This Steak Was Made in Substance Designer | Francesco Furneri | Original 3D Artists

Visual note: Some screen-shared artwork in this video may appear brighter or more washed out than intended. Please see the linked original artwork and trailer for Francesco’s intended colors and detail. Original steak artwork: https://jackfurneri.artstation.com/projects/9Ev4Wa Redwood: https://jackfurneri.artstation.com/projects/2BDB1g This steak wasn't sculpted by hand. Francesco Furneri built its form and surface procedurally in Substance 3D Designer, using height information to displace a plane. In this episode of Original 3D Artists, 3DWay founder Alex Fridlyand explores the project with Francesco—from the main shape and muscle fibers to fat, grill marks, and the roughness choices that make the steak look juicy. We then explore Redwood, Francesco's narrative mystery thriller in Unreal Engine 5. He discusses atmospheric lighting, cinematography, deciding which assets to build or buy, and developing the game largely on his own, with help from his father on the story. We also talk about teaching 3D art and his perspective on AI tools. An in-depth artist interview and project breakdown for material artists, environment artists, and developers who want to understand the decisions behind the finished work. FOLLOW FRANCESCO Portfolio and project updates: https://jackfurneri.artstation.com/ Procedural steak: https://jackfurneri.artstation.com/projects/9Ev4Wa Redwood: https://jackfurneri.artstation.com/projects/2BDB1g Hosted by Alex Fridlyand, founder of 3DWay. Follow 3DWay: Original 3D Artists for more conversations behind the work. Watch this full conversation on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EudNcmmX1c CHAPTERS 00:00 Episode highlights 02:18 Why make a procedural steak? 10:27 Organic shapes in Substance Designer 12:21 Influences and putting shape before detail 16:23 A programmer's approach to node graphs 20:17 Building the steak's main shape 25:51 Smoothing shapes with Non-Uniform Blur 29:25 Creating bones and masks 37:05 Building muscle fibers with Tile Sampler 48:37 Why roughness makes the steak look juicy 54:06 Voronoi regions, fat, and grease 1:04:09 Creating irregular grill marks 1:06:53 Teaching lighting and rendering 1:11:21 What writing tutorials taught Francesco 1:14:33 Introducing Redwood 1:23:55 Watching Redwood's opening cinematic 1:26:49 Learning storytelling with his father 1:34:57 Environment tools and lighting for mystery 1:37:14 Which assets to build and which to buy 1:41:12 Combining C++ and Blueprints 1:42:46 Cinematography, composition, and lighting 1:48:00 Scope and release expectations 1:50:59 AI tools and artistic judgment 1:56:55 Where to follow Francesco Corrections: At five seconds: Visual note: Some screen-shared artwork in this video may appear brighter or more washed out than intended. Please see the linked original artwork and trailer for Francesco’s intended colors and detail. Which detail makes the steak feel most convincing to you: the shape, roughness, or lighting? #SubstanceDesigner #3DArt #Original3DArtists Originally published on YouTube on September 13, 2026.