Setting Up Damage on Battered Vintage TV in 3D
Montasar Feydi discussed the creation of his Vintage TV project, showing how he approached wear and tear on the screen and cupboard and explaining how texturing helps with storytelling.
Introduction
Hello guys! I’m Montasar Feydi, a 24-year-old 3D environment and props artist from Tunisia. My journey in 3D began in 2020, and since then, I’ve taken on various modeling and texturing roles throughout my studies. After earning my bachelor’s degree in 3D Animation in 2022, I joined Mob Entertainment as an environment artist, where I contributed to three shipped titles: Project Playtime, Poppy Playtime Chapter 3, and Chapter 4.
Now, as I prepare to graduate this month with a master’s in Games Art from Teesside University in the UK, I’m excited about what’s ahead. I’m passionate about crafting realistic props, environments and detailed materials – and I’m currently exploring new opportunities where I can bring that passion to new challenges and continue to grow as an artist.
Vintage TV
This vintage TV prop is part of my upcoming environment project. I designed it to support the storytelling within the scene, focusing on creating highly detailed textures for every single prop in the kit. These details will play a key role in the cinematic shots and the final cinematic video, helping to bring the environment to life and enhance the overall mood and narrative.
Planning
Planing for my project is key to keep in track I always do planing for my environments and even my small props,In this project I start by breaking down the elements of the kit and collect a references for each model of them, then I estimate the time for each props and then set a deadline for each step to help me keep in track.
Tools
For this project, I used 3ds Max for modeling and UVs, ZBrush to sculpt the small toy and to add details to the table, Substance 3D Painter for texturing, Marmoset Toolbag for rendering and Photoshop for slight post processing.
Rewards
Rewarding yourself after finishing a project – whether it’s taking a break, traveling, or buying something new – is something I always try to prioritize. It keeps me motivated and helps me stay on track to finish projects on time. Knowing there’s something positive waiting at the end pushes me through the more challenging parts of the process.
Mood Board
The mood board is the first thing I create when starting an environment project, and I keep referring to it throughout the entire process. For me, it’s not just about collecting visual references – it also helps me plan my workflow and organize useful links. I use Miro as my main moodboard tool because it’s easy to use, accessible from anywhere online, and great for sharing with others for feedback or collaboration. It becomes a living document that evolves with the project and keeps everything visually aligned.
Modeling
For modeling, I started with a rough blockout of the TV, table, toy, and cigarettes to establish proper scale and proportions. The toy was fully sculpted in ZBrush, then ZRemeshed and UVed in preparation for the baking process.
The TV was modeled entirely in 3ds Max using a low-poly workflow with smoothing modifiers, allowing me to easily generate the final low-poly version later by simply removing the modifiers.
As for the table and cigarettes, I also created their base models in 3ds Max, then imported them into ZBrush to add extra detail after DynaMeshing.
Topology & UV
When it came to topology, I focused on keeping the mesh clean and optimized for real-time use. For most of the assets, I maintained efficient geometry suitable for games, but I allowed for denser topology on the toy due to its organic shapes. Since I planned to include close-up shots, I wanted to preserve the curves and avoid any artifacts that might appear during rendering.
For the UVs, I made sure to utilize the entire UV space to achieve maximum texel density. Each prop has its own dedicated UV set, allowing for better control and flexibility. I used 4K resolution for the larger props and 1K to 2K for the smaller ones. This setup ensures high visual quality while giving me the option to adjust texture resolution later in the engine, depending on performance needs.
Baking
For the baking process on my vintage TV prop, I used a simple but effective preparation workflow to ensure clean and artifact-free results. I started by properly naming my meshes using a consistent suffix convention (_low and _high), which allowed me to take full advantage of the “Bake by Mesh Name” feature in Substance 3D Painter.
The low poly was carefully unwrapped with non-overlapping UVs and sufficient padding to prevent bleeding and seams. Before export, I made sure to apply all transformations and verify that the normals were correctly oriented. I kept the silhouette of the low poly close to the high poly to maintain the integrity of the bake. I used the new auto cage feature, which helped streamline the baking process by automatically generating a projection cage with reliable results. It significantly reduced the need for manual tweaking while still capturing essential surface and difficult areas accurately.
Texturing
Texturing is the most enjoyable part of the process for me, as it gives me the freedom to be creative and experiment without worrying too much about technical constraints or performance. I begin by separating the model into different material categories such as plastic, metal, leather, etc., to keep things organized.
Then I move on to building the base color layers, where I always introduce subtle variations to avoid flat-looking surfaces. Once the color foundation is set, I add surface details like bump and imperfections, depending on the material type. I typically start the dirt pass using generators and smart masks, but I always go in afterward to hand-paint additional imperfections to break up the procedural look and add uniqueness. After that, I incorporate storytelling elements, like stickers, hand-painted text, paint splashes, and dots, while ensuring they’re balanced with the rest of the texture work. I also add scratches and paint peeling in areas where they make sense contextually.
Finally, I include an extra roughness layer on top to break up the uniformity and enhance the way the model reacts to light. To finish it off, I use a sharpen filter on a paint layer set to passthrough blending mode, which helps tighten up the overall texture and avoid any blurry look.
Storytelling
Storytelling is a game-changer when it comes to texturing: it can truly make a prop stand out and feel unique. However, it needs to be handled carefully, as overdoing it or placing details in the wrong context can break the overall texture and make it feel inconsistent with the environment.
For instance, if you look at the bottom texture comparison, there's a clear difference between props with and without storytelling elements. In the case of the table, I paid close attention to maintaining balance, making sure the storytelling details, like stains or paint marks, didn’t make one side feel heavier or more cluttered than the other. This kind of subtle balance helps the asset feel grounded and more believable.
This is an example of how I placed the storytelling elements on my prop in a balanced and intentional way.
Rendering
After uploading my model to Marmoset Toolbag, I start by setting up the materials and double-checking the normal orientation. If you're exporting using the UE (Unreal Engine) template, make sure to flip the Y-axis of the normal map to get correct results – this is a common step often overlooked.
Next, I set up my main camera shot and enabled the safe frame in the camera settings. One crucial thing to check is the field of view (FOV). Depending on your model’s scale, the FOV might need adjustment to avoid distortion. Personally, I always reduce it to 15 or lower for very small objects to maintain a more accurate and appealing perspective.
For realistic shadows and reflections, I enable ray tracing. This makes a big difference in the overall quality of the render.
Before exporting, I go into the export settings and, set the resolution to a higher value, increase the samples to 512 or 1024 for a cleaner render, and enable transparent background. This gives me more flexibility when compositing or adjusting the image later in Photoshop, since background color can affect the overall look of the render quite a bit.
Lighting
Environment Light
I started by picking an HDRI that added subtle reflections and matched the overall mood I wanted for the prop. It helped create a believable base lighting setup without overwhelming the materials or colors.
Main Light Setup
For the main light, I positioned it to highlight the front of the TV with a slight incline angle, focusing on areas like the screen and the wood details. This helped bring out the surface information light roughness, and the normal details and made the prop feel more grounded in the scene.
Rim Lights
I added a couple of rim lights from behind to gently outline the silhouette of the TV. This helped separate it from the background and added a bit more depth and visual interest to the render.
Mistakes to Avoid: One thing I always avoid is relying only on the HDRI for lighting, it tends to make the render look flat and unbalanced. It’s also important not to overexpose reflective areas or use lighting that’s too strong or have very sharp shadow, as it can mess with the look of your materials. I spent some time tweaking light intensity, diameter and angles to keep everything looking clean and realistic.
Post-Processing
For the post-processing, I always make slight adjustments to my renders to enhance their fidelity, while ensuring not to overdo it, as that can break the render.
I mainly use the Camera Raw Filter to adjust my renders. Below are some of the parameter values I typically tweak, but keep in mind that every render and every project need to get different treatment and there is no template we can use always for everything.
Key to Creating Appealing Props
The key to creating appealing props is strong visual storytelling grounded in real-world reference. Every detail should hint at the prop’s history, use, or the world it belongs to. I rely heavily on references to capture authentic form, material, and wear, using them as a guide rather than copying. This helps ensure each prop feels believable, intentional, and connected to the environment.
Advice for Beginners
Planning your project is essential, especially when working on complex props or large-scale environments. It helps you stay aware of the challenges ahead, stick to your deadlines, and avoid procrastination.
Make sure to gather plenty of references from various angles, lighting conditions, and even different objects. As artists, our role isn’t just to replicate what we see, but to merge ideas from different sources and add our personal touch: this is what gives your work a unique flavor.
Summary
In this interview, I talked about my creative process behind the Vintage TV prop, focusing on storytelling, composition, and artistic intent. I shared how subtle narrative elements can make a big difference when placed thoughtfully and with purpose. Planning and strong reference gathering were also key points, helping me stay focused and inspired throughout the project.
I hope it encourages other artists to keep pushing forward, even during challenging times in the industry – keep learning, keep creating, and be ready for when opportunities come. And make sure to stay tuned – the full environment where this prop belongs will be released soon!
