VFX: Post Production: Laboratory Asset and Time Machine Creation

For the post production in my module it requires me to create my laboratory from scratch out of Maya so here I have documented the process of creating the basic models first without worrying about texturing till later on, as this is a lengthier process which will be an after Christmas job. Here I have shown everything that I have created from the basic assets to the more complicated ones, in which the good thing about this being a VFX Module means no polygon restrictions, which makes me very happy.

Once I had a few things created I started to put them into a scene, ensuring that they were the correct sizes so that when I rendered it out and composited my character in I wouldn't have to alter the sizes too much.

After adding in walls and a floor I started to arrange everything into place so that it would suit the needs of the character and also have enough space for the time machine in the middle, and with enough room to pan around it as well. At this stage everything was in place according to my  floor plan and I made sure everything was the correct size as well. I also added in a cube at the side to represent the size of the character so that I could size everything around this.

I added cabinets onto one side and then added more detail onto the top of it, so that it looked more cluttered, messy and lived in all over the worktops and even on the floor slightly. I added in a notice board which I will texture later on and a fan onto the wall as well, just to add in a few more details to make the environment seem more realistic. I then added in a desk onto the side wall as well so that the character would have somewhere to work but I felt this looked a bit cramped and there wasn't enough space in the room for the time machine. 

 I then wasn't happy with how it was looking and decided to get rid of some of the machinery in the room and also the cage-type thing in the corner. I then replaced that with a fridge, which would have been filled with various mad scientist things. After I got rid of the the machinery at the back I then moved the desk and stool back and then added in two shelves at the top which I put books and boxes on.

Below is the final look to my lab before I started texturing it, which will be in the next post, but before I did this though I moved onto creating the time machine to go into this scene.

After creating the lab I then went onto creating the time machine which I found a lot easier as it used basic shapes. Again this is just the modelling process and the texturing will be done after when the whole room is complete so that it could be done all at the same time.The basic model was pretty simple to plan out but I did have to make a few alterations to ensure that it fit in the room that I had modeled previously. I had to make it slightly shorted but still ensure that my character could fit into the door but then also meant having to alter a few of the pipes and things coming out of the side but this didn't prove too difficult and didn't need to be worried about.

I then finished by putting it into the room where the final few finishing touches had to be made like the pipes going into the machine across the floor and then the also the detailing onto the ceiling along with other roof details and a light in the room, but these will be added in last after the texturing of the room is complete, otherwise it will make it difficult to see into the room.