Super Smash Juice

Visual Development - April 2015 - Lesson 3

This is probably my favorite asset in the project. I had a lot of fun getting to this point with the color of the drink and learning about caustics. I referenced Snapple Mango Madness for the color, and it took a little time but I got it to an acceptable point. I had to do a lot of touching up with the bump map for the beveled text on the top and bottom of the label: (top) "Smash Bottling Co" and (bottom) "Peach Mango Punch." This drink is inspired by my favorite Super Smash Bros character Peach. Yeeeeah, she's the bomb. Anywho, I had to really crank up the photons for the caustics to show up, and I used the refraction index of cranberry juice (1.320) to get the look of the caustics; I enjoy the way they kind of glow in the shadow. I believe it helps to sell the look and function of the Peach Mango Punch; it is supposed to grant you the power of the Smash Ball, hence the label.

The biggest issue I had was with creating photon and final gather maps. I am still learning how to use them properly. That aside, I had a ton of fun with this particular project. Don't you just want to try some? It's so tasty!

Scraping On By

Visual Development - April 2015 - Lesson 2

This was the first segment of a three-part project. I had a great time making this project come along. Although the box texture and bump files were provided, I utilized the internet to find and manipulate the textures for the box's sticker and some of the rust on the scraper. I decided to go with a Super Smash Bros theme for this project. I also employed the layered texture tool in Maya to create the attributes for the reflectivity, transparency, diffuse, and bump attributes. This project had its challenges due to it being a while since I used the layered texture tool, and I had never used the tool the way it was exploited for this project. Needless to say I got it all done, and I am happy with the result.

Reunited and it Feels so... Good?

Provided Reference

My Render

Visual Development (VSD) - April 2015

This class hit me right in the memory region of my brain. Visual Development is an extension and deeper look into the concepts of Shading and Lighting, a class that I took many moons ago back in 2013. Above you see two images; the one on the top is the reference image, and the bottom is the the image that I rendered after manipulating the scene. If you can't manage to make out any outstanding differences between the images, then compliments and kudos are in order. Matching things like shadow position and light color are tedious and (often) arduous works. I can tell you that the light color in the back room is not quite the same, and the shadows in the front room are slightly offset just below the position in the reference image.

Reference

My Render

The images above are the second segment of Lesson 1. I improved the light color in the middle room, but it still is not spot-on to the reference. The back room's light color is also off just a bit. The shadows are still a bit grainy, but it isn't too bad. This was a fun and challenging first lesson, which re-acquainted me with the skills and knowledge I gained in Shading and Lighting class back in 2013.