Matteo Llorens 2024 - Creature Artist

Razorback Whiptail : 

For some time now, I've been eager to learn how to use Mari software. When Kurtis Dawe offered several artists the opportunity to work on one of his assets, I immediately seized the chance. Being passionate about creatures and monsters since my introduction to 3D work, I enthusiastically immersed myself in this exciting project. Access to such a high-quality asset enabled me to focus on practicing the main areas I wanted to refine: creature texturing/lookdev. So, I handled everything in the project, except for the modeling done by Kurtis.

Environnement integration :
I chose to highlight my creature by integrating it into scenes from Jon Favreau's 2019 film, The Lion King, replacing the original animals with my asset. This exercise proved to be an exceptional way to refine my skills in reference analysis, lighting matching, and final compositing.

Turntable : I created multiple turntables with different lighting to ensure the asset works well under various conditions. After confirming the initial lighting in a neutral setup, I adjusted the shaders using different lighting setups to see how the creature looks in different environments, from bright sunlight to a forest or softer HDRi lighting.

Below is a concise overview and breakdown of my creature workflow for all projects, primarily focusing on texturing in The Foundry Mari, rendering in Maya/Renderman, and compositing in The Foundry Nuke.

The DarkElf :

On the DarkElf project I worked with Théo Murat, who took care of the whole rig part of the face. In my case I was in charge of creating the entire facial assets in CG. My responsibilities included modelling/UV, texturing/lookdev, lighting/rendering and compositing. I also had the help of Maelle Couzinier, who took care of the facial animation. This was an exciting project for me, as I was aiming to replace a film creature with my DarkElf creature. I chose the Vecna creature from Stranger Things in Upside Down World. It's been a great challenge that I've enjoyed immensely as a fan the serie.

Here are a few breakdowns of the project, highlighting the creation of the asset, which took place in two stages. The transition from a classic student project pipeline to that of a studio.

The Mosasaure :

Here's our very first integration shot, worked on with assistance from Lancelot Maestrini for video integration/compositing and animation by Maelle Couzinier. This initial test aimed to assess how my creature asset would appear within a video environment. I led the group project and handled the lighting for this initial shot. Currently, we're working on additional shots with a slightly larger team, that will further showcase my creature, all within the theme of thalassophobia! I hope to be able to share more with you soon on my instagram

Once more, here's a brief overview of the project, beginning with the initial version, progressing through the creature's improvements, and concluding with the integration shots.

Spurs Out :

I was lucky enough to be able to help the group on the film Spurs out from ESMA Toulouse, where I took care of all the dragons in terms of sculpting, texturing, shading and lookdev in a USD pipeline. It was a first for me to work on Solaris/Renderman, and I was really happy to be able to practice this brand new lookdev mode, which taught me a lot about cleanliness and organization on a project. The magniability of settings and scenes was very natural, and I was able to adapt to the group's pipeline to release a main asset as quickly as possible.

And here are the little breakdowns of the project that explain my entire asset-building process as creature artist helper on the Spurs Out movie.

Thank You for Reading :

A big thank you to all the talented artists who collaborated with me on these projects. Their contribution was essential in showcasing my work. I want to express my gratitude to Théo Murat for his invaluable rigs on the DarkElf and Mosasaure projects, to Maëlle Couzinier for her animations on the Dark Elf from Stranger Things and the underwater shot of the Mosasaure, to Lancelot Maestrini for compositing the underwater shot of the Mosasaure, to Kurtis Dawe for giving me access to his Razorback asset, and to the entire Spurs Out movie team. I am grateful for all that I have learned from each of you! I also want to sincerely thank everyone who supported and advised me throughout this year. Your guidance and encouragement have been immensely helpful and have contributed to my professional development.