Fluffy Nature

Project Overview

Fluffy Nature is a cozy and atmospheric environment scene created using a wide range of Unity’s environment tools. Throughout the project, I focused on building a natural, semi-realistic world that feels alive and cohesive. I made extensive use of Unity’s terrain system for shaping the landscape and populating it with detailed foliage and props.

To bring the environment to life, I created all the shaders for the grass, trees, and water using Unity’s Shader Graph, allowing for subtle movement, reflections, and dynamic wind effects. The trees were modeled in TreeIt, giving me full control over their shapes and branch animation. I also implemented Level of Detail (LOD) systems to optimize performance, ensuring smooth playback even with dense vegetation and effects.

Lighting played a major role in defining the mood of the scene. I used a soft directional light combined with baked global illumination to achieve a warm and natural atmosphere while maintaining high performance. Every technical and artistic decision — from shader creation to optimization — contributed to crafting a lush, inviting world that feels both stylized and believable.

Creation Process

Below is a step-by-step breakdown of how the Fluffy Nature scene was created, from initial blockout to final polish.

1. Blockout & Terrain

   I started by blocking out the overall layout using Unity’s terrain tools, defining elevation, paths, and major silhouette elements so the composition worked from a distance as well as close up.

2. Real-time Lighting Setup

   I established the mood using Unity’s real-time (non-baked) lighting settings — directional light, ambient probes, and subtle post-processing — to keep the scene dynamic and responsive during iteration.

3. Tree Design in TreeIt

   Trees were procedurally designed in TreeIt, allowing fast exploration of trunk shapes, branch patterns, and foliage density while maintaining a consistent stylized look across the forest.

4. Modeling Props in Blender

   Rocks, bushes, and other small vegetation were modeled in Blender, focusing on silhouette variety and optimized topology for efficient in-engine use.

5. Texturing in Substance Painter

   Bark, stone, and hard-surface textures were hand-painted and baked in Substance Painter, producing stylized but believable surface detail and normal information for lighting interaction.

6. Leaf Cutouts in Photoshop

   Leaf shapes and alpha cutouts were created and refined in Photoshop to produce crisp, efficient foliage sprites that read well at various distances.

7. Shader Authoring with Shader Graph

   All vegetation and terrain materials (grass, trees, bushes) were implemented in Unity’s Shader Graph. I used gradient-driven color variation, wind-driven vertex animation, and lightweight optimizations to balance visual richness with performance.

8. Scene Refinement

   With assets in place, I iterated on placement, scale, and density — hand-tuning clusters and paths to create interesting sightlines and natural flow throughout the environment.

9. Water, Moss & VFX

   I developed a stylized water shader and supplementary materials like moss overlays, then layered subtle VFX such as falling leaves and pollen to add motion and atmosphere.

10. Cameras & Presentation

    Finally, I set up dynamic camera rigs using Unity Cinemachine to compose cinematic shots, test readability, and present the scene from its best angles.