A year-long graduate capstone project created based on the vibrant and lush foliage grown at the Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, Canada. Responsible for project management, concept design, layout, modeling (ground plane + hill), look development (all aspects), procedural foliage & cobblestone path. Mentored by artists from Meta & DreamWorks and Texas A&M Professors.
Special Thanks: Nimi Parmar, Adithya Sathya, CGTrader, Sketchfab
Special Thanks: Nimi Parmar, Adithya Sathya, CGTrader, Sketchfab
Software Used: Adobe Suite, Autodesk Maya, RenderMan, Substance Painter, SpeedTree, and Houdini.
High-quality render of environment
Butchart Gardens References
References of The Butchart Garden in British Columbia, Canada in the Springtime
Concept
The concept was designed referencing lush gardens and foliage grown at The Butchart Gardens. I chose to have warmer tulips at the foreground of the piece and cooler tones in the background to convey the artistic principle of atmospheric perspective. I also framed the composition with the tulips to direct the eye from screen left to right and over the bridge into the background.
Layout
The layout stage of the project involved set-dressing foliage, setting up my camera, and then adding textures to bring the scene to life. I experimented with camera lenses (24, 28, 30, 45), and decided to use a lower lens (28mm) to capture a wider sense of depth and space in the background. Another important aspect of the project was comparing the scene elements to a character scaled to real-world measurements. By adding in a character in the scene, I adjusted the scale of the trees, leaves, bushes, and rocks.
Procedural Foliage Generation
Procedural grass foliage created in Houdini using the scattering tools
Tree Image Left (First Attempt) - Houdini Lab Trees
Tree Image Right (Second Attempt) - SpeedTree
I discovered that the procedural SpeedTree workflow was the best solution to create realistic trees most efficiently. This process was also very interactive allowing me to delete, rotate, and translate individual branches along with the entire branch hierachy. This was the best option for my project to mimic specific trees and art direct the look while working in a procedural manner.
Lighting/Compositing
Lighting/Compositing done by Adithya Sathya
Before & After - Image Compositing
Compositing Enhancements: Chromatic Aberration, Camera Bloom, God Rays, Vignette