MODELING | ashleyschmid3d

Teacher's Pet Turntable

Besides just having the character, I wanted to add a pinch of an environment around him to further the concept.

Character Ideation pt 1

First pass of ideas for what I wanted this model to be about - I was thinking more along the lines of cryptids back then.

Character Ideation pt 2

Second pass of character ideas, still on the creature-esque side but with a more refined whimsy and solid aesthetic in mind.

Teachers Pet Turnaround

The final design I settled on which combined ideas from the first two passes; whimsy and creatures with swapped heads. I also thought the trope of shooting an arrow through an apple on someone's head fit in with the trope of giving an apple to a teacher to get on her good side. Also based around 1950s poindexters.

Teacher's Pet Model

I used Zbrush to create the character, then brought it into Maya to retopologize, model the environment, add the bifrost dynamics, and render. I plan to add textures to him in the future to more closely match the sketch.

Modeling Demo Reel 2020

The best of my modeling work up to the spring of 2020.

Gino's Diner at Night

I absolutely loved the look dev on the videogame Batman: Arkham Knight by Rocksteady Studios. I had only just started the game when it inspired me to create this environment, which also takes reference from the many rainy nights here in Brooklyn.

Gino's Diner during the Day

This environment was also heavily influenced by summer in NYC. A couple summers ago I tried to walk to Junior's Diner in Brooklyn, but the trek there was nothing short of brutal. I tried to capture that oppressive heat here. I also thought it was a good juxtaposition to the nighttime version, which features a heavy rain.

Junior's Diner

One of the main inspirations for this environment was Junior's Diner in Brooklyn.

Snapshot from Batman: Arkham Knight

A screenshot from the video game's opening scene which heavily inspired the look and layout of my environment. Something I learned from studying this scene is the importance of dynamic lines to tie together the entire composition.

A rough sketch

Thinking about layout and style, I sketched up this quick thumbnail to get down the idea.

Digital sketch with rough lighting

I brought the rough thumbnail into photoshop and worked in color, eventually adding the beginning traces of a lighting scheme.

Wireframe of Gino's

A wireframe version to show the topology.

Non-textured Gino's

A non-textured version to see the base form of the modeling.

80's Still Life

I take a lot of inspiration in my daily life from 80's aesthetics and the vaporwave phenomenon. I wanted to create something fun and dynamic that fit the theme of my biggest influence. I think the funnest part of this scene was creating the candy dots paper. I think it conveys a real sense of motion caught in an instant. I also like the extra layer of post I did to further the aesthetic of 80's digital media.

Unedited lighting and texture pass

I think the unedited version of this environment really shows the benefits of post! Although I like the composition, textures, and lighting, there's still that essential 80's grit that's missing.

Texture pass

A pass of the scene without any lighting yet - I was making sure the textures looked good and the composition worked well.

Wireframe pass

Simple wireframe of the scene to show the topology of the geometry.

Base modeling

The scene with the finished geometry.

This shot is taken from my short film, Suspend. This is a critical moment in the film, where the character stumbles upon freedom. I think the lighting here is the best feature. Combined with the glow and grandeur of the architecture, it speaks to the soft beauty of the entire film.

Pre-edited render

This is a first redner pass to see how well the textures work together and if the color scheme needs work in post.

Texture pass

First texture pass to get an idea of the atmosphere for the scene and environment.

Wireframe pass

This is to show the topology of the environment.

This little devil is from my short film, Don't Answer that Door! He's based off the Boogie man from Nightmare Before Christmas.

This environment was based off of 1930's American slums and 18th century Siberian architecture. It was a bit of a challenge to combine the two - but I found a common ground in texture, material, and amount of dilapidation.