Temple Courtyard: A Detailed Guide on Creating a Buddhist Temple in 3D

Introduction

My name is Ezgi Erdemir, and I'm an Environment Artist and Architect based in Turkey. I studied architecture, but I was always more excited about imagining and building scenes from fictional worlds. During my studies, I joined a few interactive projects where I got to play around with game engines. They were simple, architecture-focused projects full of spaghetti code, but they were fun and gave me my first taste of creating game environments.

The Artistic Journey

I've always been an eager observer of digital art; animation movies, video games, and anime shaped much of my childhood. Immersive sim games like Bioshock and Dishonored not only inspired me creatively, but the way their worlds are built visually also sparked my interest in architectural history and design.

For a long time, I didn't imagine myself as a contributing artist, since game development knowledge wasn't very accessible. Things changed after I graduated as an architect and started learning Blender as a hobby. The design side came naturally thanks to my background, but the technical side was a big challenge. Understanding the game art pipeline (low vs. high poly, baking, poly counts) was very confusing at first, and my early models had way too many unnecessary details.

I first worked with 3D software commonly used in architecture, such as Rhinoceros and Autodesk Revit. So when I switched to Blender, it wasn't too difficult since I already understood the basics of 3D modeling, although Rhino's focus on NURBS modeling meant I had to adjust to some new workflows. I mainly learned through free tutorials on YouTube and by replicating models I admired.

Later, when I felt confident enough to aim for games, I realized I needed to follow industry standards. That's when I created my first scene in Unreal Engine, which pushed me to learn Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Designer, ZBrush, and the engine itself, all at once. It was overwhelming, and I made every beginner mistake possible, sometimes even losing my models, but solving those problems myself turned out to be the most effective way to learn, more so than following a structured course.

Environment art has always been my main focus and the reason I chose this profession. I love creating worlds that don't exist, building stories around them, and imagining how people would experience those spaces. In any kind of media, the first thing I pay attention to is the worldbuilding and its art. In games, I often spent more time exploring towns and hubs than following the quests, so being able to work in the field I admired most feels like a dream come true.

For inspiration, I mostly look at other games, usually narrative-focused ones, but I believe the strongest influence comes from the real world. Traveling, observing even the smallest everyday details, and building my own reference library have improved my work a lot. Also, collecting physical media, especially art books, has been very helpful, particularly when things feel too virtual and I need a tactile way to stay grounded with my art. Lastly, my background in architectural history and my interest in various art movements also help me generate concepts with a stronger foundation.

Art-to-Experience

I decided to participate in Emperia's Art-to-Experience Contest with my project Temple Courtyard to try out their Creator Tools plugin. The plugin was fairly easy to use, and the Emperia team provided clear tutorials on their website to guide developers through the process.

I wanted to create 360° panoramic views that would allow a walkaround experience of my scene. I simply designated several points on my map for the plugin to render from. The rendering process was quick, and the final experience was automatically uploaded to my account on Emperia's website.

For more professional or client-oriented projects, I think the Creator Tools plugin offers a solid range of interactive features that can elevate 3D scenes into an immersive experience

The Workflow

My Temple Courtyard scene was a personal project that I started as an "everything" project, aiming to learn the basics of all aspects of environment art. Each asset was the result of many trials and errors. My first inspiration came from a short exploration video of Japan; a glimpse of a calm Buddhist temple courtyard inspired me to recreate that serene feeling. As a beginner, having a real-world reference helped me get the details right without spending too much time on design.

What started as a simple one-shot scene focused on a lantern grew into something bigger than I initially imagined. After modeling the lantern, I moved on to the courtyard objects and then added an observation terrace. For complex shapes such as foliage and memorial stone, I tried my hand at sculpting impromptu. It was my first time sculpting, and starting with a tree without any prior knowledge was my first big mistake. I learned the hard way why there are specialized software for modeling trees. Modeling each tree branch, without thinking about the UV mapping process that will come after, made me lose my precious time. After many mistakes and nervous breakdowns, I modeled the tree, and finally moved on to the next assets.

Model blockout in Blender:

First placement in Unreal, was still unsure with the mood and the color scheme:

The tree was a very wrong introduction to the sculpting, so it brought my working speed to a halt. In this moment, I realized that assets should not take so much time, since it's hard to keep the momentum without any finished product. So I moved on to sculpting a memorial stone, which was a more positive experience compared to the tree.

I practiced the tricks I learned from Ivanna Liittschwager in her breakdown video on the YouTube channel Beyond Extent. I applied the same sculpting tips for other assets as well, which needed wood sculpt details. For the tree canopies, Viktoriia Zavhorodnia's YouTube channel had my first go-to tutorials, as I learned the basics of in-engine shader creation. For the textures, I painted them in Substance 3D Painter, and I highly recommend the beginner tutorials they share on their own channel.

First trial of sculpting a stone, I was so disappointed with my skills that I resculpted this stone three times at least until I saw a somewhat acceptable result:

Memorial stone end result:

Initially planned asset set for the environment:

The observation deck was easier as it didn't require any sculpting. I studied my real-world reference and tried to replicate the details as much as I could. Apart from modeling, sculpting, and painting the whole scene, I had another aim, which was making my own procedurally created textures in Substance 3D Designer. For the platform, I created wood materials, and for the roof, I made semi-stylized wooden shingles. Again, Substance's YouTube channel had very good tutorials for beginners like me.

Wooden shingle and mossy dirt Designer materials:

For the plants and bushes I initially planned, I decided to go with a more region-specific plant. Researching the flora of the reference picture I chose, I found that there was a plant called "aspidistra elatior" that was native to Japan. For the flower with a vase, I went with Iceland poppies to get a great color pop in the scene. I sculpted their leaves and baked their details onto planes to have them use as alpha cards. This tutorial by Stylized Craft is great at explaining this process.

Even after completing the main assets for the shot I imagined, my initial vision wasn't fully satisfying. Hence, I challenged myself to model the Buddhist temple, a task I initially thought was beyond my skill level. Overcoming this asset made the biggest difference in my skill growth. At first, I was certain that I was going to put the temple as a background image like an alpha card. But seeing how I worked diligently for the rest of the scene, I decided to give it a shot.

Buddhist temple and the accompanying kiosk:

Studying Buddhist temples before starting to model this made the process a lot easier. Without any research, one could easily get the proportions and the details wrong. There were some struggles I identified at the start. The roof tiles were particular to Japan, so regular tiles would look wrong. There were lanterns that would be lighted for a night scene, so I needed to do some shader magic. The lanterns and the ropes at the entrance should have had some movement to give the scene vitality. Lanterns also had their lights flicker to give a natural look. So these were the new hurdles that I needed to clear. Having a vision in my mind created excuses for me to study and learn more tricks about creating an environment.

At the end, when all assets were placed and some small animations were made, I focused on the final step, which was creating the mood. My first trials were not satisfactory, the colors I picked weren't complementary. It was pretty disappointing to say the least.

Close to final look, color scheme, and mood trial:

Sometimes starting over is better than trying to fix what's at hand. I replanned my colors, and I learned more about how to give depth. Which was done, in this case, via volumetric fog. To add more dramatic effects, I created my own fog alpha cards for the grounds to have that mysterious look when we approach the temple. I also added god rays that would peek from tree canopies. It all worked out at the end, the fog balanced the relatively empty ground and the articulated buildings.

As for the weather, I got help from the addon Ultra Dynamic Sky. I chose the rain as the weather option, played with the addon to see how wet materials would look in the scene. This addon was the final touch to make everything complete.

Final render with new colors and fog:

As a beginner, the hardest part was not getting overwhelmed by the planning process. Designing a scene from scratch in Unreal Engine without prior experience is challenging, but it was the best way to learn what goes into creating game environments. From my mistakes, I learned the importance of planning scope, knowing when to stop adding assets, and thus making a list of all the models that are due. These moves would have sped up my progress, but learning from hard way made it a lasting lesson for me.

For my first environment, taking my time while doing it made me focus on things I would probably learn pretty later on. Creating small animation loops, basic VFX, shaders, cinematic rendering – these were probably what made my portfolio work different from other beginner works, showcasing that I wasn't afraid of pushing my limits.

Issues of the Digital Art Industry

As creating 3D art has become more accessible with open source software and free tutorials made by passionate artists, I think certain styles and aesthetic choices have become "trendy." Replicating these tutorials has unintentionally led to a homogenization of visual styles, making it harder to stand out or express individuality through our work.

From my perspective as an artist, the issue begins with how we seek inspiration. When we rely too heavily on algorithm-curated content, our perception of what counts as "successful" art becomes tied to views or likes. As a result, many artists feel pressured to produce work that looks familiar and risk-free, rather than exploring something personal or unconventional.

Lately, I've become very aware of this homogenization within the 3D art space. Still, seeing artists who resist the current and are recognized for their individuality reminds me that not everything is dull, creativity always finds a way to stand out, even in a saturated landscape.

Advice For Beginners

When you first start learning 3D software, the whole pipeline can feel a bit overwhelming. I remember getting stuck at almost every step of modeling, but I found my way by asking every question I had anywhere I could; help desks, forums, Discord servers, subreddits… Even when my questions sounded stupid, there were always people willing to help. Through these random conversations, I learned a lot about how game art actually works and all the small tricks artists use. Unless you get one-on-one feedback from professionals, it's easy to miss those things. So my first advice would be, be annoyingly curious. Ask "why" about everything.

My second advice would be to train your eye. You can learn all the shortcuts for modeling, sculpting, and texturing, but if you don't understand shapes, materials, or scale, your final work will lack. Observing real life helps the most, taking photos, studying things up close, paying attention to textures, and how light behaves. You start to notice details that no tutorial can teach.

Lastly, I'd say pick a focus. Knowing a bit of everything is nice, but it can distract you too much. For me, that focus was environment art, it just felt natural owing to my background. Focusing on one area helped me stay consistent and actually finish something. At the end of the day, quality matters more than quantity. Showing that you understand the whole process, from modeling to putting it in the engine, is already impressive. Later on, when you're more comfortable, you can always explore other areas like VFX or character art. But at the beginning, limiting your scope helps you build a more coherent and strong portfolio.

Ezgi Erdemir, 3D Environment Artist

Interview conducted by Theodore McKenzie