Doing the Match to Live project was quite challenging and fun. It gave me my first chance to see what it was like to integrate a CG Model in the real world. In the following discussion I will walk you through every step I took in this project.

The first step I did was to do some research to find an object that was interesting, and something that I could model in less than an hour. Doing this part of the project took a long time because I had no idea what I wanted to do. Once I decided on the object, I had to consider what the composition would look like and what would be the best way to light the object. The positioning of the object was very important because if the composition was not right, it would take away from the integration.

Once I had the base shape of the model, I exported it into Zbrush so I could sculpt in the minor details into the wood.

Once I had finish sculpting the model, I used Zbrush UV master to layout the UV’s to prepare the

model for texturing in Zbrush. The next step I did was to scan a pencil in order to have some type of reference images and also to start building a

texture library for the model.

Once I completed the texture library, I used Zbrush to paint a base coat on the model.

Once the texturing was done, I created a displacement map in Zbrush to use Maya. Then I exported the model and its texture to be used in Maya.

Once I had the model back in Maya I had to set up the model. I applied the texture to and the displacement to the model. The next step I took was to set up an image plane in Maya.




The image plane was used to align the pencil with the image so I could start lighting and rendering in Maya.




Once I felt I had the light set up to emulate the light from the picture, I took the texture I painted in Zbrush to Photoshop to add more details to the texture.

Render Layers

Once I had all the render layers done, I was able to composite them in Nuke. Doing the final image of the project in Nuke gave me more control of the composite, than I had in Maya.

Final Image