Maya Castañeda Animation

3D Animation Acting Project Created in Maya (Animation) Blender (Render) After Effects (Postpro) 

Skills learned:

Use of timing / animating aside of the reference/ animation of lights / animation of textures/ glowy eyes/ use of blinks / pupil animation

Time: 4 months animation 2 months render and postpro

Image 1: Light setting. Three lights with animated movement and color change values

Image 2: Node tree for the eye texture color change animation

3D Animation "body mechanic" Project Created in Maya (Animation) Blender (Render) 

Skills learned: Curves of animation / use of timing / weights / volumetric lights / 

Time: 4 months animatin 1 month render

Image 1 and 2: Initial render attempts with and without HDRI

Image 3: Final 3D settup

An HDRI was used for the general environment light and several local cone-shaped lights for the interior lighting of the café. Since the result was too dark, an emissive cube was added to reduce the contrast between the interior and exterior light and create a warmer ambiance. Finally, volumetric lights were added through the windows.

Image 4 and 5: Volumetric

To create the volumetric lights, solid blocks were generated following the light path, and with the help of a node tree, the appearance of streetlight beams crossing through the window was achieved.

3D Animation "creature" Project Created in Maya (Animation) Blender (Render) 

Learned skills: 

Tail animation / Use of heavy weight / Neck animation / Postpro sound effects

Time" 2 months animation 1 month render

Image 1: Lighting setup`

The scene had ambient moonlight. However, this lighting created too much contrast with the dinosaur, so different lights were placed along the creature's path to illuminate the area that was backlit.

Image 2 Textures

Additionally, a lot of work was put into texturing the dinosaur to achieve that sense of roughness and relief.