Ivan De Florio Portfolio 2024

Hello fellow Rookies, I’m a student at Skyup Academy and I will present the works I did during the masterclass in the last three months.

Before that I had just some really small experiences with 3d art, so it was like starting from zero (and hopefully become hero!)

Let’s start with the project presentations!

THE HAPPY KITCHEN

This project had the goal to build from scratch the same image as the reference in the most photorealistic way.

My biggest challenge was to have a realistic look while also maintaining a handcrafted miniature look. Also managing all the different objects and materials as I was still learning everything.

I was responsible for every aspect from start to finish.

The original reference (image below) is a beautiful work made by @la_cocina_alegre2005 on Instagram.

As always the project started by gathering real photo references. However in order to remain on schedule, as I had many different objects, I did many other research further down the road, when I actually needed them. Also I realized that in many cases the best reference was already the original one.

Setting up the main camera was the first step in Maya. Really important in order to nail down the correct size and proportions of the walls, floor and everything else.

Right after the general camera matching for the walls, I tried to match every object using simple placeholders to achieve a better result.

Modeling was not too difficult for the most part, but rather the challenge was making everything feel actually handmade and not just unrealistically symmetrical or a “copy and paste”.

For example all the tiles are unique meshes, all the pancakes are unique and so on. I tried all my best to have this feeling in all the aspects. I think the most challenging model was the basket on the floor and some organic shapes like whipped cream.

Everything was modeled in Maya.

We were allowed to use from 15 to 18 UDIMs. Doing UVs was a really interesting process, changing completely the perspective of how the meshes were made. I noticed how almost everything could have been done differently if I already had in mind how the UVs (and texturing) work. It was a good lesson! 

Texturing was really challenging at the start because I had a hard time learning how channels work on Substance Painter. But then through a lot of practice and help from the class assistants I think that I achieved a satisfying result.

Before rendering I had to set the lights. In my original reference the lighting was burned so I had to make it more balanced while also maintaining the same lighting. I only used two lights: dome light and key light.

Here you can see how each light affects the scene.

1) Dome 

2) Key 

3) Dome + Key

Thank you for the attention, I hope it was an interesting breakdown. I'm open to any feedback :)

FISH&FROGS

Now it's time for my second project.

This was my first ever sculpting project and also my first step in the Skyup Masterclass adventure.

They assigned me a concept art that I had to sculpt in Zbrush, then set the lights in Maya and render with Vray.

This was the assignment (unfortunately I cannot find the artist who made it).

First thing was to search a lot of references. I started from real life goldfish, frogs and their anatomies and skeletons. I also looked for 3d models made by other 3d artist. And some stylized works like Pokémon and Nemo.

I started sculpting by looking at goldfish for the head and the tail, while for the legs I looked at frogs. However, after the first review with the teacher (Chiara Rovoletto) I understood that the body and legs were more similar to a bulldog.

So I searched for bulldog legs references and it started to be more similar to the original concept art.

But the shape was still off as I needed to get a better grasp of how muscles work.

This was my last review before adding the final details. I was satisfied of how it turned out. Especially thanks to Xiang Jianan (one of the assistants of the Skyup Masterclass) who helped me a lot to understand and improve the shape of the arms.

Final model on Zbrush.

After importing the model in Maya, I began setting up the lights and the camera following the refererence I found.

Black and white wasn't doing justice to the subject, so I tried different colors.

Additionally, I tested other shots. Always following the references.

I rendered five shots, however I was not happy with the result of two of them, because they weren't adding anything more compared to the others.

The final result with Photoshop post-production.

Again, thank you for your attention and time! I'm always open for feedbacks :) 

Good luck everyone with the Awards!