Abominable Snowball

GET IN THE MOOD

Get pre-production right, the rest of the scene goes more smoothly. First thing: references - the blueprint and setting the mood.

CREATING THE SHOT

Sometimes it takes a few iterations to get the right shot. In this case, the story was really about one little monster, keying in on him, well, was key.

LIGHTING & COMPOSITING

Once the camera is set and the texturing is done, finally get to light!

CHALLENGES OVERCOME

Being that this was my first completed lighting project (of course there were many unfinished scenes that provided many a lesson!) and only having had opened Maya, Arnold, and Nuke just a couple months prior (heck, I didn't even know what Arnold was!) - every step was a new challenge to overcome, a new lesson learned, a new discovery. I learned it all at once.

From learning the interfaces
to moving and manipulating in 3D space
to camera settings and composition
to shading and texturing.
All this before lighting!
Then on to rendering and compositing.

FINAL SHOT

layout | shading | lighting | compositing

using Maya | Arnold | Nuke

AWARDS
Lighting Bot Lighting Challenge Winner, November 2022
Winter

Deepest appreciation to the following great artists, for without their inspiring pieces my piece wouldn't be possible.

Set by Eugene Bobylev
https://www.artstation.com/alkaline3d

Monster modeled by Sara Tarr from her Monster Tea Party scene.
https://www.artstation.com/saratarr

Inspired by the movie Abominable, Dreamworks Animation and Pearl Studios.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6324278/

A special thanks to Juan Lopez, my teacher, my mentor, but most of all my friend.
http://www.jlopezvfx.com/