Where Dreams Sleep Beneath the Flames - a 3D Tribute to Berserk

I've been a long-time admirer of Berserk — a manga that not only inspires me but speaks to something deeply personal within. Few moments in storytelling have stayed with me like the scene in Chapter 22 of the manga (or Episode 14 of the 1997 anime adaptation), where Guts stands alone on a hill beneath a tree.

This quiet moment — the stillness, the solitude, the warmth of the distant fires — mirrors much of what I feel in my own life right now. It's a scene filled with unspoken thoughts, dreams suspended in time, and the glow of both companionship and isolation.

The interplay of firelight and night sky etched a vivid image in my mind the first time I read it — a moment both serene and haunting. That’s why I felt compelled to bring it to life through this 3D render: not just as a tribute to Berserk, but as a visual expression of something that continues to resonate with me. In creating it, I also wanted to evoke a PS1/PS2-era game aesthetic — low-poly, slightly raw, and deeply nostalgic — a visual style that feels perfectly suited to the mood and memory of this scene.

For this Instructable, I used Maya 2026 along with a low-poly model of Guts in a standing pose. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a fully rigged or easily modifiable version of Guts that worked well in Maya. Because of that, he appears standing in this cinematic, holding his sword, rather than sitting as in the original scene.

To recreate this scene as accurately as possible, I took screenshots from both the manga and the 1997 anime. Each version shows different details — the manga has strong composition and emotion through its artwork, while the anime adds atmosphere with lighting and movement.

Using both as references helps me understand the layout of the scene — where Guts is sitting, how the tree and campfires are placed, and what kind of mood the scene is meant to create. These screenshots guide me in getting the lighting, environment, and feeling right in the 3D render.

I started the scene in Maya by creating a simple 200x200cm plane, which I then sculpted into a hill where Guts would stand beneath the tree. I placed the tree at the top of the hill, just like in the original scene. From there, I let my imagination guide me a bit — I added a river flowing alongside the hill to give the environment more life and atmosphere. It’s a small creative addition, but one that felt natural for the mood I wanted to capture. :)

To create the campsite, I kept things simple — just a few basic polygon shapes mashed together to form the tents and surroundings. Once the structure was in place, I added a fabric texture from Poly Haven to give it a bit more realism and detail. It was a quick setup, but it worked well for capturing the look and feel of the scene.

Creating the campfire was a tedious but straightforward process. Using cylinders and pipe polygons in Maya, I built a simple fireplace design that I reused across the campsite. After some trial and error with the fire effects, I was able to get a decent fire simulation using fluid containers and 3D dynamics. To bring it to life, I combined this with an Arnold area light to give the fire a warm, cinematic glow.

For the environment lighting, I used a nighttime HDRI of Satara, India, which I found on Poly Haven. I felt it was a perfect match for the Bonfire of Dreams scene — the subtle orange hue in the sky complements the warm light from the campfires and enhances the mood of the tents and surrounding area. It helped me create a more immersive and atmospheric nighttime setting, adding that quiet, reflective tone I wanted to capture in the render.

I used this HDRI image as the color input for the AiSkyDomeLight in Maya, which allowed me to wrap the entire scene in this natural nighttime environment. By surrounding the scene with this sky texture, I was able to achieve realistic ambient lighting and reflections. The soft orange tones from the HDRI blended really well with the firelight, adding warmth to the tents and enhancing the overall atmosphere of the render.

All of these elements came together in the final scene — from the sculpted landscape and campsite layout to the fire simulations and atmospheric lighting. Using the HDRI with the AiSkyDomeLight brought everything into a cohesive nighttime environment, giving the render a grounded yet cinematic feel. It was a rewarding process seeing each part contribute to the mood and storytelling of the scene.

To enhance the atmosphere even further, I added an Arnold area light to simulate moonlight. I gave it a soft white hue and positioned it to gently wash over the entire scene. This subtle touch helped balance the warmth of the firelight with a cooler, more natural light, adding depth and contrast while keeping the nighttime feeling intact.

Working with Maya for the first time was definitely a challenge — between laggy renders, unexpected crashes, and having to restart the scene more times than I can count, it was far from smooth sailing. But despite the setbacks, I pushed through and managed to render my first full scene. In the end, it turned out to be a valuable learning experience — one that taught me a lot about patience, problem-solving, and the creative process.