VIDEO RENTAL STORE PROPS

I’ve created a small set of props inspired by an abandoned video rental store from the late 1990s / early 2000s. The props are imagined to be from an abandoned video rental shop, where dust-covered shelves of VHS tapes hint at a once-busy space left untouched for decades.

Hero Renders

Marmoset Toolbag 5

Wireframe

Turnarounds

Indvidual Props

TV Set

Shelves

VHS Tapes

Textures

I aimed to maintain a consistent texel density of 2048px per meter across all props. The TV and shelving unit use 2048 x 2048 textures, while the smaller VHS tape props use 1024 x 1024 textures.

To maintain the texel density certain models re-used textures space. For instance the left and right sides of the shelving unit are the same, but rotated 180 to avoid noticeable repetition. Where appropriate, I also reduced the scale of UV islands for areas that would not be clearly visible to the player, such as the underside of the TV and shelving. This allowed me to optimize UV space and allocate more texture resolution to the most visible areas of the assets.

I aimed to maintain a texel density of 2048px per meter across all props.

High-poly

I kept the high-poly details relatively simple, knowing that additional surface detail could be added later in Substance 3D Painter. This allowed me to iterate more quickly and work in a non-destructive way during the texturing stage.

Additonal Details

I wanted to include a few unique graphic elements that would call back to the horror films of the late 90s and early 2000s. The “VIDI-VISION” rental standee was created using text with gradients, outlines, and shadow effects.

The stickers were created in Affinity Designer.

Certain details, such as the TV speaker grille and side vents, were created in Substance 3D Designer. The repetitive patterns and subtle height detail meant they could be easily created procedurally and then applied in Substance 3D Painter.

Using Substance 3D Designer to create these smaller details were more efficient than modelling them by hand and it allowed for easier iteration and adjustment during the texturing stage.

Certain elements such as the TV buttons lost definition when baked down to a flat surface.

For these elements I chose to add additional geometry so they would retain their depth and avoid appearing flat or unrealistic. These could easily be removed from lower LODs for further optimization.

Reference

The reference images below provided the initial inspiration for an abandoned VHS rental store setting. The combination of a decaying commercial space, nostalgia for the aesthetic, and its connection to late 90s/early 2000s horror made the idea particularly appealing. It felt like a natural fit for a supernatural investigation game such as Phasmophobia, and an environment that could support strong atmospheric storytelling.