Conclusion
The Substance 3D Collection took me around 2.5 months to complete, while also working a full-time job. The houses, foliage, props, and Unreal scene took another 1.5 months. With some feedback on my materials, I believe I spent a total of 4.5 months.
The most challenging aspect was that I wanted to tell a story and wasn’t willing to compromise on the scale and size of the project. I definitely cut some corners, and if this were a proper game, most of the assets would have gone through a more thorough workflow. However, since this scene served only to showcase the materials in the series, I didn’t need it to exercise any other function.
I have to state that this workflow isn’t standard and isn’t the way we would approach making games in a studio setting. This project only needed to showcase the 10 materials and the assets needed to support them, not the other way around.
Don’t be overwhelmed by the fear-mongering online, such as claims that AI is taking artists’ jobs and there won’t be any in the future. Yes, there will be a change in how we make things, but that shouldn’t discourage you. You can achieve anything you want as long as you put in the effort. Learn the basics, and every new software will simply apply those same principles to a new canvas. Create for the sake of creating, and everything else will follow.
Niki Marinov, 3D Material ArtistInterview conducted by Emma Collins