INTRODUCTION
Hello, I’m Kenny/Ken, an eighteen-year-old 3D artist from India. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I discovered the beauty of CGI and visual effects, and decided to try it out for myself. I taught myself Blender and have been a 3D artist since August 2022. I started it as a hobby but am interested in pursuing it as a profession.
INSPIRATION
I created this render as a submission for one of the weekly challenges held by Clinton Jones. The topic was “islands,” and I have always been fascinated by the Dynamo Dream series by Ian Hubert.
So, I thought of making a render that would be similar to the sci-fi environment of that particular web series.
SCENE BUILDING
I didn’t model or texture anything myself for this particular render, but rather used marketplace assets from Sketchfab to help me build the scene.
I used two large space stations for the background, islands cluttered with buildings for the midground, and hovercrafts for the foreground. I used the Ivygen Addon to create the ivy.
LIGHTING
I usually use an HDRI only to light a scene and use lights only if they are extremely necessary.
In this case, I solely lit the scene with an HDRI and used a cube with volumetric material to evenly spread out the light across the scene, creating a quite flat lighting.
IN-PAINTING
After rendering, I digitally painted some clouds, which added some depth to the scene and made it look like it was high in the sky.
COLOR GRADING
Though a scene full of foliage should usually have a heavy green color-grade, I wanted to tell a story of nature-machine symbiosis and decided to use a rather yellower color scheme, while the reddish blasts of jet fire seem to eat away the greenish vibe of the ivy.
FINAL TOUCHES
Finally, I added some blur, lens flare, film grain, and chromatic aberration to the image to achieve a more realistic look.
RENDER – Safe Haven
Here is a breakdown video of this work,
Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoyed reading this article and learned something useful from it.
Have a nice day!
About the Artist
Kenny, an eighteen-year-old, self-taught 3D artist from India.
