Post-apocalyptic Axe
This project was made for my 'Props and Weapons for Games' course at Gnomon taught by the amazing Gabriel Cervantes whose notes/input i found invaluable. I found Anton Kazakov's concepts for some post-apocalyptic weapons and really loved his designs.
I wanted the axe itself to create story telling opportunities. I was inspired by the storytelling in The Last of Us Universe that really brings the player into the characters lives, their struggles and challenges. This idea to effectively combine a post-apocalyptical theme with an individual's story through environment and prop creation was an exciting challenge.
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tall plants and sidewalk pavement are megascans from Quixel. Responsible for all other aspects.
The Project was made using: Unreal Engine 5, Maya, Substance Painter, Zbrush, Substance Designer. and Photoshop.
Creating a night scene allowed me to use artificial lighting to guide the viewers eye and create a natural vignette effect. As well as the art direction benefits of a night scene, I wanted to create an atmosphere of uncertainty for the viewer almost an eerie feeling about the owner of this axe.
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Longer props can sometimes be more difficult to stage. I wanted to create a dynamic composition. I achieved this though the use of different diagonal lines and shapes. I decided to place the axe leaning against a sidewalk, as this meant there was less distraction from it and from other secondary props. My decision to Include secondary props was not only helpful in staging the axe, it also enabled me to expand the storytelling aspect.
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Breakdowns
Here is a look at my approach towards photogrammetry, sculpting damage, and creating a suitable low poly mesh
Photogrammetry
For the project I took some time to find leaves, plants, and weeds near my house began to create an atlas sheet.
I cut out the top of a cardboard box and put 2 lights shining up into the assets to get a better capture of the subsurface detail from the thinner weeds.
All photogrammetry was captured using the iphone 15 pro.
Bakes
Here are the low poly bakes made for the axe.
This Asset was baked using Marmoset Toolbag 4.
Sculpting
Here are some of the brushes used for sculpting damage.
Rendered using Marmoset Toolbag 4.
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When sculpting I am always keeping in mind my use of big, medium, and small shapes. Incorporating a variety of brush sizes is also important to keep the design interesting and produce a highly believable asset.
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For the sculpting damage I primarily stuck to these three main brushes; Elastic, Dam Standard and TrimSmoothBorder. I found the 'Elastic' brush does a really efficient job at creating welding marks and returns really convincing results.