Sabrina Lanfranchi, a former student of BigRock's Master 39 in Computer Graphics, chose to focus in her early post-academic work on creating 3D environments.

During the reference research phase for this project, his interest turned to abandoned environments: ideal places to experiment with complex, layered textures. The final choice fell on an image of an old Japanese school hallway in ruins.

Modeling phase

The modeling was guided by the main reference, which also proved crucial in maintaining proper scale of the elements.
Sabrina started with the main shape block (walls, windows, and supporting structures) and then proceeded to add details, such as lights, cables, and sheets of paper placed on the ground.
Once the geometries were completed, she developed the UVs of the entire environment.

Texturing phase

Working with a clear reference simplified the choice of materials, colors and details. While starting from a more neutral base, less saturated with green tones (introduced later in lighting), Sabrina prepared two preliminary versions: one more brightened, achieved by increasing brightness, and one more neutral to balance the green present in the reference.

In Substance Painter the process began with a general block-out, defining the main colors and harmonizing the palette. Next, several layers were added to:

• Recreate the textures of the main materials (wood, concrete, glass);
• add details (such as dirt, rust, peeling paint, cracks in concrete, and moss on wood);
• refine minute elements, such as ground stains and additional signs of wear and tear.

Lighting and rendering phase

For the final stage, Sabrina used Arnold. She chose an HDRI with green tones to suggest a setting surrounded by vegetation, and added several area lights to achieve more realistic and consistent lighting.

The visual rendering was then further refined through a short compositing phase, which was useful for balancing light and shadow more precisely.

Conclusions

The end result is an extremely successful project with attention to detail. A demonstration of how curiosity, constant practice, and a willingness to experiment are essential to completing complex, high-quality work such as this.

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