plants
All Plants
First, I researched all the different plants featured in the scene and found real-life references for them. I modeled six plants: Aloe Vera, snake plant, orchid, cast iron plant, a small bushy plant, and a shrub. Each of these plants was modeled, UV-unwrapped, and textured in Blender. I encountered some issues with the textures when exporting them to Unreal Engine, so I had to bake all the texture maps in Blender before importing them into Unreal Engine.
Snake plant and aloe plant
Modeled these in Blender and used procedural node based texturing in blender to texture them.
Cast Iron Plant, Orchid Plant and Small Plant
Made one leaf and duplicated other leaves and changes size.
After uv unwrapping this plant, I used a image of the real leaf as a texture and applied it to my leaves.
Plant
Modeled this plant using a “sapling tree generator” in Blender.
dRAGON
Using this method, I added the smaller cube to a bigger curve using the Array and curve modifier in blender.
Second Attempt with curves and modifiers.
First Attempt with curves and extrusion:
I usually start by extruding and tapering the curve, then move on to sculpting the scales in ZBrush. However, I encountered issues with UV unwrapping after sculpting, and the result didn't have the choppy look I was going for. So, I decided to remodel it using a different and more efficient approach.
Dragon Body
I worked on creating the dragon's body, which turned out to be the most challenging part of this assignment. Initially, I followed some tutorials on extruding a curve and converting it into a mesh, but the results weren't exactly what I was aiming for. Eventually, I discovered some modifiers in Blender that allowed me to create the dragon procedurally. I sculpted the dragon directly in Blender and used Substance Painter to texture the scales, while the rest of the body was textured in Blender.
Finally, UV unwrapped in blender and textured in Substance Painter and blender.
I baked these textures from blender and exported it to unreal engine and adjusted everything in UE5.
Sculpted scales in Blender.
This is what it looked liked after adjusting the length to the curve.
SUMMARY
What?
This scene was recreated from the movie 'Wish Dragon' by Tencent Pictures during a collaborative course known as 'Creating Digital Environments,' in which students work in each stage of the CG pipeline to create a short film. For this film, I worked as the lead modeler and surfacer of environment modeling and VFX. A full list of my responsibilities can be viewed below.
Full Role and Responsibilities
Modeling: Dragon (body and hands), plants( Aloe vera, Snake plant, cast iron plant, shrubs) and pots.
Surfacing: Dragon (body and hands), plants( Aloe vera, Snake plant, cast iron plant, shrubs) and pots.
VFX: Rain, rain drops and rain splashes.
Team Members: Skyla Steven (Layout and Lead Modeler), Zachary D.(Lighting lead and set dressing), Christopher Colling(Project Manager and prop modeling).
Software’s Used: Autodesk Maya, Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Photoshop, Unreal Engine and Renderman
Procedural Modeling
Sculpting
Procedural Surfacing/Texturing
Lighting
Camera Animation and Rendering
Miro Board
Blender 3D
Unreal Engine
Substance Painter
Adobe After Effects
Duration
Role
Tools
Classwork - 4 weeks
Team of 4
Wish Dragon - Scene Recreation
Rain
Rain FX
For natural phenomena, we created rain. I worked on the rain and made it using the Niagara System in Unreal. Before that I tried to make rain in Houdini and blender but it took too long to render. The Niagara system made the raindrops. I added the texture for the splash which hits the ground. Changing spawn size and particle size, I tried to achieve Rain FX.
Attempt 1
Using DOP network and collision, I tried to make rain in Houdini. It took way too long to render and I had issues exporting it to UE5. So I decided to make it in UE5 itself.
Attempt 2
Creating the rain using the Niagara system in UE5 was relatively straightforward. Although it ended up looking a bit choppy and somewhat like snow, we felt that it complemented the scene we were creating. I also added splashes with an image texture to simulate the rain hitting the ground.
