Mattia De Cinti's 2023/2024 Student Portfolio

Introduction

Hi everyone, my name is Mattia, I am a ex student of the CGI masterclass at Skyup Academy, after completing my journey as a student I was chosen to join the Skyup team as a class assistant.

My journey into the world of 3D began about a year ago, when I began to self-taught after gaining experience in graphics and concept art.

Since I was a child, my passion for video games, especially FPS, has driven my curiosity and creativity, fascinated by sci-fi worlds and robots featured in films and games.

I'm currently studying to specialize in Hard Surface Modeling for VFX films, below I present some of my most recent works, created in the last year, hope you like it!

90's Vibes

"90's vibes" is my second project created at Skyup academy during the 3D modeling module during which I was able to interface with aspects such as modeling, texturing, shading and lighting.

My concept represents a kit of the iconic Atari consoles released between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s

01. Reference study

I began by conducting thorough research and studying the references and individual assets within the composition,this enabled me to

promptly gain a clear understanding of the shapes, dimensions, and most importantly, the size ratio among the different assets, thereby assisting me and streamlining the modeling process accurately

02. Blocking

Upon commencing the blocking phase, I swiftly encountered challenges in accurately replicating the original perspective of the image.

This prompted me to delve deeper into studying the actual composition of the image, striving to approximate it as closely as possible, once I achieved a satisfactory compromise, I initiated the initial blocking phase to establish the primary volumes accurately.

It was only towards the conclusion of the subsequent modeling process that I revisited refining the camera match.

03. Modeling

Throughout the modeling phase, I embarked on creating each individual asset anew, ensuring to bear in mind the volumes established during the preceding blocking phase.

As I delved into the modeling process, I meticulously crafted each asset from the ground up, maintaining a keen focus on preserving the spatial relationships and proportions outlined in the initial blocking stage.

With each asset, I meticulously sculpted and refined the details, continuously referencing the groundwork laid during the blocking phase to maintain cohesion and accuracy within the overall composition.

While the scene was evolving, I encountered the challenge of managing the modeling phase efficiently, considering the topology of each component and the overall polygonal count.

Specifically, I needed to create a lower-polygon version of the floppy disk pattern depicted below, compared to the prominent floppy disk in the foreground.

However, it was crucial to ensure that this simplified version retained the essential silhouette and key elements of the floppy disk design.

This strategic adjustment enabled me to significantly optimize the scene, effectively reducing the total polygon count without compromising the visual integrity of the composition.

Through this operation the polygonal count went from 19K polygons to..."drum roll"...2.7K polygons

And after having taken care of detailing the assets at 360°, also modeling the components not visible in the camera, I concluded my modeling phase.

Here are some details.

04. UV Mapping

Following that, during the UV Unwrapping phase, I dedicated effort to refining the management of the UVs and Udims within the scene, preparing them for seamless integration into Substance Painter.

We opted for a 4K UDIM resolution, ensuring ample detail and texture fidelity while maintaining efficiency in resource utilization.

05. Texturing

During the texturing phase, I divided my efforts between two separate files to ensure precise control over the individual components of the scene. Initially, I concentrated on texturing all the primary elements within the first file. Then, in the second file, I focused on texturing the underlying floppy disk pattern.

This approach was implemented to prevent any unintended alterations caused by the base glass surface upon which the entire scene is built.

Specifically, I minimized texture adjustments to the glass surface using Substance Painter, focusing solely on the "roughness" channel. Subsequently, I substituted this texture with a V-Ray material specifically tailored for glass, linking the exported "roughness" channel from Substance Painter to it.

Recreation of the screen texture stencil

One of the parts that most amused me in the creation of the textures was creating the original overlay present in the monitor,

what I tried to create is an approximation as faithful as possible to the reference, trying to decipher the content of the screen taking into account the low image quality.

This was the entire process for the creation of this project, below I leave you the comparison between the original reference and the render.

Milo The Kitten

 This is my first organic modeling project, I am pleased to introduce you to Milo :)

From 2D concept to 3D render, this this work consisted of replicating a reinterpretation of the "ZHENG", a future belonging to the Chinese mythological imagination, a ferocious cheetah of the 4 things that inhabits a mountainous and desert area in northern China.

Modeled in Zbrush, lighting in Maya and rendered in Vray.

Since it was my first time trying my hand at digital sculpture, I encountered various difficulties, from understanding the volumes through the complex animal anatomy to finally arriving at the interpretation of the motion from which I could obtain a pose that was most coherent with the starting reference .

From the moment I managed to identify in the concept an animal composition structured by a mix of different creatures, for the correct realization of the concept I found it useful to investigate the anatomy and body structure of animals which seem to compose it such as Chimeras, Griffons, Smilodons, Tigers, Cheetahs and birds of prey to ensure a general vision of the components to be modeled, trying to reproduce the distinctive features of each of them.

Original concept by Shin Lin.

Below are the main phases of the blocking process from the beginning to the end of the body structure and some of its details.

After the modeling phase carried out on Zbrush, I approached setting up the scene in Maya, a scene which would constitute, after lighting, the final rendering of the project.

The idea was to try to replicate a metallic material that could resemble an interior decorative statuette. 

Here I had to try my hand at choosing materials and lights which initially led me to encounter some difficulties due to the shine of the metallic materials which continuously created flashes and irreversible reflections of light which created confusion in the legibility of the image and a loss knowledge of its details.

These problems led me to change the choice of such flashy materials and lights to find a viable way to obtain a correct rendering of the image without giving up a "wow" effect.

What follows is the final choice of the reference from which I took inspiration for the choice of lighting and materials.

I am very satisfied with the final result of this project of mine, it was my first experience in organic modeling and, although I found myself solving several problems, I must say that I found the whole process very fun.

"Everyone Wants One" - Group Thesis

This chapter of my entry is dedicated to my participation in the group thesis "Everyone Wants One" inspired by the "Wonka" film created during the last months spent at the Computer Graphics masterclass held at "Skyup Academy" (you can find the project nominated for the "Film Of The Year" in my profile soon).

This thesis is the result of the joint effort and teamwork between me and my classmates, work that allowed us to recreate in 3D scenes of the film taken from the "Try One" sequence as faithfully as possible.

In this project I had the opportunity to work as CG Lead Modeling and Co - Lead Compositor, actively contributing in the organizational/executive phase, supervising and participating in the modeling work, creating all the multimedia material intended for behind the scenes of the project, the thesis poster and the end credit sequence.

Modeling:

Once the modeling phase was completed, my companions and I managed to correctly create all the assets present on the scene, here are some of the hero assets created by me:

Compositing:

In the final stages of the project, I worked as Co Lead Compositing alongside my CG Supervisor, on this occasion I was able to take care of the compositing of two of the five shots that make up the short film, below is the breakdown of the shots:

I wanted to thank and mention the work done by the rest of my classmates, make sure you visit their profiles too:

Oompa Loompa Team:

Alessio Porceddu - CG Supervisor & Compositing;

Michelle Gentile - Lead Rig & Animation;

Gennaro Dima - Lead Texture;

Lara Pezzetti - Lead Cloth;

Pier Paolo Picco - Lead Lighting & Previz;

Davide Loi - CG Artist;

Sara Cremonese - CG Artist;

Giusi Silipigni - CG Artist;

AR - 15 - Schmeisser Rifle

This project represents a modular modeling of the Schmeisser carbine, one of my very first models made.

I wanted to increase the level of challenge by also modeling the components and internal mechanisms of an AR-15. 

The reference phase, in addition to consulting the manufacturer's official manuals, was extremely useful both for understanding the nature of the rifle and for understanding the shapes of the internal components, which helped me a lot in modeling.

Modeling and texturing of the optical viewfinder

Once the modeling of the rifle was finished I dedicated myself to the creation of an optic to match my rifle, I chose to follow the Patrol PRO Optic 2 MOA - Red dot sight as a reference.

As usual, I collected some references to understand the real volumes and make sure that the dimensions correspond exactly to those of the rifle's upper slide.

Thank you!

Thanks to anyone who got to the bottom of viewing the entry and for taking the time to view my work for this year,  I truly appreciate it.

See you next year!