Digital Media Commercialisation module, Glasgow Caledonian University, 2025. Greek statue asset sourced from Sketchfab (Meleager). Environment foliage and rocks from Megascans Electric Dream Environments pack.
Final Images
Research began with a study of circular Tholos temple structures and their materials, focusing on the Tholos of Delphi and its distinctive elongated Doric columns. Real-world measurements were translated into metres for 3ds Max, covering column proportions, roof tiling, stereobate diameter and triglyph spacing.
Initial rough sketches established the structure from bird's eye and side views before deeper research. The build was strategically planned as modular sections: stylobate and stereobate (split into 4), inner cella (split into 4), individual columns and an archway. This planning was key to optimising time, disk space and trim sheet coverage.
The trim sheet began as a 4x4 metre plane in 3ds Max, divided into seven strips with a 1.4m Biped for scale reference. Each strip was blocked out using Extrude, Connect and Chamfer modifiers, then isolated and imported into ZBrush via Subtool Master for detailed sculpting. Metope and triglyph designs were based on the equestrian battle scenes from the real Tholos of Delphi.
Stone and brick textures were sculpted in ZBrush using Trim Adaptive for edges and ArtStation rock brush packs for weathered detail. After decimating for performance, the sculpts were baked onto the original 3ds Max plane in Substance Painter. Three texture variants were created: Clean, Dirt and Moss, each used as material layers for vertex painting in Unreal Engine.
The scene was built in UE5 on a 31x31 plane with Nanite tessellation enabled for ground displacement. The Tholos was placed at the centre of a V-shaped cliff composition using Megascans boulders and Electric Dream Environment foliage to frame the structure and draw the viewer's eye inward.
Vertex painting used a material base, material layer and material layer blend system. A Vertex Colour Input node with Channel Mask Parameter controlled which colour channel applied Dirt or Moss layers. This allowed intuitive painting of weathering directly onto the Tholos geometry, blending the three Substance Painter texture variants across surfaces.
The lighting targeted a sunset golden hour atmosphere. A directional light at 20,000 lux with 5500K colour temperature created warm, soft sunlight. A 4K PolyHaven HDRI was applied to an Editor Sphere scaled to 1500, with brightness pushed to 3.0 via a scalar parameter. Contact shadows, volumetric fog and warm-hued scattering created depth and atmosphere.
Post-processing colour grading increased contrast by 0.3 and reduced saturation to 0.9 for realism, with shadow saturation pushed slightly blue for depth. Bloom at 0.3 intensity added a warm haze, complemented by a directional lens flare and vignette to frame the final composition.
Reflection
Personal project built to master trim sheet workflows, ZBrush sculpting and cinematic UE5 lighting.