Project Overview
This project is a VFX sequence that combines live-action footage with CGI to create a cinematic transformation from calm to chaos. A character sits outside a farmhouse in a quiet countryside setting, reading a book and drinking coffee. The house and environment are created in 3D, while the character is filmed on a green screen and composited into the scene using camera tracking. The peaceful moment is gradually disrupted as environmental changes hint at an approaching storm. A tornado forms and intensifies, interacting with the surroundings and ultimately overtaking the character. The final shot blends tracked footage, CGI environment, and simulated effects to create a realistic and dramatic visual narrative.
Inspiration
This project is inspired by the grounded, rural aesthetic of Interstellar, particularly its use of quiet farmland environments contrasted with large-scale natural forces. The goal is to recreate that same sense of realism and emotional calm before disruption, using a farmhouse setting and minimal, lived-in details.
A key focus of the project is further development in Houdini, especially in creating believable environmental effects such as the tornado, dust, and debris. Additional work will be dedicated to refining simulations, improving interaction between elements, and enhancing overall realism through more detailed procedural effects.
MoodBoard
This moodboard captures the transition from calm to chaos. It starts with peaceful countryside tones and soft lighting, then shifts into darker clouds, cooler colors, and dramatic storm visuals. The farmhouse references ground the scene in realism, while the tornado imagery defines the intensity and scale of the final moment.
Story Board
This storyboard outlines the progression of the scene from a calm, everyday moment to a dramatic encounter with a natural force. It begins with a wide establishing shot of the CGI farmhouse, setting the environment and tone. The sequence then moves into medium and close-up shots of the character on the porch, filmed on green screen, emphasizing a relaxed and peaceful state.
Subtle disruption is introduced through small details, such as the vibration of the coffee cup, signaling the approaching storm. The character’s reaction builds tension as the environment begins to change. The pace increases as she moves outward, transitioning from safety to exposure, while wind and atmospheric effects intensify.
The final shots focus on the character’s interaction with the tornado, combining performance, CGI, and simulations. Overall, the storyboard helps plan the integration of live-action, environment, and effects, ensuring a smooth visual and emotional transition from calm to chaos
GreenScreen Shoot
This shot shows the live-action plate captured on a green screen, featuring the character in a calm, seated position while reading and drinking coffee. Tracking markers are placed across the background to enable accurate camera tracking and integration with the CGI environment. The performance focuses on a natural, relaxed moment, which will later contrast with the incoming storm and visual effects added in post-production.
This shot marks the turning point in the story. After the calm moment on the porch, the character rises and begins to move forward, drawn by the approaching storm. The controlled green screen setup allows this movement to be seamlessly integrated into the CGI environment, where the calm atmosphere is shifting into tension. Her walk becomes the transition from safety to exposure, leading directly into the moment where she confronts the tornado.
Post Production
House Refence
This set of orthographic views presents the CGI farmhouse designed for the project, inspired by the grounded rural aesthetic of Interstellar. The model focuses on realistic proportions, weathered textures, and practical architectural details to match the natural countryside setting. These views are used as a reference for accurate modeling, texturing, and placement within the tracked scene, ensuring the house integrates seamlessly with the live-action footage and supports the overall narrative atmosphere.
House Modeling and Texturing
This image shows the CGI farmhouse developed in Blender, forming the central environment of the project. The model focuses on a realistic rural design inspired by Interstellar, with detailed textures such as weathered wood, roofing, and porch structure to match the natural countryside setting.
Compositing in Nuke
This image shows the compositing workflow in Nuke, where the green screen footage is being keyed and prepared for integration into the CGI environment. A combination of core key, edge key, and despill techniques is used to achieve a clean extraction of the character while preserving fine details like hair.
This setup shows the 3D tracking and scene reconstruction process in Nuke. The green screen footage is used to generate a camera solve, which is then connected to a 3D scene with cards and geometry to recreate the spatial layout. The tracked camera is exported for use in Blender, allowing the CGI house to match the real camera movement accurately.
Adding CGI
This shot shows the integration of CGI elements with the live-action plate, where the tracked camera and keyed subject are composited with the 3D house environment. The lighting, perspective, and depth are aligned to blend both layers naturally, establishing the final scene before introducing atmospheric effects like wind and storm.
DESCENT
A normal day takes an unexpected turn when a visitor notices something unusual moving across the sky. What first looks like a distant object slowly reveals itself to be a massive spacecraft.
Curious, she follows its movement and watches as it begins to descend. As the spacecraft gets closer to the ground, the peaceful landscape is changed by its powerful arrival.
Project Development
My original idea was based around a green-screen setup, with the environment and character being created separately and composited together. However, since my group project also uses green screen, I decided to take a different approach for my individual project.
I chose to shoot real footage on location and build the VFX around it. This allowed me to work with a real environment, natural lighting, camera movement and existing landscape details.
The idea developed into DESCENT, a short sci-fi sequence about a visitor who notices a mysterious spacecraft in the sky and watches as it descends towards the landscape.
MOOD BOARD
This moodboard explores the visual style and atmosphere for DESCENT. The main idea is to combine a realistic countryside environment with a mysterious science-fiction element.The images show wide open landscapes, dramatic skies, warm sunlight and atmospheric conditions that can help create a cinematic look. The darker tones and strong contrast represent the mysterious and unexpected arrival of the spacecraft.The colour palette will move towards warm golden tones with muted greens and darker neutral colours, helping the CG spacecraft blend naturally into the live-action footage.
STORY BOARD
This storyboard shows the progression of DESCENT from a quiet moment in the landscape to the arrival of a mysterious spacecraft. The sequence is designed around real location footage, with the spacecraft and VFX elements added during compositing.It begins with wide shots establishing the environment and the character observing the sky. The spacecraft is first shown as a small distant object, creating curiosity and allowing the audience to discover it gradually.As the spacecraft moves across the sky and begins to descend, the shots become more focused on the character’s reaction and movement. The final shots concentrate on the spacecraft hovering and landing, using dust, atmospheric effects and lighting to connect the CG model with the real environment.
FILMING
These photographs show the location where I filmed my VFX project: Devil’s Dyke, near Brighton. I used this open landscape as the shooting location for the live-action footage that I will later combine with the 3D spaceship during the compositing process.
SPACESHIP DESIGN
The first version of the spaceship was developed as an early exploration of its overall shape and structure. However, I was not satisfied with the design because the proportions and silhouette did not create the visual impact I was looking for. This led me to reconsider the shape and develop a new design that would work better for the scale and cinematic look of the final VFX shot.
I developed this second version to move away from the original bulky structure and create a more streamlined, aerodynamic silhouette. Although the design was closer to the direction I wanted, I was still not satisfied with the overall shape and visual identity. The form felt too simple and lacked the mechanical detail and distinctive features needed to make the spaceship convincing within the VFX environment. This prompted me to continue experimenting with the design before settling on the final version.
The spaceship went through several stages of development as I experimented with its proportions, silhouette, front section, engine placement and surface details. I used each iteration to identify what was working and what needed to change. As the design progressed, I introduced more mechanical elements and refined the overall structure to create a stronger and more distinctive silhouette.
After several design iterations, I developed the final spaceship model in Blender. The design combines a strong, elongated silhouette with detailed engine modules, surface panels, vents and mechanical elements. I refined the proportions and structure to make the spaceship feel more functional and believable while maintaining a distinctive sci-fi appearance.
TEXTURING
After completing the modelling and UV process, I textured the spaceship using Adobe Substance 3D Painter. I created and applied different materials to add variation across the surface, including metallic areas, darker panels and worn details. I also added surface variation and subtle weathering to make the model feel more realistic and suitable for the final VFX shot. Substance Painter allowed me to control the material properties and surface details while maintaining a consistent look across the entire spaceship.
3D Tracking
I used camera tracking in Nuke to analyse the movement and perspective of the live-action footage. The tracked camera data was used to create a 3D environment, where I positioned a ground plane to match the perspective and scale of the original footage. Tracking markers helped establish accurate points within the scene, allowing the CGI elements to be placed correctly in relation to the live-action environment. This setup provided the foundation for integrating the 3D spaceship into the footage while maintaining consistent camera movement and perspective.
CGI SHOT
For the rendered environment, I used a high-quality HDRI of Earth to create a realistic space background and provide natural lighting for the spaceship. The HDRI helped establish the reflections, ambient illumination and overall colour of the scene, allowing the spaceship to interact more naturally with its surroundings. I then adjusted the lighting and render settings to achieve a more realistic and cinematic appearance.
The satellite model used in this project was sourced from Sketchfab as an online 3D asset. I imported the model into Blender and incorporated it into my scene, focusing on its positioning, scale, materials and lighting to suit the space environment. I then used it as part of the compositing process, placing the satellite against a high-quality Earth HDRI to create a more realistic orbital environment.
SMOKE SIMULATION
I created the smoke simulation in Blender to enhance the environmental interaction around the spaceship. The simulation was developed to produce a low-level, volumetric smoke effect that spreads across the ground and responds to the movement and force within the scene. I adjusted the simulation parameters, including the smoke behaviour, turbulence and wind, to create a more natural and dynamic result. The smoke was then rendered as part of the VFX shot and integrated during the compositing process.
COMPOSITING
I used Nuke to bring together the different rendered elements and integrate the 3D spaceship into the live-action footage. The compositing process involved working with multiple render passes, including diffuse, glossy, emission, depth and shadow passes, to control the appearance of the spaceship. I also used 3D camera tracking to match the movement and perspective of the original footage. Additional adjustments were made to the smoke, lighting, colour and overall integration to create a more convincing final composite.
FINAL VIDEO
The final video brings together the different stages of my VFX project, from the initial concept and 3D spaceship modelling to the final compositing process. The completed spaceship was integrated into live-action footage, with attention given to matching the lighting, scale, perspective and movement of the original environment. I also added effects such as thruster illumination, heat distortion, atmospheric elements and colour grading to help the spaceship feel naturally integrated into the scene. The final result demonstrates how the modelling, animation and compositing stages were combined to create the finished VFX shot.
BREAKDOWN
This breakdown video presents the different stages of my VFX workflow, showing how the 3D spaceship, render passes, smoke effects and compositing were combined to create the final shot. It demonstrates the process from the rendered elements through to the final composite, highlighting the use of Blender for 3D and simulation work and Nuke for camera tracking, compositing and integrating the different passes. The breakdown also shows how the individual elements were refined and combined to create the final visual result.