A 3D environment illustration which was part of my final submission for the 3D Production Design module in second year. The piece is inspired by a scene from the Terry Pratchett Discworld novel Moving Pictures, where the characters enter a creepy temple-like ‘cinema’ in a carved out cave with a shimmering tear in reality functioning as the screen, and Oscar-esque statues in the large room.
The scene was modelled in Maya then rendered with Mental Ray, using high-res textures and bump maps as well as alpha maps for the torn curtains. The scene was then edited in Photoshop to sort out colour balance, and the addition of certain elements, such as the celestial spirit-people, glowing eyes on the statues, and making the screen have a more emphasised ‘liquid metal’ aesthetic to it.
Whilst this work was done for university, I have wanted to do a piece based on this scene for quite some time now and I’m very happy with the overall result – especially seeing as it’s my first proper go at a 3D environment illustration.
Stuart McInnes 