Ideation
I was inspired by post apocalyptic scenes and wanted to explore environmental storytelling
I was inspired by the theme of this visualizer for 1997 by artist Droeloe. A house is often associated with family and happiness however the emptiness and powerful pulsing red colour creates a haunting uncomfortable feel.
Concept
Modelling
Beginning to model the playground equipment for the composition. I used the concept sketch and began designing some basic assets and setting the final camera position. This finalized the primary playground equipment in the scene.
Modelling The tree was the asset that took the longest due to it's organic form. I learnt a new technique of modelling with splines. This allowed me to build a more organic form through finding the destination I wanted the branches to finish and editing them up afterwards.
The roundabout was then designed to complete all the final assets. At this point in the project I began experimenting with a central focal point orbiting the tree in the centre. This was to create sense of darkness.
Texturing
This led to the beginning of texturing once the final composition was in place.
I watched some tutorials on how to create grass within your scene. I used a plugin called Xgen which duplicated the grass I modelled across the scene.
Composition
The Camera was setup for the establishing shot. Initially the camera was set to orbiting around half of the scene however this was to much movement for an establishing shot. Instead the final composition area was set with a slight camera movement.
Lighting & FX
A Sky dome lighting was added to the scene. This background was not what was initially conceptualised however I really liked the mystical aesthetic it added. I also set the intensity of the sky dome lighting which turned out to be all the scene needed.
I also wanted to experiment with having something falling in the air. My initial idea was to use falling leaves however in the process of setting it up I discovered scaling them very small so they could just be seen as particles.
I then began to experiment with different types of fogs to reduce the contrast between the scene and the surrounding HDRI image. I ended up placing the fog behind the main assets to maintain clarity in the textures.
Final Scene
Overall, I'm happy with how this turned out. I now have a strong foundation in each of the areas of the pipeline and the Maya Software. I look forward to expanding on what I have learnt so far.