White Spotted Jellyfish
Medium:
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Jellyfish bells and bodies: ZBrush
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Jellyfish tentacles, environment, render: Cinema 4D (Arnold Renderer)
Date of Completion: December 2017
Supervisor: Nick Woolridge
About: Scene depicting white spotted jellyfish in their natural habitat. Click to enlarge.
ProCess work
1. Selecting and Researching a Subject
Once I selected the white spotted jellyfish to render for this project, I spent time researching and collecting several reference images of white spotted jellyfish, their natural habitat, and general jellyfish anatomy. This informed me of the details to include and the parameters to create within to compose an accurate piece.
2. Rough Sketch and Feedback
A rough sketch of the scene and subject was created and feedback from the project supervisor was received before moving forward.
Image: an early rough sketch of the piece
3. Sculpting in ZBrush
The jellyfish bell, body, and oral arms were then sculpted in ZBrush. The sculpt was then retopologized, and then a UV map for both texture and painting were created. A version of the sculpt with low level geometry and a high level displacement map were exported from Zbrush.
Image: the sculpt in ZBrush prior to export
4. Building and Rendering an Environment in Cinema4D
Within Cinema4D, the sand, rocks, sky, and lights were created and rendered using the Arnold Renderer.
Image: the sea environment in progress
5. Importing and Rendering the Jellyfish Sculpt in Cinema 4D
The jellyfish sculpt was brought into Cinema 4D, and the UV maps and Arnold materials were applied to the sculpt. Additional elements such as the bio-luminescent tentacles and parts of the oral arms were created in Cinema4D. Once complete, the jellyfish was duplicated and posed within the scene. A camera was set up and the final scene was rendered.
Image: working on the jellyfish after importing into Cinema4D
6. Feedback and Revisions
Feedback was solicited from the project supervisor, other biomedical communicators, and students, and revisions were made to achieve the final piece (above).