Author: Xiaochen Liu

  • Exploratory Practice Project1&2

    Project1

    Final Out Put Link

    Break Down Video

    Concept and Script

     The project was inspired by UFO-related files released by the White House. Their official source contrasted with how difficult the information was to believe, which led me to consider how people respond when institutional credibility and the information itself feel disconnected: do they trust the official account, or dismiss it as a conspiracy theory?

     I used mock UFO footage, documentary language, television news, and VHS recordings as the main visual elements. In the story, a news presenter reports on viral UFO sightings and explains that the clips are fabricated with CG. At the end, the old television signal begins to fail. During the flicker, an alien silhouette briefly overlaps the presenter, making the boundary between truth and fabrication uncertain again.

    02 UFO Modeling and Animation

     I created two UFO designs in Blender. The first uses a classic flying-saucer silhouette, with a detailed underside, materials, and lighting developed for the final render. The second uses a triangular structure built from layered geometry and internal details, giving it a more constructed appearance.

     For the animation, I used Blender keyframes and modifiers to create constrained rotation and translation, then adjusted the motion timing for the shots.

    Disc UFO base model

     Underside structure and material detail

     Disc UFO lighting and texture test

     Disc UFO render for export

    Triangular UFO geometry blockout

     Triangular structure and internal detail

    Refined triangular UFO model

     Keyframe and constrained animation setup

    03  News Studio Environment

    Television news studio reference

     News desk base model

     News desk front structure refinement

     Material and set layout test

    Complete news studio set build

    assets used in the scene

    Volumetric fog and atmosphere preview

    Lighting and camera setup

    Rendered news studio plate

    04  Green Screen and News Composite

    I filmed the presenter against a green screen, then completed the key, shadow transparency adjustment, and studio composite in Nuke. To preserve the foreground relationship, I used roto to isolate the microphone so that it correctly occludes the presenter.

    The image treatment was based on the appearance of vintage television. I graded the composite, matched the footage grain, and organized the key, foreground, background, and image treatment in the Nuke node graph.

    Green-screen presenter shoot

    Nuke key and studio composite

    Foreground microphone roto

      Vintage television display reference

     Color grade and grain matching

     Presenter and studio composite result

     composite node graph

    05  Daytime UFO Sighting

    The first sighting uses live-action daytime city footage. I composited the UFO in Nuke and adjusted its color and alpha so that the CG element matched the sky and the filmed plate.

     To simulate handheld footage, I used Transform expressions to generate layered translation and rotation noise, with the image scaled between 1.08 and 1.12 to prevent exposed frame edges during the shake. I then added manual keyframes so the camera overshoots the UFO, corrects in the opposite direction, nearly locks on, and continues with residual shake and delayed reactions.

     Daytime city plate

     Initial UFO composite

    Composite after color and alpha adjustment

     Channel Expression or Value
    Translate Xnoise(frame*0.075, 0.37, 1.1)*10 + noise(frame*0.55, 2.3, 0.4)*2.2
    Translate Ynoise(frame*0.065, 4.1, 0.2)*7 + noise(frame*0.62, 1.7, 3.2)*1.8
    Rotatenoise(frame*0.055, 2.4, 5.3)*0.30 + noise(frame*0.43, 6.1, 1.9)*0.06
    Scale1.08 to 1.12

      Transform expressions and keyframe setup

    06  Nighttime Sighting and News Insert

    Nighttime waterfront plate

     UFO animation scene setup

    Night composite and grain matching

    07  UFO news insert animation

    Nighttime sighting node graph

    07 Alien Reveal and VHS Finish

     I created the alien afterimage in Photoshop and controlled its flicker in Nuke, allowing the silhouette to briefly overlap the presenter when the television signal fails. This moment returns to the script’s uncertainty about what information can be trusted.

     In the editing software, I added projector jitter, retro flicker, pixel texture, diagonal blur, and strong sharpening to give the final news footage the appearance of VHS tape and an aging television display.

      Presenter and alien afterimage composite

    Presenter and alien afterimage composite

     Final VHS news frame

    Project2

    Final Out Put Link

    Break Down Video Link

    Collaboration Notes

     The script revisions were developed with LEX. Remey further refined the final character concept, and Remey and I modeled the creature together in ZBrush. May and I collaborated on the green frosted-glass material for the bus.

    01 Script Development

    I developed the first script concept around smoking in public spaces. Set at a bus station, the story uses dark humor and exaggerated horror: a passenger who smokes and affects others is attacked by a creature that inhabits the station. The scene is intended as a warning about smoking and second-hand smoke in shared spaces.

     First script draft and mood references

     I then revised the script with LEX. We added a scare in which the creature opens a station panel to draw the character’s attention away before appearing beside them. After the attack, a strange poster changes into an image of the victim, the bus never arrives, and another passer-by suggests that the cycle is about to begin again. The creature also disguises itself as a passer-by, lights the smoker’s cigarette, and coughs from the smoke, completing the story’s cycle around the harm of public smoking.

     Revised script structure and visual direction

    02 Monster Concept Development

     I combined ZBrush and Photoshop during the creature’s early visual development, focusing on its silhouette, body proportions, and unsettling biological features. After several shape explorations, Remey further refined the direction and produced the final character concept.

    Early body structure study

     Silhouette and proportion refinement

    Pose and limb proportion test

    Refined creature concept

    character design direction

    03 Monster Modeling

     Remey and I modeled the creature together in ZBrush. We began with the overall body proportions, then refined the torso, head, back, tail, and claws. The spikes and elongated limbs were integrated into a complete high-detail sculpt for the later texturing and animation stages.

    Remey part:  Base model and body proportions

    My part: Torso and surface detail sculpting

     Tail refinement

    Hand and claw detailing

     Complete high-detail creature sculpt

    04 Creature Texturing

    I created the creature textures in Substance Painter. The material work focused on skin color, value variation, and organic surface detail. Close-up checks on the hands, torso, head, and back helped keep the material treatment consistent across the model.

     Overall material preview in Substance Painter

    Leg material detail

    Hand and claw material detail

    Head and torso material result

    Back structure material result

    05 Creature Rigging and Animation

     I worked on the creature’s rigging and body animation in Blender. The skeleton was adjusted to suit the creature’s elongated limbs, tail, and back structure, and motion tests were used to evaluate its poses and overall deformation.

    Skeleton and rig setup

     Pose and body animation test

    Character result with rig and materials

    06 Bus Interior Modeling

    I created some assets and used them to build the bus interior in Blender, including the driver’s cockpit, passenger seats and handrails. I then checked the interior layout against the full vehicle model.

     Seat assests and interior layout build

    Complete interior structure preview

    Handrails and interior component detailing

    Interior integrated with the bus model

    Bus Glass Material

     May and I created the bus’s green frosted-glass material. The tinted translucent windows preserve hints of the interior while reducing clarity, giving the bus an unnatural and oppressive appearance that supports the story’s unsettling atmosphere.

    Material and Mood References

     

    Window figures and green lighting reference

    Material Tests and Final Result

     Side window material test

    Green frosted-glass look test

    Final side material result

     Final overall bus result

  • Collaborative Project

    Personal making of video

    Panoramic video:

    Moodboard

    Environment

    UI Design

    Sky box

  • TERM2_NUKE PROJECT_GARAGE

    Mood board

    Match move

    Clean up

    Wall roto

    Model and texture

    Texture and lighting

    Animation

    Camera match move

    Output

    LED Screen Effects

    Output

    Color grade

    Roto & Merge

  • TERM2_BALLOON FESTIVAL

    the mood board, sketches, and modeling progress of the final

    Model and animation

    Script

    Texture and lighting

    Output

    Nuke process

    Roto

    Color grade and adjust environment lighting

    Add a cloud motion effect

    Use merge to combine balloon with environment

    Stratification merge

    Add sky

  • TERM1_CABIN & FINAL PERSONAL PROJECT & COURSE PRACTICE

    Mood map

    • Reference boardDraft

    Block out

    modeling

    During the process of refining this model, I came up with some new ideas. To strengthen the ‘hunting’ and ‘tribal’ vibe of the boathouse, I adjusted the roof, taking inspiration from the feel of Monster Hunter. At the stern, I modified the original mechanical crane because I felt it didn’t quite fit the overall tribal vibe of the boathouse. A wooden frame for hanging prey in a playground gave me inspiration, and I applied it to the stern.

    In class, I learned how to import materials and assets, create levels, sculpt terrain, blend and paint terrain materials, set up water, set up cameras, and more.

    I had some trouble when adding materials. After importing my model into UE, there was an issue with abnormal material display. Even after fixing the normal map problems, the issue is still here. So I changed my approach: I added the materials before importing into UE and it was work. and arranged some props to enhance the narrative atmosphere

    output

    Maya Project

    Video Project

    still processing…

    I also studied some motion tracking techniques in 3DEqualizer.我还研究了一些运动跟踪技术在3DEqualizer。

    Nuke

    In Nuke, I learned a lot about the functions of different nodes and how to use them in combination, such as Roto, Tracker, Premult, Grade, Transform, etc. I completed some keying, tracking, and compositing work.

    Final Project

    Zbrsuh modeling

    add more detail

    Formation of cirrus clouds

    set environment

    render test

    set mist

    Create skeleton

    rigging

    Weight mapping

    Video compositing

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