Dream Destination

Hi everyone!

My name is Zhiqi Liu, and this is my personal project titled “Dream Destination.” It’s inspired by an illustration from Xiansen Ni, and I used this project as a way to practice my lighting and texturing skills.

I created the scene using Autodesk Maya, and it was such a fun process to bring everything to life. Watching the environment take shape through lighting and texture made the whole experience really enjoyable!

Software Used: Autodesk Maya, Adobe Substance Painter, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Nuke

I modeled the entire scene in Autodesk Maya, and then textured it using Adobe Substance Painter. I also used Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator for help me in texturing. For the final touches, I added smoke coming from the house using Adobe After Effects, and completed the color grading in Nuke. Each step was a great opportunity to explore different parts of the pipeline and bring more mood and life to the project.

I started this project as a way to practice my modeling, lighting, and texturing skills. I find that using illustrations as references really helps me train my eye — it challenges me to take a 2D composition and bring it to life in 3D while preserving its mood and appeal.

One illustration by Xiansen Ni especially stood out to me. It had such a warm and comforting atmosphere, and I was inspired to use it as a base for this project. My goal wasn’t to recreate it exactly, but to interpret it in my own way — with a more realistic and colorful look, while love that same emotional tone!

I began by blocking out the environment in 3D to establish the composition and scale before moving on to detailed modeling.

Next, I started refining my models to bring more detail and personality into the scene. I wanted to create a soft fabric that sits naturally inside the gift box, so I used nCloth simulation in Autodesk Maya to get a realistic drape.

Instead of keeping the clouds flat like in the original illustration, I built them piece by piece to give them more volume and dimension. I also added a fun personal touch by incorporating my name into the scene as colorful toy blocks, blending it naturally into the environment.

Before moving on to texturing, I did a lighting test to set the overall mood of the scene before I start texturing. I started by placing a sky dome to light the environment, then adjusted the main light’s angle and color temperature to create a warm, inviting atmosphere.

To bring more depth to the overall look, I placed multiple area lights from different angles, helping to softly shape the scene and guide the viewer’s eye.

After modeling, I unwrapped the UVs for all the objects in the scene using Autodesk Maya. To optimize my workflow, I grouped related objects and packed them into the same UV map, allowing them to share a single material. This not only helped me make better use of UV space but also kept the scene clean and organized.

Instead of importing the entire scene into Substance Painter, I exported objects group by group as FBX files. This made it easier to manage performance and texture by category. Once inside Substance Painter, I baked the mesh maps and began the texturing process.

I also used Photoshop and Illustrator to help create some of my textures. I drew out all the designs I needed, exported them as PNG files, and then imported them into Substance Painter to apply them to my models.

After finishing the texturing in Substance Painter, I exported all my texture maps and imported them into Autodesk Maya. I connected the maps to my materials and adjusted the settings to make sure everything looked right. Adding color, surface detail, and mood to the scene.

To make the scene look better and give it a nice glow, I added more area lights to brighten the detailed parts and help the colors and textures stand out. I also used light blockers in Maya to remove any unwanted light in areas where it didn’t look right.

For parts of the scene that weren’t the main focus, I still added some area lights to softly light those areas and keep the scene feeling balanced. I adjusted the color temperature of these lights to be cooler. Using cooler lights to create contrast with the warmer lighting in the center. Having both warm and cool tones gave the scene more depth and made it look more visually interesting.

I used Maya Arnold to render out my final scene, making sure the lighting, textures, and camera angle were all carefully set. After rendering, I brought the sequence into After Effects, where I added smoke effects to enhance the atmosphere and and use Nuke to make the scene feel more alive and magical.

I was really happy with how the final scene turned out. It captured the warm and dreamy feeling I aimed for at the beginning, and I enjoyed seeing all the pieces—modeling, lighting, texturing, and effects—come together.

This project helped me improve my skills and learn how to manage a full 3D pipeline more efficiently. I'm especially proud of the lighting and the little details like the smoke and color balance. If I had more time, I’d love to explore adding animation or more atmospheric effects to push it even further.