Chevrolet Suburban

Project

I started working in 3D at the end of 2020 and have since contributed to various projects and studios. The Chevrolet Suburban was originally created as a game-ready vehicle for a DayZ project.

After finishing it, I wanted to make the presentation more interesting than just showing a clean car. Inspired by The Sopranos, I decided to imagine this Suburban many years later — abandoned, weathered, and slowly decaying with time.

Software

Blender, PureRef, RizomUV, Marmoset Toolbag, Photoshop, Substance Painter.

References

Choosing the right references is one of the most important stages of the process. I always try to collect clear images that show the object from as many angles as possible, while also paying attention to proportions, construction, materials, and surface wear.

One of my main tips is to search on auction websites and online marketplaces. Sellers usually photograph objects in much more detail than regular reference images, often showing close-ups, imperfections, and multiple angles, which makes these sites extremely useful for 3D artists.

Modelling

The first step of the modelling process is matching the car to a perspective reference. For this, I use the EasyRef add-on in Blender, which helps me align the model directly with the reference image.

I then start with a simple blockout to establish the correct dimensions, proportions, and overall silhouette before moving on to smaller details.

Once I’m happy with the overall shapes, dimensions, and proportions, I move on to the high-poly stage. For this project, most of the vehicle was built with a subdivision workflow. However, for more complex parts, I used ZBrush instead of spending too much time creating clean subdivision topology. The front grille is one example of this approach.

This workflow gives me solid low-poly and high-poly models, both built from the same initial blockout, keeping the proportions consistent.

UVs

For UVs, I use RizomUV, where I straighten the shells as much as possible to use the UDIM space efficiently and maintain a high texel density.

For this project, the target texel density was around 1100 px/m. The process itself is fairly straightforward — the main thing is placing seams carefully and straightening the shells without introducing too much distortion. I use RizomUV’s distortion checker to keep an eye on this.

Once the unwrap is finished, I bring everything back into Blender and use UVPackmaster for the final packing.

As a result, I ended up with six UV sets: three for the body, one for the wheels, and two for the interior. One of the interior sets uses a higher texel density in the areas closest to the player.

Baking

I bake all my maps in Marmoset Toolbag 5. After baking, I fix any artifacts and, when necessary, combine different versions of the maps, such as Hard Cage and Soft Cage results, directly in Substance Painter.

I strongly recommend fixing baking issues in Substance Painter rather than Photoshop. It is much faster and easier because you can immediately see the changes on the model instead of editing maps blindly and constantly reloading them.

For AO, I also spend some time adjusting settings such as Search Distance and Cavity Weight. The AO should not be too bright or too dark, as an incorrect balance can create problems later during the texturing stage.

Texturing

I always start by building a strong base material first, focusing on the main colour, roughness, and subtle colour variation. Before adding any damage or dirt, I want the surface to already feel believable on its own.

The next step is usually roughness variation, which I consider one of the most important parts of making a material feel alive. Even small changes in roughness can break up a flat surface and make it react to light in a much more natural way.

One of the main things I try to avoid is adding too much detail too early. Dirt, leaks, rust, scratches, and other surface details only come later, once the base material is working properly. A strong foundation makes the final weathering much easier to control and keeps the texture from becoming noisy.

The most common question I get is how I create realistic rust and peeling paint. My approach is actually quite simple: I use real photos of damaged paint, rusted body panels, and corroded wheel arches, then turn them into masks in Photoshop using a black-and-white conversion and Levels to control the contrast and intensity.

Once the mask is ready, I project it directly onto the model in Substance Painter. This gives me much more natural shapes than relying only on procedural generators.

For the rust itself, I use multiple Anchor Points to control different layers of detail. This allows me to build the corrosion gradually and adjust each area separately instead of treating the whole surface with one universal rust material.

Rendering

There is no huge secret behind my rendering workflow. In my opinion, one of the main reasons many renders, even from experienced artists, can start to feel artificial is the use of too many light sources.

I experimented with many different lighting setups and even studied lighting techniques from books, but the most realistic results usually came from something much simpler — a good HDRI. In most of my work, the HDRI is the only light source in the scene.

I only add one or two extra lights when I want to catch a specific reflection or emphasise a certain detail. Otherwise, I prefer to keep the setup as simple and natural as possible.

For texturing, I usually work with Tomoco, since it gives me good contrast and makes material details easy to read. For the final render, I simply choose an HDRI that gives the most believable lighting for the asset.

That’s really the whole approach — keep the lighting simple and let the materials do the work.

Conclusion

Thank you to Games Artist for giving me the opportunity to share this project and my workflow with the community.

I hope some of the techniques and ideas from this breakdown will be useful to other artists. Keep experimenting, stay curious, and most importantly, enjoy the process.

Thanks for reading, and good luck with your own projects!