Rookies Entry Nick de Leeuw

The Rookies Entry 2022

This entry contains my showreel and two projects I like to breakdown. Because I’m starting to specialize in CFX you will see mostly creature work. But besides that I’m also enjoying different types of FX and Grooming. 

Showreel 2022 

This is my most recent showreel containing personal and group projects. It’s a collection of highlight from last 2 years. I’ve also written down the tasks within the video so my contribution is clear for every project.

Odyssey Character Showcase

Odyssey has been a group project from me and 5 other students studying at The Netherlands Film Acadamy who are credited down below. We have been working as a team through the character-development for this creature named Frank. 

For this project I’ve been responsible for the Grooming and FX. Working through many different iterations until we received the right design complimenting it’s character. The Grooming and CFX has been done in Houdini to keep the the pipeline compact in one package. 

The importance of detail

When the first designs were created for our beloved Frank, he wasn’t supposed to have hair. This changed fairly quickly however when we realized how much detail the hair actually provided. It was lovely being able to give a little extra detail on this character with my work. 

Odyssey Character Demo

Creating the CFX for Frank was a real Challenge. Because at the time I was still discovering the techniques used for hair simulation in Houdini.  Although challenging, it was satisfying creating a working pipeline with Houdini’s procedural nature. Creating a setup where I can have multiple versions of animation or poses without worrying the pipeline would break.

Besides CFX I also was responsible for the FX within the demo’s. Creating the volumes and particles for the first demo and cloth for the second. 

Man’s Best Friend Character Showcase

Besides a group project I’d like to highlight a personal project I have been working on. Man’s Best Friend isn’t much like a regular dog. He is a representation of our own lack of care towards nature and need for consumption.

In this project I have been responsible for almost every aspect. From sculpting, texturing to schading and lighting. Although the project focused primarily on Grooming and CFX it was nice being able to art-direct every decision. 

Man’s Best Friend 

For the scene I wanted the creature to be alone and forgotten. Sending the watcher a message of failure, while the creature proudly awaits it’s final moment. Therefore lighting it from the back to create drama and hopefully an interesting image. Besides that I really wanted the lighting to complimented the groom, being again my technical goal for this project.

I worked for this mainly in Houdini being my main program for most tasks. Besides that I used Substance Designer for texturing and Zbrush for sculpting. I rendered everything in Arnold and did a little compositing in Nuke.  

Thank you

For looking at my entry! I hope it took your interested and I’m looking forward on seeing the talented projects at the Rookies this year. 

I’d like to end off with some credits towards my reel and group projects. First off I’d like to thanks the crew of Odyssey being: Ruben Brouns (Texturing, Shading, Lighting, Lookdev & Rendering), Bo schutte (Concept Art & Character Design), Menno Haas (Sculpting & Compositing), Stijn van der Plas (Animation & Rigging) and Emiel van Vliet (Animation). 

Secondly I’d like to give credits for the project from Vader 2. First off I’d like to thank: Tim Forsgren (Compositing), Ruben Brouns (Texturing, Shading, Lighting, Lookdev & Rendering) and Stijn van der Plas (Animation & Rigging).