Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire
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Heather Kearns 

BA [Hons] 3D Design Modelmaking + Digital Art

I have always had a passion for creating 3D art from using clay as a kid to now being a digital 3D artist. Over the lockdowns of early COVID I dove into 3D modelling and found my passion in it and I have not stopped learning about it since. I have a passion for designing and creating 3D characters and props for games. I worked on Grounded as an intern 3D environment artist at Black Shamrock in 2022 and I am extremely eager to get into the game development industry.

Playthrough of Unreal Engine 5 environment.
While making this project I learned so much about creating game environments. In particular about blueprints which I used quite a bit in the creation of this game environment. I also figured out a lot about creating 3D environments and how to plan them better. I am excited to put my new skills to use in creating more environments.
The Fuzanglong dragon I made for my initial project appears in the environment at several points.
A small look at the work I done on the dragon for my initial project. I went through the whole process of creating this game ready model of a dragon, I designed, sculpted, retopologised, textured, rigged and animated the dragon.
For one of the islands inside the dragon's dimension I 3d modelled a pergola and created an island focused around it. I wanted to give a sense of how the dimension is a mix of many different eras and magic.
The Fuzanglong dragon in mythology sees powerful weapons as treasure too so I 3d modelled a nuke and designed one of the islands for it.
The dragon also sees neon as valuable as it is so bright and colourful so there is one island with many neon signs on it that the dragon has picked up and brought to their dimension.
This is my favourite point in the environment. I spent a lot of time working on the weapon, the Guandao, in the pool near the bottom of the image.
I based the design off a piece of art made of Chinese mythology and changed the dragon head in it to be of the dragon I created in my initial project.
The final area of the level where the dragon keeps most of the gold and other treasures
Dragon's Dimension

My final project is a game environment I created in Unreal Engine 5. For my initial project I designed and created my own game ready 3D model dragon inspired by the Fuzanglong dragon of Chinese mythology. For the final project I wanted to create a world for this dragon to inhabit.
The environment starts on a beach and the player gains access to the dragon's dimension by picking up the dragon's pearl and must traverse the dimension and give the pearl to the dragon to leave.


The Homogeneous Game Development Industry and the Character Designs of Women and Minorities in Games

My thesis examines the lack of diversity in the games development industry and the influence this lack of diversity has on the game characters that are created.
It highlights the problematic and stereotypical representations of women, POCs, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community and the experiences of people from these group in the industry.

3D Design Modelmaking + Digital Art
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