Mosasaure

Different map used for the reconstruction of the mosasaure in a lookdev Maya / Renderman

Being a big fan of dinosaur, I really enjoyed the stage of reference searches which make me review many movies such as Jurrasic World or Avatar the way of water.

Here is a summary of my main ref on which I based the most going from the basic modeling, to the texturing, to the lighting, to the environment...

I like me based also on real ref like crocodile or other repitiles, most of them are present on my ref board. 

The modeling part took the most time, I did a lot of tests for transitions between scales and the basic shape of the Mosasaure.

I started with a very rough base on maya then i went to Zbrush in order to improve forms in dynamesh. When the shape is well defined I went to Zremesh to finalize some details. FinalIy I came back to maya to perform a clean retopology. 

Back in Zbrush to start the displace:

 I started by projecting my old dynamesh in order to recover as many details as possible

Then I increased divisions and start sculpting details with different layers

I worked with layers to be able to separate the different levels of subdivision between the basic shape and displaces from the primary to the terciary. Thanks to this process the maps import in maya improved details  transcriptions. (see hypershade below)

After using many alpha and brush of Zbrush I finally got to a result that suits me.

I export the maps of normal displace and cavity to start the texture in Substance painter.

The texturing part started by importing my low poly mosasaure then baking the maps thanks to my high poly out Zbrush. I worked with the specular glossiness PBR model that suits me perfectly.

The Zbrush maps have been imported then I started to create masks.

I painted different shades which formed the colo base then I started using my maps : ambient occlusion, curvature and cavity. I refined my different layers and created smart materials. I added scratches, dirt, redhness ...

After plainty of layers and heavy scenes I achieved a rendering that suits me so I was able to switch to shading in my maya lookdev.

On this project I really tried to push my knowledge as far as possible using a Lighting system by layer. One for the creature, one for the fog and two for the environment. Each layer is constrained to different light separated in LPE to facilitate the layers  rebuild in Nuke.

Finally a touch of compositing to add the whole look of the picture. 

I added flares, glow particles, motion blur, smokes and to finish my favorite, the chromatik aberration which really achieved a good look and a real dynamic underwater.