Making Of Eternal Gaze

Immerse yourself in the timeless beauty of Eternal Gaze, a stunning fashion environment created in just seven days using Blender. This optimized, low-poly virtual space captures the essence of a real-life store experience and invites you to explore endlessly. Discover the meticulous process behind its creation, from referencing high-end fashion stores to modeling intricate details with low polygon counts. Dive into the world of texturing and baking, mastering lighting techniques to enhance the ambiance. Finally, explore the challenges faced and the exciting future plans, including enhanced versions and interactive elements. Experience fashion in a whole new way with Eternal Gaze.

Making of: Eternal Gaze
Eternal Gaze is a fashion environment made in just seven days on Blender. It is optimized for real-time, virtual applications with the low-poly technique. The environment captures a sense of timeless beauty that inspires viewers to keep looking at the surroundings and objects endlessly, locked in an Eternal Gaze.

Goals

• Creating a low-poly mesh for easy web-based navigation and migration between different platforms
• Developing an immersive fashion environment that mimics/enhances a real-life store experience
• Designing dedicated spaces using environmental psychology to showcase a brand's assets
• Ensuring intuitive navigation for a seamless user experience.
  

Process

Step 1: Referencing

Our team got inspired by high-end fashion stores. We looked at the cool backdrops, lighting, and music from runway events and checked out the storefront displays, window installations, and shop-in-shop areas from high-end fashion boutiques and used them as references for our own environment. We used 2D photographs, illustrations, sketches and manually created 3D models from concept images. Photos were brought together on PureRef to create a moodboard for inspiration.

Step 2: Modeling

We started by creating a simple base mesh for each element, accurately representing shape without adding too many polygons. Intricate lace and embroidery on clothing items, and elements like mannequins and hangers needed to accurately reflect real-life proportions and shapes.

We used Blender's modeling tools - extruding, scaling, and sculpting - to add detail while still keeping the polygon count low. Then, we used loop cuts and edge creasing for sharp edges without adding too many polygons, and added smoothness with the Subdivision Surface modifier.

Step 3: Texturing and Baking

After UV unwrapping the mesh, texturing and baking were next steps. This took up most of our time. We wanted high-quality textures for clothing items and other detailed elements, but we also needed to keep file sizes below 100 MB. So, we used Substance Painter and Photoshop for high-detail texturing on clothes, shoes and accessories. We custom textured dresses in shop-in-shop areas for their importance in the scene and used texture mapping and premade textures for display and other common areas. Baking took a few iterations but not because of the lace dresses that we were suspecting would be complicated but because of the pair of red heels that first had buckles and straps creating visible seams.

Step 5: Lighting

For the display areas, we used spotlights and track lighting to really make specific products or collections pop. It was awesome to see how the lighting made everything look super sleek and stylish. For the store-in-store areas, we went with softer ambient lighting to create a more cozy and intimate vibe. We wanted people to feel comfortable and relaxed while strolling around. And for the wall posters and panels, we used backlighting and fluorescent lighting to really make those designs stand out. We made sure to keep things like color temperature and intensity in mind so that everything looked just right.

Step 6: Exporting

To make our 3D fashion environment run smoothly and look awesome, we had to keep the GLB file size under 100 MB. So we used optimization techniques like LOD, texture compression, and modular breakdowns. We also made sure the environment was optimized for real-time rendering, so it wouldn't lag or crash. In the end, we nailed the target file size and created a super cool 3D fashion world.

Top Challenges

• Portraying the stretch, drape, and gravity of clothes in a realistic way
• Ensuring the virtual representation accurately reflects real-life assets in terms of fit, and style
• Detecting and fixing weird topology cases, such as connected holes, and floating geometry
• Creating efficient UV layouts to optimize texture space
• Addressing mesh connection issues when fitting garments onto surfaces
• Managing missing texture parts
• Lighting glass elements posed a challenge due to the need to accurately simulate refraction and reflectivity, which required careful adjustment of lighting angles and intensity
  

What’s Next

The upcoming enhanced version of Eternal Gaze on Unity will have top-notch textures and lighting, so the whole thing looks and feels amazing. And we're also making sure everything runs smoothly and loads even more quickly, so you can get in and start exploring right away. Plus, we're thinking about adding some new features, like interactive elements or even a whole new storyline where users can virtually try on clothes and accessories. It's going to be awesome!