This week, I consolidated all my initial ideas for the VFX Fundamentals assignment.

Through this project, I aim to become more confident using Maya. To achieve this, I plan to model the main protagonist—the bird—as well as the caterpillar and all the visible trees, branches, and other environmental elements. I still find Maya’s interface challenging, so this feels like the perfect opportunity to improve.

I have also never rigged a character before, which means that animating the flying bird will likely be the most demanding part of the process. However, I’m determined to learn how to do it in Maya, and I’m excited about gaining a new skill along the way.

The environment will play a crucial role in the final video. The scene will first be shown from above, with the bird flying over the landscape, and then the viewer will descend into the environment as the protagonist lands by a small lake. I intend to design the entire environment in Unreal Engine, incorporating the trees and foliage elements previously modelled in Maya.

I would like to immerse myself in the world of stylised 3D animation, a field I haven’t explored before. I believe it would make an exciting addition to my future portfolio and help broaden my skill set. Below, I’ve included some references and images that may inspire the final look of my VFX Fundamentals assignment.

I think that I will render the bird separately from the Unreal environment, using either Maya or Blender. Then, I will merge the two renders in Nuke.