Texturing, Optimizing, and Set

Weeks 7-8 Dates: 10/15/25-10/30/25

Modeling 2 and Texturing

My first order of business was to texture the sconce I had made. However, after bringing the original model into Substance Painter, I found that I didn't like the shape, and I wanted to model a different version. Below is a before and after:

original model

revised model

Liking the new model better, I took it into Substance Painter and textured it. I wanted it to look like oxidized copper and appear very old. I checked with the tech lead of the project, Robin, to see if there were any changes I should make, and after a few revisions, we ended up with this:

I was also tasked with modeling a light fixture. I consulted Robin on this again to see what sort of fixture we wanted. Robin and I both landed on this:

This was what my final model looked like:

I also modeled a version that was just the light so it could be used for debris:

Then, I textured both.

Posters 2

In the final week before filming, there were quite a few miscellaneous tasks that needed to be done.

The first task I had these two weeks was to assist production design with finalizing the posters and sending them to be placed in the Unreal Engine scene. The final designs were made by the production design side of the team, and while the designs were absolutely perfect, the files I was handed were a bit too low-res to be used immediately.

I brought them into Photoshop and up-scaled them using a combination of the Photoshop AI and hand drawing any errors I saw.

Optimizing and Modeling

On the penultimate preload day, two days before the scene needed to be finalized, the team was doing the final testing of the Unreal scene on the XR stage. The day was spent mostly fixing issues, making final adjustments, and attempting to increase the frame rate.

One of the major presumed culprits of the frame drops was the photogrammetry walls.

The polygon count for each wall piece was 7 digits each. As a 3D modeler, I offered to model new walls myself. The walls needed to match the design aesthetic, be significantly lower poly, and most importantly, be done in time to be textured. I managed to model and UV them both on Tuesday night so that my teammate Imaz could have all of Wednesday to texture them.

Down a few million polygons, the team was still a few frames away from 24 fps. Robin, Danci, and I were on the Brain Bar for that day and spent quite a while pushing the frame rate the rest of the way. We deleted unnecessary geometry, turned off quite a few lights, and turned off some of the lights' abilities to cast shadows. All of these things together managed to get us to 24 fps.

Set

We had two days of filming on the XR stage. I had been looking forward to those days and dreading them in equal measure. I was worried something would go wrong or that it wouldn't all come together. But those two days on set were my favorite parts of this project.

As a 3D modeler and Look Dev artist, I rarely get to be on set, and I had never been on the XR stage before. It was amazing and I wouldn't change the experience gained for anything.

I spent most of my time on set assisting others with their jobs and completing any tasks that needed to be done. On the first filming day, I assisted with continuity management, was on the Brain Bar for a bit, went on a coffee and craft run, and helped to maintain communication between the directors and the crew.

The second day, I was, what I later would learn was called, the clapper loader. I slated the shots, kept track of the number of takes, and made sure the script supervisors knew what shot we were on. It has always been a bit of a dream of mine to do that, and I'm glad that I got to do it.

I also spent as much time as I could talking with everyone I could and asking them questions. I wanted to know everything about the stage that I could, and if anyone knew the answer I wanted to find it. All-in-all, working on the XR stage was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.

Going forward, I want to help Danci with the website and work on the press kit. I have already created a folder on Dropbox of all the process photos, reference images, and some final images. I have asked in Slack if anyone has any photos they would like to go on the website. I have begun looking into what sort of things a press kit for a student film would need, and I have reached out to a friend who has done a similar thing. ,