How to Set Up a Huizhou-Style Courtyard Using Unreal Engine & Substance 3D

Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Gabriel天光睡, I'm a junior Environment Artist. Inspired by some MMD (MikuMikuDance) works, I began learning 3D art in 2021. After working on a simulation game, I tried to build a 3D environment by myself. In 2023, I was deeply moved by the concept art "蔓蔓日茂" (Flourishing Growth) and added it to my work schedule.

"蔓蔓日茂"  is the title of the concept art I chose. This Chinese idiom carries two meanings: firstly, it describes plant growth, and secondly, it refers to the improvement of knowledge and moral character. The artist built upon this idiom's meaning to create a study room nestled among swaying tree shadows during the transition between spring and summer.

The motif "疏影" (Sparse Shadows) most often refers to the shadows of plum blossoms. The phrase "疏影画阁" (Pavilion of Painting and Sparse Shadows) depicts an exquisitely crafted pavilion with intricate carvings, bathed in dappled, sparse light. In this artwork, I aimed to approach the quiet, elegant, and serene atmosphere celebrated in traditional Chinese gardens.

Here, I must introduce the Huizhou-style architecture featured in this work: it is one of the most significant schools of traditional Chinese architecture, primarily found in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces in China. It is renowned for its distinctive white walls and dark grey tiles, and exquisite carvings.

Due to its high artistic value, it frequently appears in artworks, most notably in the ink wash paintings of Mr. Wu Guanzhong.

The concept artist also incorporated styles from other architectural traditions into this design, such as Chaoshan and Southern Fujian residential styles. These styles are known for their ornate beauty. For instance, the "厝角头" (decorative corner elements) on some buildings feature very vibrant stone carvings.

Technical Solutions

After finding some direction and references, I wished the final texture presentation for this project could embody some qualities of ink wash and pastel fine brushwork.

Now, let's move on to the technical breakdown. It's worth mentioning that most of the technical solutions for this work were tailored to achieve the final look for personal practice and are not advisable for real game development (where cheaper/more performant alternatives exist).

I started by breaking down and adding details to some elements from the concept art, searching for additional references to refine these parts of the design.

After blocking out the scene in Unreal Engine, I painted some simple textures for initial placeholder texturing. This allowed me to test the overall look, identify shortcomings, and see which texture details needed further planning. Subsequently, I used two different workflows: ZBrush -> Substance 3D Painter and Substance 3D Designer to create trim sheet textures and tiling textures, respectively.

I imported the models into 3ds Max to polish asset details, sculpted in ZBrush, and painted textures in Substance 3D Painter. This process took about four months, all of which were completed by squeezing in time after work and lunch breaks. It's worth noting that for the stone flowers beneath the "厝头", I used a combination of cards and solid geometry.

Since performance wasn't a concern for this personal project, this approach was taken to achieve greater variation in flower depth and a clearer hierarchy between primary and secondary elements. Here is the work in 3ds Max:

Here is the work in ZBrush:

Here is the work in Substance 3D Designer:

Vegetation & Cats

For the vegetation, I mostly used cards. The workflow involved SpeedTree and 3ds Max. For plants like bamboo and shrubs with many repeated leaves, I used alpha masks. In the engine's shader, I applied a directional gradient and other color variations to their diffuse component (the bamboo stalks were assigned different Material IDs). Flowers and most other vegetation were rendered by using hand-painted textures combined with alpha masks.

The cats only have base color textures. Rigging and animation were done in Maya. Each cat has two loopable animations. The cat coat patterns are a personal touch: the white cat is my friend's cat, Nana, and the American Shorthair kitten is my own cat, Kunkun. Praise the cats!

At this stage, I had completed most of the assets and imported them into Unreal. The next steps involved optimization and debugging in the engine, as well as adding assets specifically for debugging. My tasks included:

• Adjusting shapes, adding details like "鸱吻" (ridge ornaments) and upturned eaves to enhance the silhouette's dynamism.
• Optimizing the vegetation shapes.
• Modifying textures and assets to optimize their display in Unreal Engine.

Colors & Lightning

Let's discuss the base color silhouette. The three most dominant color blocks in this scene are white, pink, and green. We need to control their silhouettes and proportions to manage the visual rhythm of the composition.

Regarding the wall detailing method: initially, I tried to use texture blending to create the effect of peeling white paint revealing pink brick underneath. The advantage of this method is that the edges between materials are more natural. However, vertex painting in Unreal didn't seem to provide the precision I wanted.

The remaining options were Edge Decals and Blended Textures or Pure Decals. Considering that this wall needed many other decals besides the white surface, I ultimately chose to use decals to create the entire wall. I painted several decal masks in Procreate. Then I used additional decals to enrich the details on the pink walls.

In the design of this piece, shadows are an integral component. Actually, there are multiple ways to create projected shadows: one is using Light Functions for the direct light, and another – fake shadow cards. Considering controllability and precision, I chose to use translucent cards to create fake shadows. Within the material, I applied a panning UV offset to simulate the swaying effect of tree shadows.

(I'm not very proficient in this area; to make the shadow more natural, noise-based motion effects should be added to the edges, and semi-shadow shading should be applied to the scene. There are many techniques, but I'm not familiar with them. Feel free to discuss this with me!)

Next came the lighting stage. Warm tones were used for the main light, while cool tones were used for the shadows. To make the scene more translucent, I added numerous fill lights. I repeatedly adjusted various details based on the final result. Thanks to the teachers and friends who guided me during this period.

Conclusion

This is my first complete workflow environment artwork. During the assets creation process, I didn't have enough control over the final presentation of the assets in the engine, which led to numerous rounds of additions and adjustments. It took me about six months to complete the entire project.

Looking back now, there are still many areas for improvement:

1. Vegetation Color Grading and Arrangement: It still looks somewhat scattered. I revised the large patch of ivy on the right several times, but the result remains barely satisfactory.
2. Asset Cohesion and Brushwork: The stylistic consistency among the assets in this work isn't strong enough. I could have created a set of overlay textures in Substance 3D Designer before starting the assets to unify their overall tone.
3. Color Grading Issues: My color sense leans slightly towards cool tones. The final color grade is about three shades cooler than the original concept art, which, to some extent, weakens the warm atmosphere the original image aimed to create.

Gabriel天光睡, Environment Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine