Survivors

When I started this project, my main goal was to improve my sense of visual style. I believe that in VFX, the core of the work is really about having a good eye. Only by constantly training my eyes and taste can I create something that feels like real art. At GBC, I’ve learned a lot of useful software skills from my professors, but developing a strong visual sense takes time and experience.

For this project, I wanted to tell a story set after a nuclear apocalypse. The Fallout video game series shows us a very vivid wasteland world. In its timeline, the US and China go to war with nuclear weapons. I’ve played several Fallout games, so I know a lot about the wasteland version of America, like the New California Republic. But I started thinking—if China was the other side of that war, what would it look like in this kind of world?

In this project, I mainly used the Blender-to-UE workflow. All the scenes were rendered with Path Tracing mode for the lighting. I also used Substance Painter and ZBrush to add detail, especially for the hard-surface elements. Finally, I brought everything into After Effects for the final compositing and polish.

I really want to thank my mentor, Rob Sgrignoli BDes. Over these past few months, he’s constantly given me solid guidance that kept my concept design work moving in the right direction. I would also like to thank my good friend Ciba, whose excellent aesthetics helped me.