HEADPHONES

Retopologized 3D asset created for Ultraviolet

Optimized the vendor-created mesh in Maya. Stickers designed in Illustrator. Textured in Substance Painter

PROCESS BREAKDOWN

After pivoting, our company wanted to repurpose assets we already had.

Original asset:

The poly count of the model was originally 9,834 polys. I retopologized in Maya and reduced it to 2,980 polys, removing geo that was no longer necessary and optimizing what remained.

I was asked to create a feminine, rocker aesthetic using lots of red and black. For the plastic, I used black as the base color layering in roughness and red variations to create an ember-like look.

To add a personalized touch, I sketched out some sticker designs (for the skull, I referenced this illustration by Etsy seller Vector Design Studio).

I brought these sketches into Illustrator and began playing around with a few color combinations referencing this Pinterest wallpaper.

After trying a few designs out, I started to gravitate away from the moon and mushroom designs. I cleaned up the hearts, flowers, sparkle, guitar, skull, and accent bursts. Converted each design to work as brush alphas in Substance Painter.

Stamped on these designs, painting in color, height, and roughness.

For the speakers and metal, I used Substance materials, adding additional color and AO layers to the speakers to improve polish.

And with that, the asset was finished!

Reflecting on this project I know the geo could be improved further.

In trying to work quickly, I left two faces with hard edges resulting in reduced polish. When the material is applied, it’s not noticeable, but knowing these faces lurk beneath the surface haunts me.

Furthermore, while I greatly reduced the poly count, it could still be brought down more and the geometry on the headband needs to be refined further.

With that being said, I’m still very pleased with my work here. This asset rework looks cool, is more optimized, and blends aesthetics together nicely.

But there’s always something to improve and the day that I stop having critiques about my work is the day you can say with certainty I’ve been replaced by a doppelgänger.

I will always strive to create the very best and while there is air in my lungs, will relentlessly look for ways to improve!