Environment artist Gabriel Tianguangsui has shared a comprehensive breakdown of their ambitious 3D project "蔓蔓日茂" (Flourishing Growth), which recreates traditional Chinese architecture using cutting-edge digital tools including Unreal Engine and Substance 3D. The project showcases how ancient Huizhou-style architectural elements can be faithfully represented in modern digital environments, complete with hand-painted vegetation textures and atmospheric lighting effects.
The artist, who began learning 3D art in 2021 after being inspired by MikuMikuDance works, spent approximately six months creating this detailed environmental scene. The project title "蔓蔓日茂" carries dual meanings in Chinese culture, describing both flourishing plant growth and the improvement of knowledge and moral character. Gabriel explains that the concept art depicts a traditional study room nestled among swaying tree shadows during the transition between spring and summer, embodying the quiet, elegant atmosphere celebrated in traditional Chinese gardens.
The architectural style featured in this work represents Huizhou architecture, one of the most significant schools of traditional Chinese design primarily found in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces. This architectural tradition is renowned for its distinctive white walls, dark grey tiles, and exquisite carvings, frequently appearing in artworks including the famous ink wash paintings by Wu Guanzhong. The concept also incorporates elements from other regional styles, including Chaoshan and Southern Fujian residential architecture, known for their ornate decorative corner elements called "厝角头" featuring vibrant stone carvings.
Gabriel's technical approach involved multiple sophisticated workflows tailored specifically for achieving an ink wash and pastel fine brushwork aesthetic. The artist emphasizes that most technical solutions were designed for personal practice rather than game development optimization. The process began with detailed breakdowns of concept art elements, followed by blocking out the scene in Unreal Engine with simple placeholder textures to test overall composition and identify areas needing refinement.
The asset creation pipeline utilized two distinct workflows: ZBrush combined with Substance 3D Painter for detailed modeling and texturing, and Substance 3D Designer for creating trim sheets and tiling textures. Models were imported into 3ds Max for detail polishing, then sculpted in ZBrush and painted in Substance 3D Painter. This comprehensive process took approximately four months of work completed during lunch breaks and after-work hours. For the decorative stone flowers beneath the "厝头," Gabriel employed a combination of cards and solid geometry to achieve greater variation in depth and clearer hierarchy between primary and secondary elements.
Vegetation creation relied primarily on card-based techniques using SpeedTree and 3ds Max workflows. Plants like bamboo and shrubs with repeated leaves utilized alpha masks, while the engine shader applied directional gradients and color variations to diffuse components. Bamboo stalks were assigned different Material IDs for variation, and flowers used hand-painted textures combined with alpha masks. The scene also features two cats with base color textures, rigged and animated in Maya with loopable animations. Gabriel notes that the cat designs are personal touches - the white cat represents a friend's pet named Nana, while the American Shorthair kitten represents the artist's own cat, Kunkun.
Color design and lighting played crucial roles in achieving the desired atmospheric effect. The composition features three dominant color blocks - white, pink, and green - carefully controlled in silhouette and proportion to manage visual rhythm. Wall detailing initially attempted texture blending to create peeling paint effects revealing underlying brick, but vertex painting limitations led to a decal-based approach. Multiple decal masks were painted in Procreate, with additional decals enriching pink wall details.
Shadow creation utilized translucent cards rather than Light Functions for greater controllability and precision. The material applied panning UV offsets to simulate swaying tree shadow effects. Gabriel acknowledges limitations in this area, noting that more natural shadows would require noise-based motion effects and semi-shadow shading techniques. The lighting stage employed warm tones for main lighting and cool tones for shadows, with numerous fill lights added to enhance scene translucency.
Reflecting on the completed project, Gabriel identifies several areas for improvement including vegetation color grading and arrangement, which still appears somewhat scattered despite multiple revisions. The artist also notes that asset cohesion and stylistic consistency could be strengthened by creating unified overlay textures in Substance 3D Designer before beginning asset creation. Additionally, Gabriel acknowledges that personal color preferences toward cool tones resulted in final color grading approximately three shades cooler than the original concept art, somewhat diminishing the warm atmosphere intended in the original design.
This project represents Gabriel's first complete environmental workflow, demonstrating the challenges and rewards of translating traditional architectural elements into modern digital environments. The detailed breakdown provides valuable insights for other artists interested in recreating cultural architecture using contemporary 3D tools and techniques.
