[beginner] modelling ornament workflow questions

vakdlfjas

I'm trying to model some fancy stuff like gothic, baroque style furniture or architecture, props?
and I'm trying to model some pattern, ornament like the picture here



i knew it's not going to be easy but turns out it was way more difficult then i thought

so i googled and watched youtube videos how to make these kind of things and came up with some ideas like

A. modelling part by part using maya

B. try to carve, sculpt using zbrush

C. draw alpha using photoshop, illustrator -> use Zbrush

D. substance designer -> i'm thinking it's the best shot

so i've tried all 4 options a,b,c,d and i just can't tell which one works.
for me, looks like all of them doesn't work it's just it looks impossible. 

so am i doing something wrong or am i just not good enough yet to pull this off 

do i keep trying and trying harder?

sprunghunt

I'd model it. Those filigree pieces are very repetitive - here's some tutorials

https://youtu.be/zS9tQ_4ZF5M

https://youtu.be/B1kB8RxJR0g

Udjani

There is a curve profile option in blender 2.91 that helps a bit with ornaments, although it can't do the ornaments from your picture, it might help in some cases. 

http://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/201126_Blender291_BevelCurve.webm?_=4

sacboi

Fairly straightforward, generating ornamental filigree just depends upon an intended end goal and allocated timeframe too completion.

Alpha ornaments / Zbrush to Substance Painter

Author - Alexandre Martin

"The process:

I started with an Alpha produced in Photoshop, I then integrated it on a plan subdivided into 6 levels and I extracted the ornament part ... I used the deformation and displacement tools on the different axes to refine the volume of the ornament ... I then duplicated the subtool and used zremesher to get a low ploy version on which I extracted the uv using UVMaster .. j 've glued the UV on the second subtool and obtained a low and a high poly ... I then imported the low poly in substance painter and baké with the high ... I then used different materials and alpha mask in substance painter ... The idea was to find a quick combination of export and UV management between the different software .. here is the result"

Though personally, I'd prefer a hard modeling workflow which typically enables complete control.

Sub-division all quad approach:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQB007YeKQ0

edit:

Moar info - What's the Best Way to to make Filigree and Ornamental 3D Objects?