CG Asset Creator and Illustrator

Week 5: Rough Drafts and Test Renders

04/27/2025

Last week, I left off with some small model bugs to be fixed, and had just received the raw footage to animate over to make a rough draft. As of now, my models are functioning as expected, most notably with the crab's legs finally moving as intended when the IK controllers are used.

Current Progress

Due to some issues regarding camera tracking, I was unable to get a good rough animation made over the weekend. I intend to rectify this as soon as possible, but for now I have a test composite of my models and the skateboard design.

Some work still needs to be done on the lighting, as my focus on the highlight on the skateboard caused me to lost track of the shadow direction. As a result, they appear mismatched in comparison to the background. As seen in previous test renders, the shadows contained some of the stained-glass color, but this effect was lost in the shadow matte layer-- this is an AOV-related issue.

A picture of a skateboard deck on a sandy beach, with a CG glass fish and crab in front of it.
A low-res test composition of the fish and crab after exiting the skateboard.
A stained-glass fish and crab casting shadows on a white background.
For comparison, a raw beauty render from Maya, showing the slight tint on the shadows that is missing.

Upcoming Work

Before the end of the week, I want to have a rough animation done, regardless of if I manage to fix the camera tracking issues. For more accurate reflections on the glass, I plan to edit the UV mapping on the board to fit my needs and directly apply the design to it as a texture. Currently this is a lower priority. Finally, I want to work on fixing the inaccurate camera tracking and making a clean plate to seamlessly replace the live-action skateboard.