The Hero's Lair - The Insect - The Timelapse

The Hero's Lair

The goal of this project was to create a character's hero's lair. I chose to represent what I imagined to be Hiccup's lair from the How To Train Your Dragon films from Dreamworks Animation studio.

Pre-Production

Hiccup is a creative and handy person, so I immediately thought of a workshop for his lair. In this workshop he could store all his creations and inventions as well as his different tools. We would therefore find many elements that Hiccup designed to help Toothless fly such as his rudder, but also pieces of Hiccup's armor and his sword. Other objects from the films are arranged in the room to represent Hiccup's world as faithfully as possible.

I started by looking for workshop references, furniture and objects that would be present as well as the different objects that Hiccup has designed throughout his adventures.

Then I started making sketches of the workshop to get an idea of ​​how to position the different elements as well as the camera's point of view. I also looked for lighting ambiances first in black and white then in color. Finally, I produced sketches of the different elements that will be present to better understand their volumes and shapes.

Modelisation

For this part I started by modeling the room itself. The structure of the workshop is mainly made of wooden planks. The ceiling is supported by pillars which rest on blocks of stone.

After having relayed the main structure of the piece I began the modelisation of the different elements that will be present. The pieces of Hiccup's armor were interesting to deal with, mainly the helmet which is made up of several pieces that fit together. I then came to arrange the objects in the room to review their placement in the workshop.

Texturing, lighting and compositing

The most present types of texture were wood and leather, so I had to study different references of wood and leather depending of the types of the objects and elements to which they would correspond. For example, for the wood of the wall and floor boards I wanted it to be more damaged with traces of dust and dirt. On the other hand, for the wood furniture I wanted to have something smoother and varnished.

I carried used the same process for the leather objects. I adapted the appearance of the texture according to the size and type of the object to have variations between each element.

For the lighting I produced two distinct lighting ambiances : day and night.

For the daytime lighting I wanted to have a warm atmosphere which would highlight the objects placed on the floor of the workshop.

The night lighting is also warm but more orange with the light of the fire which illuminates the room. The office is lit by two candles highlighting the objects arranged around it.

With the compositing I wanted to reinforce these two atmospheres as well as bring depth of field.

The insect

The goal of this project was to create an insect and its environment and then make it evolve within it. I chose to create a kind of beetle eating mushrooms.

Pre-Production

For my insect I chose to create a beetle. I started by looking for references to existing beetles to have a basis. I then found references to shells having spikes with an interesting shape.

So I started making sketches of my insect to see how the modifications I made to it worked. I added horns to his head and to his shell. I also tested texure and color to end up choosing something quite red.

The environment in which this insect evolves is located in mountainous areas. Feeding on mushrooms and bark, I therefore chose to represent a tree stump on which mushrooms would have grown. So I also looked for references of these different elements and then I drew it to get an idea of ​​what this setting could look like.

Insect - Modelisation

To model the insect I started by producing a base in maya based on my sketches. I then reworked this base in Zbrush to add detail. I retrieved the Zbrush modeling in mya to retopologize it.

Insect - Rigging

To create the rigg of my insect I first started with the base of its body. I then rigged the legs which have an ik fk switch to allow more freedom in the insect's movements. I also added expressions so that the mandibles are moving without having to animate them. I also made sure to have a breathing effect using blend shapes and expressions.

Insect - Texturing

For the textures of the insect I especially wanted to keep the red color that I had found during pre-production but I had to add variations of this color to have something natural which was quite difficult to obtain. part of the insect looks a lot like a kind of flesh, this part is therefore more orange and has more subsurface to have something translucent. I also added hairs to part of the insect's body which was interesting to process.

Environment - Modelisation

To model the environment I first started by modeling the tree stump because it is the main element. I mainly used Zbrush to model it which was quite complicated to get something realistic and I then retouched it in maya. The modeling of the other elements was also interesting to deal with, I was notably able to discover duplication using MASH which I used for the moss and the clovers on the ground.

Environment - Texturing

The textures of the environment were very interesting to deal with, I was able to use the subsurface for the mushrooms in order to have something translucent. The wood of the tree stump was quite difficult to make, I had to use several color variations to have something natural.

Compositing

With the compositing I was able to add depth of field as well as atmospheric perspective. I also reinforced my intention of lighting which is an atmosphere of the end of the day. I was also able to add particles to bring life to the decor. The animation of the insect being fast at times and the composting allowed me to add motion blur to it.

The Timelapse

The goal of this project was to choose an element or an object that would evolve over time. The main objective was therefore to create two versions of this element, one where it is new and the other where it is damaged. I chose to represent a guardian robot from the film Castle in the Sky by Studio Ghibli.

Pre-Production

For this project I therefore started by collecting references of the guardian robot firstly thanks to the film to see how it is represented then I found references of reconstructions and figurines to see how it was reproduced. For the environment I also looked for references from the film and then I looked for references of places with similar aspects.

I then started to make sketches of the robot, notably by making a turn as well as researching colors. I also did research for the environment and then I produced a story board of the four shots of my animation.

Robot - Modelisation

To model the robot I started by creating a base with the different overall shapes. I then detailed them more and more, particularly at the level of the belly which is made up of several metal plates.

I also had to model the interior of the robot because one of the plates fell during the animation. The legs and arms are also divided into several parts which connect together. Moss begins to grow over time and covers the top of the robot.

Robot - Texturing

The robot's textures are mainly composed of copper which will oxidize over time. The first state is therefore a slightly damaged copper with variations in color because I wanted to show that the robot had lived before finding itself in this place. The second state is much more oxidized showing a strong degradation of the robot. A ruby ​​is present on the robot's torso and glass constitutes the pieces of wings present on the robot's right arm.

Propagation Map

The propagation map allowing you to move from one state to another was made with Nuke and is spread over the entire robot throughout the animation, allowing the oxidation of the copper to appear.

Environment - Modelisation

The environment is made up of many stone elements, notably destroyed columns showing the evolution of time. Vegetation is also present to reinforce the appearance of an abandoned place.

I found that the modeling of these elements was interesting to deal with, particularly for the ivy, of which I first modeled a base and then duplicated it with a MASH to have a more natural appearance. For the moss and grass I used Xgen and some duplication.

Environment - Texturing

For the textures of the environment I had to find different ways of representing stone so as not to give the impression of there being only one type of stone. For the columns I decided to represent the stone as a very smooth stone to show that it was carved by someone or something. However, for the wall and the stones, the texture will appear to be more fragile with more variations in the color.

For the ivy and the grass I used a green base color and then added more yellow variations to show that the sun and the weather have affected the vegetation.

Compositing

Compositing first allowed me to add a sky to the animation and then to reinforce my lighting intentions. I was able to add depth of field and atmospheric perspective to have a more natural look. I was also able to resolve layering problems thanks to cryptomattes that I rendered. I finally added suspended particles as well as light ray effects. I finished by adding post-processing effects such as vignetting, chromatic aberration and grain.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my different projects and I hope you enjoyed them!