Nicole Kleinman
Environment Artist
Game Demo Reel
Italian Villa Environment
Winter & Summer Semester of 2023
Modeled in Maya and Houdini. Textured in Substance Painter and Substance Designer. Rendered in Renderman. Composited in Nuke.
Wire Frame
Base Color
Modeled After
"Campobasso Evening"
By: Evgeny Lushpin
I was asked to find a reference image of an environment and recreate it in 3D. This included modeling, texturing, layout, lighting, and rendering. Throughout this process, I gained a better understanding of the subtleties of shading and the importance of proceduralism. For example, I created a procedural texture for the plaster, cobblestone, and roof tiles for efficiency and consistency. To take these elements further, I added several layers in Substance Painter that would add wear and manually added different modeled stones and tiles to break up patterns.
Game Environment for Shrineflow
Fall Semester of 2023 &
Winter Semester of 2024
Modeled in Maya and Speedtree. Textured in Substance Painter and Substance Designer. Rendered in Unreal Engine 5.
This project was pitched, planned, and developed by a student team at BYU Center for Animation. This game was accomplished from start to finish in a single year.
Creating a competitive game based on stealth mechanics required us to carefully plan out the layout of our environment. Our assets had to provide enough cover to hide in but not so much that the Kitsune wouldn't ever be able to spot the Ninja. The goal was to make hiding and seeking more fun, not more frustrating.
We divided our map into a variety of themed areas featuring their own unique assets and traversal styles. The gingko grove, maple forest, and bamboo pond specifically were created through a SpeedTree pipeline. SpeedTree made it possible for our trees and vegetation to blow in the wind as well.
Game Assets
Game Foliage
101 Dalmatians Environment
Winter Semester of 2024
Modeled in Maya and Houdini. Textured in Substance Painter and Houdini. Rendered in Renderman.
Base Color
Wire Frame
Modeled After
"101 Dalmatians"
By: Disney Animation Productions
I have always admired the 3D environments drawn in classic Disney films. For this project, I wanted to recreate Roger’s Attic from 101 Dalmatians.
It was a challenge translating objects into 3D, while keeping the integrity of the wonky art style. I had to push myself to find creative solutions, such as implementing paint strokes outside the geometry. I created a tool that extruded a plane from any selected edge and shape it. This allowed me to art direct a 2D style.
I also figured out how to create the black line work based on a camera perspective. Geometry would outline my objects based on where the camera is placed, so it moves with the frames as needed.
Student Car
Summer & Fall Semester of 2023
Modeled in Maya & Zbrush. Textured in Substance Painter. Rendered in Renderman.
Wire Frame
Base Color
For BYU’s short film Student Accomplice, I was tasked with modeling and shading the main car that our characters would be driving. Since I had a hero prop, I was trusted to meet deadlines, work closely with different departments, and find creative solutions to problems.
The car would be seen from every angle, including the interior, so I had to make sure that all the details fit together. When modeling, I broke things down as if it were a puzzle, making sure every component had a purpose and place to fit. To convey the right amount of detail in the shading, I spent quality time strolling through parking lots and taking reference pictures to recreate from. This car took months of iteration, weekly feedback from the art director, communication between rigging, previs, and lighting, as well as personal discipline.
City Environment
Summer & Fall Semester of 2023
Modeled in Maya. Textured in Substance Painter & Substance Designer. Rendered in Renderman.
Wire Frame
Base Color
I’m on the environment team for BYU’s short film Student Accomplice. I was tasked with layout for our A and B sequences. I modeled a dozen buildings for this street corner and textured half of them. We had the challenge of making things look appealing from far away and close up.
To shade the city efficiently, I created a brick tool using Substance Designer. I learned how to create and expose parameters to aid our team in making artistic decisions with variants. This includes changing the color, size, shape, scale, and grunge of different bricks.
Mushroom House
Winter Semester of 2023
Modeled in Maya. Sculpted in Zbrush.
Sculpted After
Unknown Artist
Previously, my experience was primarily box modeling in Maya. I wanted to learn how to create more organic models, and sculpting in Zbrush was the best tool to achieve that. I was able to understand different tools to add organic layers, how to re-topologize, and ultimately how to produce quality models customized to the demands of an art director.