https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QKvPrd This project is more than just a portfolio piece for me; it is the result of a long personal journey. The idea was born two years ago during a trip to a museum of old Soviet toys. At that time, I was struggling with burnout and seeking inspiration. I saw an art installation featuring a TV with a small toy story inside, which had its own unique atmosphere, and I wanted to create my own version. Back then, I lacked the skills to execute the concept at the level I envisioned. Two years later—after deep learning, working on other projects, and completing courses—I returned to this idea with fresh energy. The entire process took about 3 months, with short breaks of no more than a week. Concept: Inside the Soviet "Raduga-716" TV lies a living room where the exact same TV sits on a table. This is a visual metaphor for the recursion found in many aspects of life, including opinions. We often watch others' lives or build our opinions based on someone else's views, which are, in turn, also borrowed. This project is a reminder to be the creator of your own reality—to be "above" the broadcast rather than trapped inside the cycle. Technical Breakdown: Optimization: For the rear panel (ventilation holes), I opted for Parallax Occlusion Mapping instead of raw geometry. This preserved detail and volume while significantly saving polygons. Baking Challenge: I encountered an issue where the Green Channel (Y) inverted exclusively on the ventilation holes during the normal map bake. This was likely due to careless use of the Paint Skew tool in Marmoset Toolbag—a mistake I will avoid in the future. I fixed the map manually in Photoshop by locally inverting the channel using masks. Stickers: Real photographs were used for the stickers. To convert them into PBR materials, I manipulated Curves and Levels to extract Height and Roughness information from the color data. I also utilized a significant number of Anchor Points to achieve the realistic look of old, peeling paper. Software: Modeling/UV/Sculpting: Blender Texturing: Substance 3D Painter Baking/Rendering: Marmoset Toolbag 5 (Ray Tracing enabled) Ref/Post: PureRef, Photoshop Metrics: Total Triangle Count: 21,363 tris (Game Ready Hero Asset) Texture Sets: 4 sets TV Body: 2x 4K sets (Texel Density: ~4.5 - 4.8 px/cm | ~11.4 - 12.2 px/inch) Glass Elements: 1x 2K set (Texel Density: ~4.25 px/cm | ~10.8 px/inch) Environment Stand: 1x 2K set (Texel Density: ~1.09 px/cm | ~2.77 px/inch)