One of the few things I had to take into consideration while modelling is to keep the polygon count low as I can. Therefore any engravings and depth I used substance painter for that. My main focus was just creating the main shape/outline of the asset.
For most of my models, I continued using the Maya software. However, as for the horses on the carousel, it was not ideal for me to use in Maya as I felt it would give me a more of a blocky look and likely more time consuming for my skill level, therefore, I decided to use ZBrush which previously I have used before for my portrait sculpt project. For that reason, I am aware of the tools etc.
For the horse, I started by studying the key features of a carousel horse then bringing it into my drawing which I use as a guide for my sculpt. I then retopology it in Maya using examples online for reference as I am still quite new to it. As for the other assets, as always I study the item first ensuring my models are an accurate depiction of the subject especially when our theme is in the 1950s style and so on. Keeping in mind of the polygon count I used a bumpy plane instead of creating individual popcorn for my pile of popcorns so when I apply the texture it will look like its full.
During this model process, I had a lot of fun creating the objects since it was satisfying to see your object come to life as you imagine it.
Below is a great video by the 'Riot Games' which I should've watched earlier. They introduce the whole role of an environment artist. There also gave great insight into modelling as they mention you can reuse models by rotating until it looks like another version of it. I could use that method for my trash by creating just one or two rubbish and continue to reuse it by just adjusting it.
Models:
Smaller assets:
I wanted to be more experimented so I thought a deflated balloon would help add to the abandoned carnival theme. I also relied a lot on ncloth for my assets eg. popcorn cart cloth, balloons, rubbish and so on.
Main asset: Carousel ride
Below is my first model of the carousel where I was experimenting with the shapes and colours.
I begin sculpting my own carousel horse in Zbrush using the painting I created based on my gathered references. I then retopology it in Maya to keep the polycount low.
For this design, I made some of the signs slightly rotated as well as keeping the modelling angular (e.g. triangle mirrors etc.) to bring out its spookiness. Compare to my other models I think this model represents around the 1950s the best with its stripes and flat planes based from references that I've gathered. It is quite plain at the moment but that's because I'm going to leave that in Substance Painter in order to keep my polycount low.
Colour scheme:
We already knew we wanted our environment to feel unwelcoming and eerie but not overboard horrifying.
Here below I had created a colour palette of those colours that fit with the torn down spooky vibe which represent well with the 1950s. While looking into the 1950s I have seen a lot of pastel colours as well as vibrant colours such as red and yellow but tone down which already complement the eeriness.
After our discussion, we agreed that we aim for muted colours and along the lines of the hues of the colours I've chosen as shown below:
Texturing:
For my popcorn stall, I went out and bought myself a packet of popcorn for my texturing. Since it's supposed to be larger amounts, I brought my images into Krita and merged them together to appear in a higher quantity.
Using my UV map I sprayed some green, blue, white colours on top to mimic mould/rot since its an abandoned carnival.
For the popcorn text, I centre the writing in the centre like most popcorn carts and then used alpha for the text and border and then I drew some curves and designs by hand to mimic corn popping. This is one of my most beloved models as it was fun to see the popcorn texture work with my other materials from Substance Painter so well.
For the carousel, I kept close to a palette of blue, white and yellow. Also, for the tent shape top, I ensure it is coloured in stripes as its a key element to most of the carousels I've seen. I truly love how the lights worked with the aged and mirror textures as well as the horses. For the textures, I relied a lot on the rust and dirt to age it also using the height brush to create some engraved scars/cracks around the corners. I had a problem with the horses in Substance Painter as it didn't let me achieve a crisp line between the horse and its saddle, belt and hair because the model is all in one mesh. I tried bringing it back into Maya and extract the faces and enlarging the UVs but it didn't give me any result. The last solution that was suggested was just exporting the UV map to photoshop. It was challenging since it was hard to tell which area is which but since I had all UVs in individual area e.g hair, saddle etc. it made it slightly better. I worried on how it would look like however after applying the texture it looked great I also increase the shine so mimic the glossy plastic material that those horses are made from.
As a team effort, we also have a consistent style with our model's textures by having stars on them it brings out the 1950s theme.
