Lighting Demo Reel

Office Interior

          My Office space was modeled by a fellow student Leslie Clark and was then handed off to me to help with texturing and lighting. It was created in Maya software using Arnold render engine. I wanted to create multiple lighting scenarios within the space itself and so I decided to light the scene for different times of the day; Day, Evening, and Nighttime. 

         I loved playing with the overexposure of the light and the light coming from sources beyond the camera view. I really strived to keep that really light and open feeling that I got from the inspiration photos. 

Both shots have a Skydome light, Office Lights, Hall Lights, and Computer light render layers to help create the lighting you see in the final shot. 

Because this was one of my senior studio projects I have also included my Vimeo breakdown video below. 

Strike a Match

     This project was inspired heavily by Stanley Kubrick's film "Barry Lyndon" from 1975.  I was inspired by the candlelight scenes in the film to try and create a similar lighting scene for one of my senior projects. 

      I created this using mainly Maya software with Arnold's render engine and shaders. The candle flame was created in Maya using a fluid container with the help of a tutorial online. I also used Houdini to create some of the poker chips piles and I used Nuke for compositing the different render layers, grading, denoising, and using defocus on the scene.  The render layers were to decrease render time as much as possible. 

   In the video, you can see the candle flames moving, compared to the still frame image. There are 4-6 different versions of the candle flames because I didn't want all of them to be moving the same way at the same time. So some are offset versions of the same render and some are different fluid renders to add variation. 

Library Scene

    This scene started as a short 3-week lighting project where our purpose was to create storytelling through our lighting. I continued to develop the scene beyond the class project and created two different lighting setups. I wanted to stick with my original setup with the overexposed window and bright interior. But I also felt inspired by the antique/older feeling and created the sunbeams with the dust in the air. 

    This scene was inspired by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. It was also created using Maya, Arnold, Nuke, and Photoshop for the book textures. 

Fantastical Plant

      The purpose of this project was to combine a real-life organic object, like a plant, and combine it with an unreal element. I chose to create a Hot Air Balloon flower for my design. Creating organic and natural objects is one of the hardest challenges I think for Visual Effects artists and I really did enjoy challenging myself with this. 

      I created this project all in Maya software, with Arnold's render engine, and Nuke for grading and defocus. 

Thank you for taking the time to look at my entry and to look at the work that I have created!  I'm honored to be in a contest with so many talented artists.