Highlighting Calm Escape Added to Substance 3D Assets

This architecture collection, which you can find right here, comes from a partnership between professional architects and archviz experts. We studied the process of creation and identified several areas where we believe digital materials and Substance can help: artists can make quicker, better informed decisions, and consequently speed up the design process.

Moodboarding is one of them.

Our theme: Calm Escape, drives the palette of materials today.

In Calm Escape, transform your perception of an interior through a minimal and tranquil ambiance. Get whisked away into a revitalizing, quiet atmosphere.

Subtle, soft, graphical patterns, pastel colors are a defining feature of this palette, with a range of tones that soothe and offer a sense of cooling down, and others that awaken the senses. Pastels such as Sweet Pink and Soft Olive have a lightness that is almost luminous, while Beige and Ripe Maroon sit at the calmer end of the palette.

Selecting a bill of materials (BOM) for a space is a complex task accounting for critical aspects of the project from client values embodiment, perceived quality and eventually its cost. The BOM is the CMF designer’s final output. It lists all the material information of a product or a space from its color codes/references, the surface finish, cost and producer details.

In the Substance team, Anaïs rounded up the materials, observing along the way the difference between 3D and her native physical experience:

In 3D, the process is just like working on a table in a creative studio: we start by creating an inspirational moodboard with references for materials and textures. But you gain extra flexibility: you can change materials, their colors, their scale – and add details for realism, such as dust or fingerprints.

When it comes to selecting the materials designers need to overcome challenges:

Space. There will never be enough space to store physical material samples, creatives need to feed their creativity and when there are samples it’s usually not in the color we wanted.

Time (and money). Ordering samples in the right color is just taking time and thus money designers don’t have with today’s development schedules.

Size. Right decisions can’t be made using 10×10 cm samples when the final objective is to cover a 200 m2 atrium.

Visualization. Sharing the design intention outside of the studio to non-trained eyes is of the upmost importance to gain traction from the rest of the company. That’s where photorealistic visualization becomes handy.

That’s when Ronan came into the process. After modelling the scene, he picked from the material selection:

Working with Anaïs as a CMF expert was a bit of a revelation for me as an artist. She described to me the mood that should be felt with “Calm Escape” and her thought process behind the selection of materials and colours in the moodboard. Anaïs sent over the Substance materials she had adjusted which I would need. Inspired by her selection, I could then create a scene to reflect what she had described. The selection quickly came to life and we fine tuned the materials and the space to fit a feeling of “Calm Escape.”

For me it was a bit like a chef handing you a plate of well balanced ingredients, knowing I could happily mix them and end up with a beautiful outcome.

Directly in the 3D software (here, Unreal Engine 4), Ronan and Anaïs selected and applied the color and material combinations, lights, camera, positions, and models.

Using the material moodboard as a reference, they made changes until they reached a satisfying result – or several. A designer using this workflow can then share their result, get feedback from their client and team – make changes if necessary and map out tasks on a project.