The Sinister Arrival

A Star Wars inspired collaboration project

Our project idea was to design, create and bring to life a new world inspired by the STAR WARS universe, showcased through a dramatic starship landing sequence.

Team members: Diego Lamattina, Kushal Modi, Daniel Copeman

Time spent on this project: 9 Weeks

With the aim of creating all environments, assets and effects within our small team of three, we covered many stages of the CG & VFX pipeline to achieve the final result. This included concepts & previsualisation, 3D asset modelling & texturing, layout, rigging, animation, VFX simulations, lighting & rendering, compositing, sound design and final assembly - for each scene.

Our workflow utilized software such as Maya, 3DS Max, Substance Painter, EmberGen, Nuke and After Effects, with the final shots being rendered in Chaos Corona.

Many sketches were done as part of our planning. This allowed us to identify key aspects of each scene before moving into digital. Building a solid picture of our new 'world' was important for collaborating effectively, to ensure all our ideas were aligned from the start.

Fury Class Interceptor model and texturing by Diego Lamattina

Diego was responsible for creating our hero asset from top to bottom, with textures included. He studied existing reference material to re-create this highly detailed model for our shot film. Every feature of this model was meticulously crafted from scratch, including the posable wings, legs and ramp.

These renders show before and after texturing of the Fury Class Interceptor model.

We took all our scenes from blocked-out models through to final render, as in the above for Shot 1. The various iterations of each scene were used for determining shot composition, camera angles and light direction, taking our project from previs to the final render.

Modelling, lighting, rendering, simulations and compositing by Kushal Modi

Kushal created all landscapes and planets for this project. He played a pivotal role in bringing each shot to life with photorealistic lighting and rendering in Chaos Corona, before adding simulation effects in EmberGen. His contribution extended to compositing each shot, merging the simulations with the CG renders.

Animation, modelling and rigging iteration reel by Daniel Copeman

Daniel's role in this project involved supporting with the layout of each scene and developing the initial concepts through sketching. He created several textured models for final sequence, as well as being responsible for all of the animation (models and cameras). This involved rigging the hero asset. Additionally, Daniel cut together the final sequence with colour correction and full sound edit.

Although this was for a University brief, it was also a passion project for our team. Each of us learned a lot and enjoyed the challenges!

Third Party Content Disclaimer:

The STAR WARS theme, likeness and Fury Class Interceptor design are property of Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company. Fury Class Interceptor model reference by Rocz3D. The STAR WARS sound effects are property of Lucasfilm and Skywalker Sound. Other sounds sourced from Pixabay.com. Music by Michael Giacchino and John Wiliams. Outer space planet textures from scifi3d.com and solarsystemscope.com. 

This is a student film. No copyright infringement intended.