The Orbs of the Ancients
Context: These props were used as part of the SIGGRAPH VR 2020 Pre-Show "Tahul VR" now available via Steam at https://store.steampowered.com/app/1370510/Tahul/
In a recent team project, I had the chance to help bring this awesome pair of mystical devices to life! Designed to be "sibling" devices from the same ancient civilization, it was a blast to create the materials for and texture these!
I was responsible for both device's textures and the materials created. The initial sketches are the work of fellow team member Marina Harrison and the models are the work of Marina Harrison and Luciano Gatto.
The first of the pair, the Mystical Device, serves as a major in-game interactable. Patterning and runes were added to give an extra air of mystery.
A lot of emphasis was put on balancing the visuals in the top view, since it was the most frequent area viewed by the player.
The smaller floating orbs were by far my favorite part to work on for these textures. It was really quite relaxing to turn on some music and draw the interlocking curves and patterns.
The second item, the Mystical Orb serves as a player companion in the game. The goal was to have it clearly visually linked to the Mystical Device without being identical or as visually complex.
The patterns on the back were partially inspired by both Middle Eastern alchemical drawings as well as the Ancient Egyptian scarab motif.
Process: the Mystical Device went through several different design iterations before the model itself was made. The bottom image in particular resonated with our team because it combined both the magical elements we wanted and a good sense of physicality.
Similarly, the Mystical Orb went through numerous iterations as well. Earlier versions had "cuter" features that were toned down considerably in the final version.
The pre-texture model for the Mystical Device.
The pre-texture model for the Mystical Orb.
Some of the design iterations I did for the Orb's patterning. A series of smart materials and layer masks helped sped up the iterations and allowed for a lot more tweaks to be made.
The "core" of the Mystical Device also went through a few changes before completion. Original circuit-like patterns were dropped for patterning designed after eastern alchemy circles, while the emissive center later helped emphasis the "magic" elements.
Some of the Designer materials I created for both devices. I wanted to have a few different variants to experiment with that were slightly more stylized then the base Substance metals.
