Neivy Martinez
Neivy Martinez
Neivy Martinez
3D Surface Artist
Crossing Over
CO- Surfacing Director
Software: Maya, Arnold, Substance Painter
The final film was completed by July 2022 where I had the wonderful privilege of working with directors Gabi O. Fernandes, Denise Anger, Trent Bellet, Amber Patel, and Regina Vera Castellanos
My main responsibility for this team project was search and development for creating a painter-like style for film and being CO-Surface Director for a team of 12 texture artists. With Watheri leaving her home and entering the office environment, we wanted to remove the painterly style as she embarked on her journey. I was able to develop over 4 versions of Watheri used throughout the film.
SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Our first attempt was to use the basic facial planes on character normal maps with a combination of Maya's Toon Shader. Although the effect was possible, the director disliked the harsh edges created by this approach.
As a result, we attempted to smooth the edges of the facial planes and body planes on our second attempt. When rendered, however, this resulted in an unclear and muddy appearance for the character. Additionally, it lost a lot of the effect on the face, and colors within the base color map were affected becoming darker and duller than intended.
The third time around, I manually blended the edges along the body and the face for a more desired effect. As the director appreciated the effect on the face, a problem that we were unaware of arose. It seemed that blending had made the seams between the UVs more visible.
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After editing, I was able to hide some seams in this final attempt to make the normal map method work. However, when rendering 360 turned around, we realized that the same edges were still visible, depending on the angle of light. Therefore, we decided to utilize a more traditional texturing style without altering the normal maps. In spite of not using this method, I found the concept to be fascinating and enjoyed researching it.
CO-SURFACE LEAD WORK
In my role as the co-surface lead, I had the privilege of handling young watheri, warrior watheri, office watheri, and the office's secretary. I was also responsible for the office environment and a few props. A total of 12 texture artists were under our supervision and we were responsible for teaching and ensuring their quality.
To make it easier for our artists who were just learning to use Substance Painter, I created a few smart materials. This allowed them to give props a base of rough brushstrokes before adding their own details. Having the opportunity to work with such a talented team has been a pleasure