tried to make the lightning a bit dramatic. Here are two examples of my lightning setup:

Don't forget to increase the diameter of your lights a little so your shadows aren't so sharp in your renders.

Conclusion 

I learned many new things with this project, beside the fact that my PC can't handle 8 4K textures:

• The silhouette is really important in a prop/scene. It makes it more visually appealing and readable from a distance.
• Don't use excessive noise, there must be areas where the eyes have to rest.
• The materials should be well-defined. Proper use of roughness, color, and micro details will enhance believability.
• A good prop/scene will sell better if you tell a story. Adding wear and tear, stickers, or other small details can suggest all sorts of things

Always ask for feedback. It is the best way to improve yourself. I asked for it on every project that I worked on before posting. If you work on a project for a long time, some things could go past you, even if they were right in front of you.

This project took me about 2 months, and I loved every second of it. It was really fun.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback and helped me improve as an artist – and thank you, 80 Level, for this opportunity!

Razvan Mindra, 3D Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine