Project | Fox in Jungle

Fox in Jungle is a stylized 3D environment created in Blender, focusing on soft shapes, pastel colors, and a cozy nighttime forest mood. This project covered the full pipeline: modeling props, texturing, arranging the scene, setting up lighting, and adding particle systems such as fire sparks, grass, fireflies, and butterflies.

Modeling

I used common modeling tools like extrude, knife cut, bridge, separate, loop cut, and insert, as well as supporting tools such as proportional editing, snapping, curves, lattices, and the spin tool. I’ve also explored various modifiers, including subdivision surface, solidify, array, simple deform, curve, mirror, displace, skin, shrinkwrap, bevel, and boolean.

Mushroom model — Used subdivision surface modifier and snap to attach small dots.

Tree stump model — Shaped with extrusion and smoothed using subdivision surface.

Flower model — Used the spin tool to create the flower buds.

Leaf model — This was quite challenging. It was a great exercise in using edge and vertex select mode.

Fern model — Attached mould using shrinkwrap and adjusted its placement with proportional editing.

Tree model — Used array modifier and learned how an empty plain axis can control the duplication of the leaves.

Vine model — Used curve paths to model twisting vines.

Rock model — Used Displace modifier with Voronoi textures to create realistic stone formations.

Fox model — Used mirror modifier to create head and body. Used curve paths for a natural-looking tail.

Fire model — Used subdivision surface modifier, snap to attach small dots onto its surface, and bent it with the simple deform modifier.

Texturing

I mainly used Mix node to combine two image textures—one with a tree grain pattern and the other with a zebra print. This combination helped me create a more detailed and interesting surface. I also applied a gradient texture to give the material a more natural and organic look. I also used emission node to add a glowing effect.

Scene arrangement and Lighting

Starting from the base scene, I added light sources to highlight key elements, enhance realism. Each light was carefully placed from firelight for warmth, to area lighting for overall brightness and with a blue spotlight with noise texture for a dramatic touch.

01 Raw Scene

Scene without any lighting with just the base setup to give a sense of how the environment looks in its raw form.

02 Fire Glow

Added light to the fire. This was done to illuminate the area around the fire and create a warm atmosphere.

03 Backlight Boost

I added an area light from the back of the scene. This helped to increase the overall brightness and made the entire composition feel more balanced and immersive.

04 Blue Spotlights

I added a blue spotlight on top of the tree. I also applied a noise texture to this light to give it a more dynamic and mystical appearance.

05 Final Setup

The full lighting setup and how I arranged the scene. It highlights the positioning of each light source and the overall structure of the environment I built.

Particle System

To keep the scene alive, I added several particle systems that move gently over time without distracting too much from the main characters.

01 Fire Sparkles

Small glowing embers rising from the fire with random sizes and lifetimes.

02 Grass on the Ground

Dense grass particles scattered using weight painting to break up flat areas.

03 Fireflies

Slow, looping paths with slight glow to add magic to the background.

04 Butterfly Sparkles

Light trails and fluttering movements near the top of the frame for extra depth.