Project Brief

In this project, we were required to create our own world by using MAYA software. The world I created was a house on a snail shell.

Moodboard

For this project, I would like to create a 3D world that can convey feelings of warm and cozy. I really like the feeling that a lot of fairy tales portraits when there is a house in a cold and dark place. But as a contrast, there is a warm light that comes out from the windows and there is warm food on the table. The story I was imagining is a snail carrying a warm house around the wood, for anyone or any creature that needs a place to stay. Inspired by this story, I found many cute illustrations on the internet and made them into a mood board for myself as a reference. My main source of inspiration was the illustration of the hedgehog on the dining table in the middle, I really liked the atmosphere of that picture and I wanted to create such a warm and gentle feeling.

Initial Sketch

This was my initial draft. I wanted my snail hut to look different than a normal hut. Therefore I designed the snail’s shell to become the exterior of the house, and the two-floor design to make the whole scene look richer and to add more details to it. The interior of the house is inspired by the illustrations I found, with sleek wooden furniture and some natural color decoration as the complement, that the house could be suitable with the theme related to nature. In order not to make the world too monotonous, I chose to add some mushroom and grass elements. I think these two elements always bring me a fantasy atmosphere, and I also hope that my work can deliver a fairy tale feeling, which I think mushrooms and other plants are good decorations.

I chose the snail because I think it is a fantasy creature and its shell is like its home, this feeling makes me feel warm and therefore I want to turn it into a picture.

Color

These are the colors I want to use in my work, and I think I will mainly focus on warm and earth tones. But I would like to add some bright colors such as purple, yellow, and red to show the fantasy side of my work. These colors remind me of the magic and splendor feeling that mushrooms give people. These colors were also inspired by my moodboard. I selected the colors that appeared frequently in these images and adjusted them so that I could get the same effect on the color tone as these illustrations. However, I think my color perception is not strong enough, and my color-matching ability needs practice. I think I can learn the rules and methods of color matching by looking at other artists’ works.

Modeling

This is the first part of the production, the model without any texture and color. I think this part is the basis of everything because without these models, the color and material are useless. Therefore I spent a lot of time on modeling, but I also encountered a lot of problems at the same time.

The first challenge I faced was making a snail shell. I found the tutorial on the Internet, but because of the different versions, I didn’t know where to find some functions in my version. Although I did manage to make it, the top part of the snail shell did not fit together, and the bottom part also looked very messy. To fix this, I chose to use tapered and rounded meshes to cover the failed parts. I like this modification because I think the final result paired well with the rest of the shell.

The second part is the design of my snail house. I originally planned to make a space inside the snail shell by using the difference function, but it failed. So in order not to waste too much time, I chose to change the shape of the hut by putting two squares together. Although it was different from the initial design, but I think the final result is also an unexpected gain, that I think the disorganized squares are a good representation of the randomly growing trees in the forest.

The last one is about saving files. The teacher emphasized the importance of saving our file before the class started, but I forgot to save one time, which I had to redo two models twice. This not only wasted a lot of time but also made me not as attentive and patient as the first time when I did it the second time. However, I did make all the models that I hadn’t saved again, which gave me the advantage of being more familiar with how to make this particular model.

Coloring and Texture

I don’t think I had too many challenges in terms of coloring, originally I just wanted to use only pure colors, but then with the help of my teacher I learned how to use UV to add texture, so I added wood grain to all my wooden furniture to make them look more realistic. But I still kept some parts in solid colors because I thought that the two types of materials coming together would give the viewer a feeling of between reality and a fairy tale. The only thing I had to keep adjusting was the reflectivity to the light of the materials because each object is different and some are almost non-reflective, so I had to check over and over again to make sure the reflectivity of each object was in line with common sense.

Lighting

My main sources of light are two lamps in the room, a fireplace, and a street lamp on the snail’s shell. I set all these sources of light to warm colors to give my work a stronger, warmer atmosphere. I also set the background to a dark blue color to contrast with the warm colors. I used this method to bring out the warmth in my work.

Final Outcome

These are the three final images I chose. I think there were still many more angles I could have used to show my work, but I added too many small details to the work. Therefore if I want to show those details, the camera angles that I can use are limited. For example, two of the images are close-up views of the room and there’s no way to focus on the details of the exterior. If I have a chance to do a similar job next time, I should pay more attention to the overall visual effect rather than the details of a single area, which is something I need to pay attention to when making large-scale worldview models in the future, and this is also one of the comments I received from my teacher in class.

Narrative

The story I imagine is that this is a cottage dedicated to animals that wander in the winter nights of the forest. Mr. Snail will wander through the forest with a light in his eyes and a light on his back, he is very visible in the dark so that animals who need help can come inside. It will always welcome friends from nature, and he will prepare fresh food and warm beds for them. If the animals need it, they can also read and rest inside. He calls nature home, and he expects the animals to find warmth and comfort on his back as their temporary home.

Extra Shots

These extra shots were taken to show more angles of my work, and I think these actually show the whole picture of the work, and the teacher also said that the second picture is actually a better choice for my three final shots, therefore this made me start to reflect on the importance of composition, and next time I have to take this into consideration when making models.

Strengths and Weakness

Strengths: Although I am still at a beginner level, but I’ve achieved what I wanted for this assignment by making the shapes look the way I imagined them. And I also liked the concept that I created, this gave me a feeling of making my imaginary world real, it is a type of feeling that illustration can not give me.

Weakness: I know I still have a lot to improve on, but the first thing I’d like to improve is the background. I didn’t put a lot of effort into the background because I didn’t have enough time. I had a vision of a forest at night or a forest on a snowy night for the background in my mind. But because of my ability and time, I couldn’t finish them. But I would like to finish them if I have time during the holiday to make this work look more complete.

Overall Reflection

In conclusion, I think this rotation has benefited me a lot. I can see that my model is getting better and better at each stage through continuous modifications, which was very fulfilling. The teachers also gave me a lot of assistance, both in terms of the production process and advice. I think the 3D modeling has given me a better idea of the 3D environment so that I know what the items should look like in different aspects of a space. I also enjoy the feeling of building my world, similar to the feeling I get when I make a sculpture in the real life. I hope I can continue to refine my 3D modeling skills, but I think I need to practice it frequently because my familiarity with the software will decrease after some time without using it. I am looking forward to showing more of my ideas through this special technology.