FIT2169 Immersive Environments Assignment 1 Brief Semester 2, 2025 | Monash University

FIT2169 Assignment 1: An Industrial 3D Scene (20%)

Brief:

In this assignment, you will be using Autodesk Maya, Substance 3D Painter and Unity to model and texture a set of industrial pieces which you will then duplicate and arrange to populate a supplied scene. The final arrangement of your models will be augmented with basic virtual lighting and atmospheric sound. 

Your Unity scene will utilise a camera configured for first-person navigation. Your 3D meshes and textures must be original, but your sounds can be sourced from the Freesound Project (https://freesound.org) as long as you reference the creator and sound file in your documentation. Your assignment documentation should visually explain your background research and the process of scene creation in Maya, Substance 3D Painter and Unity. One well-composed screenshot from your final build should be included in your submission.

Notes:  This assignment introduces the production processes of interactive 3D scene creation, from researching a concept and drafting it as a set of textured models in Maya and Substance 3D Painter, then assembling and lighting the scene in Unity, and finally exporting it as an interactive application, or ‘build’.

In week two we will provide you with a Unity project containing the walls and floor of an industrial environment (the size and shape of this environment is already defined and may not be modified). Your task is to fill this space with your own repeating models. You should also place some models above and behind the walls, giving the illusion that this world extends beyond the navigable area.

There is a vast array of modelling candidates which could be used to populate this scene (large fuel tanks interconnected by tangled networks of pipes, a series of giant gears and pistons, oversized coils and vacuum tubes etc.), and your models need not be complex. To establish a clear focal point, you are encouraged to model one ‘big thing’ and surround it with lots of repeating ‘small things’ (the ‘big thing’ may even emerge from the accumulation of many smaller repeating pieces). Modularity and repetition will be important to efficiently populate this world.  

Designing your models with reference to a retro-futuristic genre (steampunk, dieselpunk, atompunk, cassette futurism) should be a key consideration to boost the cohesion of your world. Your prior conceptual and visual research will be key in crafting an original creation. An ambient ‘soundscape’ (i.e. background sound) sourced from the Freesound Project will complete your scene. 

Note your world should not include trees, grass, or other natural elements. Buildings/architecture are also not appropriate in this assignment. All assets must be original - 3D models, textures and materials downloaded from the internet or generated by AI are strictly forbidden.

Assignment Sub mission ( via Mood l e):

(a) Unity Project folder: This is the folder titled “FIT3169 A1 Art Pass 2025”.
(b) A Windows Build: Your tutors will assess your scene with the first-person camera you’ve configured, so ensure the camera doesn’t fall through the floor on start-up or become irretrievably stuck in corners!
(c) Promotional Screenshot: A screenshot showcasing the best angle of your world.
(d) Documentation: Your documentation is essentially an annotated visual project diary with screenshots of your assignment process and progress. Your tutors will be interested to see how you developed your concept, what references inspired you, what worked, what didn’t, the problems you encountered along the way and the decisions you made to remedy them. Importantly, your documentation is the place to detail things that you tried but didn’t work out. These dead ends and restarts are frustrating but integral to creating interactive 3D scenes - you will get marks for relating them! Documentation is also the place to reflect on the overall experience and consider what you would do differently next time.

Assessment Criteria:

Environment Design & Implementation (50%)

Quality of 3D modelling and texturing (Maya & Substance 3D Painter)30% 
Has the scene been modelled efficiently and is the level of detail appropriate?
Are materials of an appropriate complexity and are UVs free from noticeable distortion?

Implementation of lighting, sound and environment design (Unity) 20% 

Is the lighting in the scene adequately executed?
Is an appropriate background sound included?  Are repeating models sufficiently utilised to fill the industrial space and is a focal point present?

Documentation & Presentation (50%)

Accompanying project documentation (conceptual research, inspiration, reference images, and coverage of process) 35%

Is there evidence of concept development with reference to external sources? 
Is the production process clearly explained? 
Is there evidence of reflective writing (i.e., what did you learn, what would you do differently next time)?

Presentation and visual impact of completed build 15% 

Does an exploration of the Unity build with a first-person camera suggest a cohesive and engaging virtual world? 
Does the scene express some of the visual features of the selected genre? 
Do the textures, lighting, scene geometry and sound work well together and is the build free of errors?