Modeled by me
Design by Studio Ghibli
Torumekian Corvette
I always wanted to model a vehicle from my favorite movie, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, so when I saw the opportunity to tackle this project in my demo reel class I had to. This model took both my mind and computer to their breaking point. Modeling, texturing, and comp was all done within 8 weeks. As with working with any other concept art, dimensions/perspectives are never the same between drawings, especially with manga art. To prepare for this project, I collected a collage of photos from the manga, movie, and physical models people have made. I took these as inspiration to help guide me on the right path.
PROCESS
Sketching & Blockout
Using my collection of references, I first worked out the correct shape/dimensions of the aircraft. Went back and forth from 2D sketching and 3D blocking to figure out the shape that would best fit the references.
With viewport screenshots of the model, I planned out all the details. By using the actual model as a reference, I was able to accurately add detail without worrying if dimensions or perspectives are wrong.
Modeling
All modeling was done in a subdiv workflow in Maya 2023. Starting out as a rough blockout then slowly chip away at every piece. Smaller details are then created and gizmos are added. For example, the “powerplant” section of the aircraft.
Start
End
Yes I did go through the painfully tedious process of adding every single rivet(Did half then mirrored).
UV
To get the texel density correct, I made a UV checker material and assigned it to a UVed piece. From there I sized the UV until I didn’t notice individual pixels from a desired distance.
With so many parts and a decently sized texel density, I had to make separate UV groups for each section. If I didn’t, I would be texturing with 1fps and opening times in the hours.
UVs were also organized with each V row taking up one side. Right sides were mirrored versions of left sides so I could have the option to use the same textures. While Maya is very cranky about doing that, I was able to export files to Blender, flip them + fix normals, then reimport them back in Maya
V1: Left
V2: Right
V3: Center
Texturing
Texturing references filled with WW1 vehicles, steam locomotives, and more.
All texturing was done in Adobe Substance Painter. Since some sections were still big enough to cause performance issues, I used the nose section to create smart materials which I would then assign to other parts. Then I would paint on unique grunge and stains.
Comp
Rendered with Maya Vray. I used a few rect lights for some highlights and an HDRI for reflections. The original HDRI was too blue so I had to adjust that inside Hypershade to a less saturated version.
Krita was used to paint on some glare and bloom effects. In addition, the background was a matte painting of cloud photos I took from the internet.
Dark Table was used to add a noise filter and to further alter the colors of the photo. Before it was almost just a shade of blue and boring.
> I hope you enjoyed!
> If you’d like to see more, here are some recommendations!
