Kitty Groom / Statue Destuction Project

Kitty Groom

This is a project I've done for my student portfolio before applying to Arts University Bournemouth. The scope of this project was to create a realistic kitten model, focusing primarily on the groom.

I wanted to challenge myself with creating a realistic groom and this really was a challenge for me since I've never done any grooming before.

Throughout the project, I encountered numerous obstacles, each presenting an opportunity for problem-solving and skill development. Extensive research and experimentation were essential as I navigated the complexities of grooming techniques.

The groom was made in Houdini and the base model was done in ZBrush. I started by studying and observing the shapes, patterns and lengths of cat fur and then built a basic groom, which served as the foundation for further refinement. Through iterative adjustments, I gradually honed the groom until achieving a level of satisfaction that I was happy with.

The main outcome of this project was to learn the basics of creating a groom inside Houdini and to create a strong portfolio piece that would show strong attention to detail.

Statue Destruction Project

This project was part of the second term of my first year at Arts University Bournemouth. The scope of this project was to create and direct a realistic destruction simulation inside Houdini and seamlessly integrate it into live-action footage.

I did a lot of research and movie analysis to have an idea of how destruction works, after that I created a rough storyboard where I illustrated how I wanted the destruction to look. 

I began by tracking and match-moving the proxy geo in 3DEqualizer and then going into Nuke to paint out the statues out of the footage and do some rotoscoping on the Horse statue in the foreground. Afterwards, with the help of my teachers, I created a realistic RBD Destruction simulation inside Houdini along with particle simulations for the dust and debris, a pyro simulation for the smoke emitted by the destruction and a vellum simulation for the painting tear in the background. And, in the end brought it all back into Nuke to do the cg integration.

We also had to think of how the destruction would occur, my main idea was a bolt being accidentally fired straight at the statue from a nearby ballista. I created the bolt inside Maya and textured it inside Substance Painter. My main reference for the bolt asset was the scorpion bolt from "Game of Thrones", and so I gathered some references and tried to replicate the model.

Overall I am pretty satisfied with the outcome, although there are a lot of things that I could improve with more time. All in all, I feel like I've progressed a lot and I am very excited about what the future has in store.