2,200 models by adobe's substance 3D enrich the retail & interior stages

lights, 3D models, action!

with an additional collection of around 2,200 models complementing the more than 8,900 materials that were already available, the Substance 3D team of Adobe enriches the retail and interior design rendering. artist daniel margunato puts the super-refined released models into use as he collaborates with the creative group for the creation of a concept store. the aim was to test out and showcase the true-to-life potential of the digital tools and to help professionals save time when putting together their scenes – let the staging begin.

artist daniel margunato collaborates with the Substance 3D team for a luxurious concept store

all images courtesy of Substance 3D

the substance 3D team designs the concept store brief

the Substance 3D team, specifically nicolas paulhac, anaïs lamellière, pierre maheut, and marine kim, challenged daniel margunato to venture into unfamiliar design territory – and he delivered. by exploring the released 3D assets, resources and overall toolset, the digital artist creates a store as a luxurious, exclusive playful showroom in neutral tones. the Adobe models that decorate the imagined space remain to a large degree customizable, with store clients able to select the exact materials desired. for example, if a customer loves the particular pair of shoes, they would be able to check the materials available and order their own version.

‘overall, the asset library has been an enormous boost to the efficiency of this project. the recent addition of models to this library has provided a huge amount of flexibility – I was able to test out ideas easily, as I wished (placing glasses on the greek bust, for instance). frankly, the benefit from a purely monetary point of view is quite evident too – a subscription that includes access to the 2000+ models within the Substance 3D assets collection works out as far more cost-effective than buying individual models,’ says daniel margunato.

the room is built on the concept of customizable goods display, thus daniel turns the centerpiece into a carousel exhibiting items that are either wholly finished, or still somewhat raw. this vision further allows the positioning of alcoves around the perimeter of the room too, each of which is tailored to provide contrasting moods.

the room is built on the concept of customizable goods display, thus daniel turns the centerpiece into a carousel

creating the color palette

with the brief in hand, the mood board was drafted. as nicolas paulhac and anaïs lamellière provided the art direction, the discussion over the project moved towards the color theme and CMF selections. a notable challenge here was to give the products an unfinished look, while still making them attractive, while the risk was making the hero assets look untextured, which would be self-defeating for the project as the point was to showcase quality and versatility. for this reason, the team opted to customize some of the products, while others remain more neutral – proverbial blank slates, awaiting more detail to be defined.

to go into more detail, elements such as the curtains, central stand, pillars, and so on, are intended to accentuate the starring assets rather than being a significant focus themselves. to ensure credibility and realism of the scene, daniel ultimately followed a drag-and-drop procedure of the textures directly from the platform; this provided rapid and high-quality results.

movement and lightness were key to define the dress

drag & drop the clothes, footwear, accessories & luggages

the production phase was fairly quick – quicker than discussing the project. as the assets were UV-wrapped and ready to texture, daniel modeled very few elements like the earrings and necklace to more harmoniously fit the tone of the scene. a high level of 8K quality was also necessary for the sneakers, such as the soles and fabric. by re-modelling and reshaping, the artist turned the existing bag asset into a soft padded luxurious luggage to contrast the marble pillars. movement and lightness were key to define the dress; the sewing pattern was first extracted and then imported into ‘marvelous designer’ before texturing in ‘painter’.

‘I decided to make this a conceptual journey for the customer; each new scene within each new alcove brings with it a different story. each new story helps to bring the magic within the scene to life,’ says daniel margunato.

a fan of sneakers, daniel wanted in particular to take closeup shots of the shoes in the scene

dropping the curtains

the lighting is intended to convey a theatrical feeling with the overheard spotlights and curtains at the back of the scene. working in a 3D environment, daniel did permit himself to add in some light sources that might be difficult to implement in real life. these do not, however, noticeably detract from the overall credibility of the scene; in the ensemble, the light setup works. for the individual shots of the alcoves, he carried out a light mix in corona, to create an individual mood for each part of the overall story.

‘for the lighting in this scene, I feel I was fortunate right from the start. in every part of the scene, I dropped in some lights that immediately seemed to click. I’d like to say that this was because of some skill on my part, but really it was just down to luck. sometimes you have to work through a lot of possibilities to find a lighting setup that works for your scene. here, it just happened right away,’ explains the visualizer.

daniel brings fluidity with a tone of molten metal, light, dynamism, and warmth