Research and design
I took inspiration from Maria Mitchell – the first female astronomer (1818 – 1889, born in Massachusetts, United States), but infused the concept with European fashion of the time. The late Baroque period of the mid 18th Century consisted of embellishments of every kind. Bows upon frills upon lace meant that the clothing and room decor proved a good challenge to model. I grew very accustomed to the bend, wave and bevel tools. On the other hand, I was careful of the decorations not stifling the more academic nature of the character.
I wanted the pearls in her black hair to mimic a starry sky and add to the space motif. It was also important for the mise en scene to reflect the character’s social hierarchy (through furniture) and occupation (telescope, paper and ink) as well as her inquisitive personality.
I learned a more efficient way of UV unwrapping which I was very thankful for and installed Substance Painter for a good amount of the texturing. It took me some time to wrap my head around the painting process, exporting texture maps and setting them up in Maya but got there eventually. I paid attention to the colour zones of the face – more for practice than result because the character had to be heavily powdered for historical accuracy.
The high camera angle was used to illustrate the grandeur of the cosmos and suggest how small it makes the astronomer feel when she looks out at the night sky. Wall details and furniture were positioned to frame the characters face which is the focal point of the shot – this is further emphasised by the ‘Depth of field’ effect which helps guide the eye to her face. I used a contrast of warm and cold lighting with the latter being disk shaped so that a reflection of the moon would appear on the telescope lens. I liked how the bright orange light suggests the presence of a flame in the room. Lastly, I added atmosphere which diffused the glow of my light sources and breathed life unto the image.
Overall, I am very pleased with the visible improvement in my 3D work – especially texturing and lighting which is exactly what I hoped for from a LookDev module! The bend, wave and bevel tools were completely new to me as well as Substance Painter, colour zones of the face and adding atmosphere to the scene. Moving forwards, I would like to become more confident in Substance Painter and give the dreaded Zbrush a go. I will definitely be bringing this knowledge to future projects and hopefully build a strong portfolio.
R.H. 