For the lighting, I used SpotLight (although it didn’t help much) and AreaLight (which generally determined the mood and colour palette of the scene). I tried HDRI lighting (which yielded the best results), but I ran into animation rendering issues and had to give it up.
I also added diffuse and subsurface scattering in the render to make the face look more realistic. I opted for indoor lighting as I didn’t think recreating the scene from the source video would be the best way to showcase my model. Instead, I opted for a medieval setting inside a tavern, with smoke and fire effects.
I think the animation could be smoother and some facial movements don’t match the original ones. They also lack realism. In addition, I still see anatomical errors, and the texture of the model is not the most lifelike (more like a game than a movie). However, considering that it was my first time doing such a project, I can see how much I learned and that I gained a solid base of skills and tools that I will be able to use in the future.
Resources:
Autodesk Arnold: Standard Surface – Arnold User Guide. (2022) Available at: https://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_user_guide_ac_surface_shaders_ac_standard_surface_html (Accessed: 10 December 2022).
Autodesk Arnold: Subsurface – Arnold User Guide. (2022) Available at: https://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_user_guide_ac_standard_surface_ac_standard_subsurface_html (Accessed: 10 December 2022).
Browningate (2013) Monty Python – Constitutional Peasants Scene. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng (Accessed: 5 December 2022).
Kapetan Miki (2019) Maya modeling Tutorial: How to create a King Crown in less than 5 minutes. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-zfRSh9J-Y (Accessed: 5 December 2022).
Reimagine FX (2020) Understanding Subsurface Scattering In Maya And Arnold Render – Tutorial. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPSmSc16o2Q (Accessed: 2 December 2022).