In the animation stage, I have already completed most of the scene models and integrated them into a single file to create the animation. However, here, I will specifically outline the process of creating the scene.
Process: Find reference images ➡️ Build low-poly models in Maya ➡️ Unfold UVs in Maya ➡️ Name and group objects ➡️ Apply materials in Substance Painter ➡️ Export textures from Substance Painter and import them into Maya ➡️ Complete a series of lighting setups ➡️ Render ➡️ Complete scene visual effects
Since I primarily focused on character creation, and due to time constraints, I didn’t spend an extensive amount of time creating detailed scene models. I spent two days building a simple house model (90%) and used part of reference model(10%), two days for texture mapping, and one day for scene integration and lighting.
Below are my reference images, low-poly models, and the texturing process. I won’t go into detail about the modeling and texturing parts; they are presented in image format.
Low-Poly Models:
Texturing Process:
Textured Results:
In this blog, the most critical aspects for me were the VFX parts : lighting, and rendering. After integrating the scene, I created several types of lighting: Arnold Skydome, Area lights, and directionalLight.
The Arnold Skydome serves as the background for the entire scene. I used an online reference “sunrise background” (HDRI image) as the material for the entire sky. I chose this image because I wanted to create a series of orange and blue backgrounds to convey the story from sunset into the night. Therefore, my lighting prominently features these two colors (blue for shadows and orange for light).
Area lights can serve as carriers for AI Atmosphere Volume. In Arnold’s rendering environment, I created an AI AtmosphereVolume to display atmospheric fog in both these light types (it should be possible in other lights as well, but I focused on these two).
All three of them have similar settings:
- Intensity/Density
- Color
- Samples (rendering shading clarity)
- By adjusting these values, I can control the light intensity, fog density, and color tendency. It’s worth noting that some parameters of directional lights, such as the Illuminance and Shadow Color attributes, influence the overall effect of the image. Directional lights can illuminate the entire scene and cast shadows, creating a unified visual impression. This sets them apart from area lights, which only illuminate a localized area.
AI Atmosphere Volume Effect:
Area Light Effect:
Directional Light Effect:
Lighting Tutorials:
Render image:
Render shot:
That covers the process of scene creation.