Crafting A Real-World Inspired Switchblade Using Plasticity & Substance 3D

Introduction

Hi! I'm Howel Ganuchaud, a 27-year-old Weapon Artist from France. I've been working in the game industry for about 3–4 years, primarily as a Hard-Surface and Weapon Artist. During this time, I've contributed to projects at Epic Games and Tencent. While working for an outsourcing studio, I created hard-surface models, weapons, and props for the game Star Atlas. I've also collaborated with various indie studios, most recently serving as Lead Weapon Artist for the game Ferocious. Currently, I'm working for ACE XR, a VR drill shooting application.

My journey into 3D began over 10 years ago while I was playing around in Unity. Frustrated by not finding the exact models I needed, I started learning 3ds Max through YouTube tutorials, eventually advancing to CGMA courses and mentorship under Dinusty. Though I initially focused on environment art, my projects invariably gravitated toward military equipment and weapons.

Growing up with FPS games like Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, and Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, along with similar movies, I became quite the military enthusiast. I've always been fascinated by firearms, their mechanics, manufacturing processes, and various military configurations.

The HOGUE x SIG SAUER K320 Project

I had long wanted to create a knife model but never made time to research different models and brands. For this project, I wanted to explore wear effects since most of my work appears clean and new. While I wasn't ready to tackle an entire gun, I wanted something different. As I saved Instagram photos from firearms profiles for rendering inspiration, I often noticed knives among the props. One particular model caught my attention, which led me to research it further.

References

Once I had chosen the model, I searched Google for high-resolution photos, both from manufacturers directly and second-hand websites. I was fortunate to quickly find official orthographic photos. These are exactly what I looked for initially: orthographic-like photos, multiple angles, and disassembly photos.

When I have enough reference material, I then search for texture references and photos of used, dirty, or damaged items, typically shared by everyday users on Instagram or Reddit.

Modeling

For weapons modeling, I use a CAD workflow. I started with Fusion 360 over two years ago before switching to Plasticity last year. CAD enables quick modeling and modifications, I strongly recommend hard surface artists to explore it. While it won't give you a game-ready model directly, it can dramatically speed up your workflow.

Over these two years, my process has evolved significantly. I create the main model in Plasticity or Fusion. For models requiring complex details that will be baked, I duplicate those parts and remove the details right in CAD, this is much faster than handling them later in Blender.

Depending on the project and my motivation, after CAD, I perform a cleaning or conversion pass in either Pixyz or MoI3d. MoI3d produces cleaner meshes but needs more manual work. While Pixyz is expensive and not ideal for students or juniors, it's still a significant time-saver if you can afford it. Though it still needs some cleanup afterward, like all conversion software, it's arguably the best available option.

Topology

After converting the mesh to polygons, I use Blender for cleaning, unwrapping, and preparing for the high-poly pass.

For UV mapping, I rely on several add-ons. These two paid ones are essential:

• ZenUV
• UVPackerMaster3

I also frequently use these free add-ons:

• Texel Density Checker
• TexTools
• Mio3 UV

The texel density is quite high for this project. I typically begin by applying 70px/cm, then determine which texture size fits best. For optimization, I overlap mirrored pieces and apply half-texel density to parts that are either distant or barely visible (like gun chambers, deep magazine interiors, or barrel insides). Some projects may require full texel density on these parts, it always depends on the specific needs. For this project, we're using 250tx/cm on a 2K texture, which is notably high.

If you want to learn more about UVs and best practices, check out this video from Pilgrim:

Texturing

Texturing is my favorite part, this is when you truly bring your object to life. I've been using Substance 3D Painter for a couple of years now. Having some materials knowledge by observing things around in real life is always a major bonus point, as knowing how objects wear, have color variations, scratches, etc. 

I'm starting with some basic layers to get the different PBR values correct, that's usually 2/3 folders of layers, just getting everything looking okay and having a good base:

When I have a good base, I start adding macro variations in the roughness and base color, stuff like big stains, grease, fingerprints, using stencils, etc.

For all my layers, I'm using a lot of procedural grunge/generators. When I'm happy with them, I usually add a paint effect at the top of the black mask in multiply. Then, I start to paint that detail only in some specific areas with some stencils. This is what I did for the metal edge wear and the skin's mask.

I recommend you to watch this tutorial from Rick Greeve about Stencils.

Here are some tips for your scratches: In your black mask, add an inverted ambient occlusion in subtract and a curvature generator in subtract as well. This will do a big masking pass on those scratches, and then you can just remove the ones you like or that don't look realistic with a paint effect. But scratches won't appear in certain areas and will usually stop when they hit a part's edge/cut.

The plastic is a bit less fancy than the metal. I wanted to keep it pretty clean, and because the goal was to focus the blade, I still ended up with a good plastic in the end. I mainly reused some smart materials I got in the library, then adapted and reworked them for this object. But here's a similar breakdown for it:

You can see that the process is pretty similar to the metal: start with a good base to get the color and roughness values correct. Then, start breaking the different channels (roughness/color). After that, you can start adding some storytelling details, like the damaged area, some unique details in the finger's areas, etc.

Lighting & Rendering

I create all my renders in Unreal Engine using a plug-in called Atlux. The plug-in offers numerous settings that let you quickly achieve different setups.

For inspiration and lighting references, I frequently browse Instagram, where many great accounts showcase gun photography. I save these references in PureRef and keep them open while working on renders. Getting the perfect shots with the right lighting setup can be challenging at first.

There are excellent tutorials available for props rendering. One I recommend is this Ultimate Lighting Course, which contains valuable tips. Alternatively, you can experiment with simple HDRIs in Unreal or Marmoset Toolbag, they work wonderfully for props. My approach varies based on my mood and any inspiring photos I'd like to recreate. For the knife project, I focused on highlighting the blade before showcasing its variations.

For the post-production, I enhance the contrast in Photoshop/Affinity, then add sharpening layers in overlay mode to add a crisp look.

Conclusion

Some advice for people learning all this: Do a good blockout phase and get the dimensions perfectly from the start. You'll be happy later when your model is looking good, and you don't need to roll back and redo half of it again (no, I did not learn that the hard way).

Focus on the modeling/unwrapping steps first before jumping to texturing. I know you're excited and/or tired of these props and want to texture them. But texturing takes time to master, like good modeling and unwrapping skills. You'll have all the time to master texturing, but first, get good at modeling and unwrapping. So many times, we see "bad" topology or UV out there. Focus on the base, then you can jump to texturing and master it.

This concludes my article, I would like to thank 80 Level for providing me the opportunity to write this breakdown. I hope you find it useful.

Surround yourself with talented people. When I started my game art career, joining 3D communities helped me advance rapidly. You grow the most when you do not hesitate to ask questions, get criticism, or ask for assistance. Some good discord communities:

• The Dinusty Empire
• Experienced Points
• ChamferZone
• The Weapon Room
• XYZ

You can follow this link to find me out there. If you're interested in Plasticity and the CAD workflow in general, I did a small course covering it, and there's a big texturing part as well, you can find it here.

Howel Ganuchaud, Weapon & Hard-Surface Artist

Interview conducted by Gloria Levine