Bumsu Kim - FX Reel

The Abyss Worm

- The concept of this scene revolves around a colossal worm-like monster creeping along the surface of an ancient tower nestled in the depths of an abyss. Despite its relentless attempts, the worm remains trapped within the confines of the abyss, unable to break free. My aim was to evoke a nostalgic atmosphere reminiscent of classic monster films, as I was an ardent fan of such movies during my childhood.

Reference

I started by collecting references, primarily searching for old classic monster films and studying the iconic tower shapes that remained after the destruction.

After gathering references, I began contemplating the Houdini effects I wanted to incorporate into this project. Fortunately, I had already modeled the tower and used it in a previous project, which saved me time searching for assets.

I envision the scene to include the following elements:

1. A giant worm object with dynamic animations.

2. A tower featuring a rigid body dynamics (RBD) simulation, complete with debris, silt, and dust.

3. An immersive cave environment.

4. Illumination emanating from a hole in the cave's roof, creating volumetric god rays.

5. Overall, I aim to capture a classic film vibe throughout the scene.

I opted to sculpt the worm using Zbrush and then proceeded to rig and animate it in Maya. However, one of the challenges I encountered during the animation process was that I didn't anticipate potential UV issues that might arise after baking. As a result, I found myself having to backtrack to the beginning phase to address these problems.

Simulation

I started with the low resolution of the tower by visualizing it as SDF boxes and then fractured it for the guide simulation. After completing the guide simulation, I transferred it to the actual RBD simulation with following velocity and other attributes. It took nearly a month of intensive work to achieve the desired effect of the worm crawling on the tower with RBD destruction. Throughout the process, I had to run so many iterations using wedge tools to fine-tune the results.

P.S. A big thanks to Redshift for its contribution to this project. I am grateful for the exceptional GPU rendering capabilities of Redshift, as it enabled me to render this scene within the allotted time frame.

To be honest, when it comes to sharing this project, I actually want to continue refining the compositing in order to achieve various color moods.

Final

River and Plane

- The concept of this project is to combine elements of untamed nature through fluid simulation with human-made machinery incorporated within it.

When I created this fluid scene back in my school days, I completely underestimated the significant amount of time the fluid simulation would require, especially considering the limitations of my computer. It was a valuable learning experience for me, teaching me the importance of working efficiently with Houdini simulations and managing time effectively.

Fluid Simulation setup

1. I began by creating the river bed.

2. Next, I scattered mega scan rocks onto the river bed, adding an element of realism.

3. I created a source that both animated and generated custom velocity, allowing for dynamic fluid movement.

4. Then, I simulated the fluids from the starting frame to the end frame to cache the end frame, ensuring that the fluid simulations interacted with the river bed, achieving an average depth and the desired appearance. (It took me a significant amount of time to find the ideal river flow for this project.)

5. I added a plane positioned at the center of the river to serve as a collision object.

Final

In Conclusion

Thank you so much for taking the time to review my FX reel. I am sincerely grateful for all the people who have supported me, especially my fiancé. I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to my FX teachers at Gnomon: Josh Hatton, Dan Bodenstein, Klaus Seitschek, and Sercan Yasar. I really learned a lot by making some fun projects last two years. It's incredible to reflect on how far I've come in just two years, considering I had no knowledge of what topology meant at the beginning. Once again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to showcase my work alongside other talented 3D artists.