Michelle Sharp | VFX Demo Reel

Hello!! This is my demo reel I made while studying at Gnomon School of VFX. Thank you to all my lovely teachers and classmates who helped me to put this all together. Enjoy!

Crabby

I created this piece for both my Houdini 4 and first demo reel class. I was really looking to do a close-up, detailed study of beach waves and sand, but inside the context of visual storytelling. I always look for ways to include story (and humor specifically) as a means to show off my effects work, so I like to think of this piece as a tiny short film about an unlucky little crab.

I am responsible for: crab animation, grain simulation, water + whitewater simulations, texturing, rendering, and compositing. Crab model + rig via Truong Rigs. Software used: Houdini FX, Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, and Redshift.

This piece was a Best of Term winner at Gnomon in Spring 2020.

Blast Off!

I created this fun little piece for my demo reel class in Fall 2020. This was a major undertaking and a great exercise in layering effects into multiple shots to create a story.

I am responsible for: RBD simulations, debris and dust simulations, smoke simulations, character animation, environment modeling, texturing, rendering, and compositing. Character rig via Josh Sobel, rocketship model via Turbosquid. Software used: Houdini FX, Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, and Redshift.

This piece was a Best of Term winner at Gnomon in Fall 2020.

Flow

For this guy, I wanted to create a very straightforward study on viscous flip simulations. This was made for my liquid simulations class in Fall 2020.

I am responsible for: Lava FLIP simulation, environment modeling, texturing, rendering, and compositing. Software used: Houdini FX, After Effects, and Redshift.

This piece was a Best of Term winner at Gnomon in Fall 2020

Spirits of Change

This piece is an homage to one of my favorite Disney films, Brother Bear. I created this alongside my good friend & classmate Alex Susanto- me doing the effects and him doing the modeling, lighting, and look development. This project posed so many unique challenges - inventing a 3D version of a magical effect based on a 2D concept, procedural flower/plant growth along a detailed mask, and also collaborating on a project while doing school entirely from home.

Responsible for all VFX: pyro + particle simulations, FLIP simulations, L-System growth, plant growth over a mask. All other aspects by Alex Susanto. Software used by me: Houdini, and by Alex: Zbrush, Substance Painter, Redshift, and Nuke.

The First Journey

This is the final piece on my demo reel, created for my VFX Design class in Summer 2020. The concept is from a children's book illustration by Phung Nguyen Quang and Huynh Kim Lien. This piece allowed me to work with less common effects like flocking and ripple simulations, as well as a magical particle simulation.

Responsible for: particle simulations, fish flocking simulation, character animation, texturing, rendering, and compositing. Character rig via Mia Pray, Foliage via Megascans. Software used: Houdini FX, Maya, Photoshop, Redshift, and Nuke.

That's all folks! Thank you so much for taking a look!