Amphibia Title and Credits | 3D Recreation

Hello! My name is Nesma Mavrakis and I am a beginner in the arts of graphic design and 3D modeling and texturing. I always loved cartoons, and Amphibia was always one of my favorites! The story and concept was very unique, and it makes you want to find out what happens next.

In the beginning of every episode, there's a wood sculpture of sorts that says the name of the episode and the beginning credits. With the show being completely 2D animated, I found it fascinating to see something 3D. I take it that it's a detail in the show that everyone skims over or doesn't pay attention to, so I'm going to shine some light on it in this project!

Today, I'll walk you through the process on how I modeled, textured, and lit the scene for my version of this title card from Disney's Amphibia!

1. Access to Autodesk Maya
2. Reference image of the title card
3. A wood texture that best resembles the wood

I started with modeling the frame, this is done easiest using Curves, this is located in the Curves tab in the Modeling workspace. It allows you to create and adjust the path for your Sweep Mesh.

I traced the Curves over the frame on top of the reference image, then applied Sweep Mesh located in the Poly Modeling tab. Then I just placed a rectangular plane in the middle.

To make these complicated shapes, I used a modeling feature called Boolean. It allows you to create complex shapes by subtracting a simpler shape from another shape to create a more complex shape.

After shaping a square into the leaf, I recreated the shape of the inside of the leaf as well. Then, using Boolean in the Modeling Toolkit, I completely cut out that shape from the leaf. Making the leaf look more like a leaf. I did the same to the frog's eyes on the top and the head's eyes and mouth on the bottom.

For the wood texture, I just chose one that closely matched the wood in my reference image. This specific wood texture came from freepik.com, where they have free stock images to download.

To apply the texture to the objects, I created an aiStandardSurface material in Hypershade, attached the file, and then applied the material to the objects. For this model, I'll create the UVs of the objects from one side, this is done by going into the front perspective view and using the camera-based option under UV. This takes the only side we need and lays it flat on the texture in the UV Editor.

I chose to do this to create this effect that makes the model appear to have been carved out of one piece of wood.

For the lighting, I had to do something that made shadows on over object.

I used an aiSkydomeLight under Arnold lights, this specific light creates a blue sky and angled shadows. I rotated it almost completely upside down and to the left, this casts a shadow on the bottom half of the model. I also added in some AreaLights as fill lights and to cast shadows on the top half of the model. I also added an AreaLight that casted a green light on the model, like how it's depicted in my reference image.

The middle of this model kind of feels boring, so I decided that it would be fun to include some sort of text that was relevant to this project!

And this is how it looks fully rendered! I think it's alright, but it's definitely hard to see the details. I found an easy fix that will make this model stand out!

I think a cartoony outline will make a fine touch to this model, having being from a cartoon itself!

First, I opened Hypershade and searched for the aiToon Arnold shader. Then I added it to the material attached to the model and connected the out color to the base. This shader's Edge requires the Contour filter, found in the Render Settings under Filter.

Then I noticed how wood has layers to it that makes carved objects have a different line pattern the more depth it has. So I decided to move around some of the objects' UVs the in the UV Editor to achieve this effect.

And here's my final product!