For the End of Year Show (EOYS), we have been tasked with designing a professional and engaging table setup that showcases all of work we’ve produced throughout this year. This event not only celebrates our effort put into our projects but is also a great opportunity to present to a wider audience that includes peers, family, members of the public and  professionals from the animation and design industry.

My main aim with my table is to create a display that both captures the attention of my audience and also clearly shows off the level of detail, skill, and creative thinking I’ve put into my final year major project. Through a combination of visual media, professional materials, physical props, and interactive elements, I want to make sure that my table draws people in and is engaging whether they have a prior interest in cars or animation or not.

A major part of my display is a large poster that represents the tone of my project. The poster shows a dynamic scene in which a car appears to be assembling itself. This references the central theme of my project which features realistic Formula 1 car design. The artwork was rendered using Unreal Engine, using its ability to produce high quality still image renders. I then refined the composition in Adobe Photoshop, allowing me to make some adjustments and ensure that the final poster maintains a bold and polished feeling. By combining these two tools, I was able to achieve an eye catching and professional tone. The poster uses the colour scheme of the car’s livery which has a high-contrast palette that ties directly to the main model featured in the project. This consistency helps bring together the table visually and supports the feeling of the project across multiple elements of the setup.

The set up of my table at the EOYS will feature a black table cloth. This is to keep with the organised and bespoke feel to my table. On one monitor I will have my Major Project playing on so that viewers can see what I have created. On a second monitor I will have another video playing that showwcases all of the models I made for the scenes to make sure that the audience of my table know that my focus for this project was to make detailed and realistic 3D models. Each of the models showcased will aim to match what is being shown in the main project so people can have a closer look at the details of the models. I will aim to have the videos on a loop and that they both loop together so that the models that are being showcased on the second monitor are models that are appearing in the main project simutaneously.

The physical table setup is designed to be clean, professional, and immersive. It will be covered with a black tablecloth, a simple but deliberate choice. The black fabric provides a neutral base that prevents distraction and allows the artwork, screens, and props to stand out more effectively. It also supports the “bespoke” feel I want my table to convey, suggesting a well planned and thought out presentation.

On the table, I will feature two monitors, the first will play my major project film on a loop. This is the main part of the show, to present our final projects which came from months of work. It is meant to be watched in full, so having it play on a loop ensures that no matter when visitors arrive at my table, they can experience it from the beginning. The second monitor will present a behind the scenes showcase of my 3D models. This video will also loop, and it has been purposely timed to match the sequence of my main project. As the models are featured in the main animation, the audience will be able to see those same models showcased in detail on the second monitor. This dual-monitor setup not just enhances the viewers experience but also reinforces the skills I have in 3D art and modelling. I want to show that while the finished project is important, the models themselves are the focus of this production. By havinga closer look at each asset and showing its detail and texture, I want to convey the care and precision that went into every aspect of my work.

Given that the EOYS is attended by potential employers and industry professionals, I will include a printed copy of my CV on the table. This will provide a summary of my skills, experience, and professional background, as well as an overview of the tools and software I’m proficient in. My CV will also reflect my knowledge of high standards in design and presentation, using a visually clean layout and matching the branding of the rest of my display. Alongside the CVs, I will have business cards available for visitors to take with them. These cards will include my full name and title, contact email and social media that I’m available on (e.g., Instagram, LinkedIn). The purpose of the cards is to make communication easy and to draw attention to my other work. This will give visitors the opportunity to explore more of my work in their own time. Having a professional business card helps to give me more credibility and increases the chance of being remembered after the show.

To further make my table more involved in the world of automotive design, I will incorporate real car parts such as nuts, bolts, gears, and various other miscellaneous parts which I will scatter strategically across the table. These items have been given to me from a mechanic I know, and they provide an authentic physical reference to the models showcased in my project. Using real car parts instead of plastic models or printed props adds a tactile, weighted dimension to my display. It helps bridge the gap between the virtual and physical worlds, allowing my audince to connect more directly with the theme of the project. The metal and textures of the parts help to give the table an industrial feel that compliments the aesthetic of the project while avoiding clutter. These elements also serve as subtle storytelling tools and reminders of the real life inspiration behind my work and the detailed mechanical systems that my models are based on.

I am aware that some attendees may not initially be drawn to my project, especially if they are interested more in stylised animation or narrative-heavy pieces. I wanted to find a way to make my table more appealing to a wider audience. For this I’ve incorporated a Formula 1 Scalextric track that wraps around or through the table display. This interactive toy track serves multiple functions, it fits with the theme with the Formula 1 focused nature of my project, it introduces dynamic motion and sound, which will help attract attention from across the room and it entertains and engages visitors of all ages, encouraging them to stay longer at the table. The Scalextric track becomes an influencial technique so that people may stop by to play or watch the cars race, but once they’re there, they’re more likely to stay and explore the rest of the display likewatching the videos, examining the models, and potentially taking a business card or reading my CV. It is both a thematic match and a strategic tool to achieve more engagement in my table set up.

Ultimately, my EOYS table is not just a showcase, it’s an experience designed to lead the audience through different aspects of my project. Visitors are drawn in by the Scalextric track, bold visuals, and professional presentation. As they watch the videos and observe the real car parts, they begin to understand the depth and realism of the work. Through the model showcase they gain a deeper appreciation of the skills involved and with access to my CV and business cards, they can connect with me professionally, both now and in the future. My goal is for people to not only enjoy my film, but also to understand and appreciate the effort, detail and dedication it took to bring it to life. I want the audience to have a clear impression of who I am as a 3D artist and someone who values detail, realism, and creativity.

After completing all of the previous tasks, I had a draft version of my project that I had the opportunity to present it to my class and tutors in order to showcase what I had created and also take some feedback from them in order to improve my project.

The feedback I was given was that overall the models are impressive and the mysterious and suspensful atmosphere are coming through as intended. I was told that having a more subtle introduction to the car would improve the reveal more. This could be achieved by showing the more generic parts first, then more car parts, then reveal some of the specific race car parts before having the car form into the fully assembled model. I was also suggested to add more “sexy” cinematic shots of the fully assembled cars to really show off the detail of the car itself and my model. Another suggestion was for the lighting to be more than one colour tone to add some depth to the shots. I addressed all of these areas when I created my next draft.

I went back and re-animated some shots, added more lighting or changed it entirely in others and then created a few more shots to put in to improve the narrative of the project. I added more sound and re-edited the project and ended up with a much more complete project.

Once I had all the required footage rendered and exported through Photoshop, I can now start editing together the raw footage into a complete narative. I use Adobe Premier Pro for this process and imported all my files there.

I then imprt them into the timeline into the correct order and trim any extra footage off the beginning and end of each clip just to make sure the cuts are smooth to the viewer. I also make sure that all the footage is correctly coloured and the continuity of each shot is accurate.

It’s here I can add any fading out transitions between shots to help the lighting effect in the footage and add the sound and music which I collected from free online sound websites to add more depth and atmosphere to the video.

In the Warehouse scenes, I have created a number of bright LED screens that light up a lot of the scene. In order to create a realistic representation of these screens, I followed this tutorial to help me.

I created footage in Adobe After Effects to make sure the lighting was bright and dynamic for each shot I needed and was able to apply that to the media material and edit it in the sequencer.

This is the blueprint of the material I created. It takes the video footage, takes the red, green and blue colour channels seperately and runs it through a pixel PNG which is then multiplied across the meshes face that acts as the screen to replicate the resolution of the screens. I kept the resolution quite low so that you can see the pixel effect in the render

*blueprint image*

To build the track scene in Unreal Engine, I used multiple different techniques and methods to make the process high quality and efficient. After I created all the models needed for this shot and imported them into the content browser, I added them to the scene in order to test the lighting on the models.

Once I had them all together, I placed in teh track topography and added all the appropriate materials and place the individual models into their respective spot. This includes the cement barriers and grandstands etc.

For the wall and curbs, essentially any of the models I planned to multiply and line out, I created a mesh spline for each of these assets. This allows me to string duplicates of one model along a path I decide, allowing the models to be small and detailed when creating them along with still looking realistic. The models were created with this in mind to make sure everything fit into place correctly.

Once all the models were in place and I knew the camera angles I wanted to capture, I was able to place in the foliage that would be seen in those shots. I added grass to the foreground with a Quixel Bridge asset pack and then again used the spline technique to place the trees in the background to hide the lack of landscape in the Unreal scene, which is accurate to real life references.

For the final additions, I placed decals of the tracks painted lines and made sure that they didn’t effect the car model so that the car could drive over them correctly.

Unreal Engine is a free software that is primarily used as a game development engine. It is an industry standard tool at this point and has been used in the creation of many popular games released in the last number of years such as Fortnite, Rocket League and Marvel Rivals. Unreal is a great tool due to it’s impressive graphics capabilities, ease of use and the fact it’s free to use. For me, Unreal is the engine I chose to animate and render my project.

Firstly I set up the project with a blank file and import all the models I created into the content browser in organised files. I then import any texture files from Substance Painter into their respective model folders and create the materials in order to apply them to the models.

For the track scene, I took a top down satalite image of the track and blocked out the layout of the track with a flat plane mesh and gave each section different materials based on my reference image. I then found information on the height from sea level at different points plotted on a map and raised the same points the same distance on my model.

Once I was happy with the topography of the track I made sure all the materials were correct and imported it into Unreal as well. From there I scaled it to the correct size and applied materials from Quixel to create life like textures. When all the models have their textured applied, I can then drag them into place to create a scene that looks realistic, but only from the camera angles I need in order to be more effecient and not waste time on angles that wont be seen in the final render.

To render videos, I first create a sequencer and add any models into it that I want to animate including the cameras. From here I can key frame almost every feature of the models. Once I have a shot that I like I add it to the render queue and export it as an image sequence. I use Adobe Photoshop to load the image sequence as a video that I can play back and I export it from there as a video file in high quality, ensuring the frame rate of the export matches the frame rate from the Unreal render queue settings.

In order to texture the models I create, I first have to unwrap the UV’s and create UV maps suitable for Adobe Substance painter, the software I’ll use to apply materials to the meshes I made in Maya.

To do this I select the mesh in the Maya outliner and open the UV editor window. From there I will create an automatic UV map and unfold, orient and layout the shells across the UV window. For more complex models, like the full car model with a lot of different materials, I utilise the UDIM’s workflow and spread the UV shells across more tiles in order the preserve the detail.

In Substance Painter, I can use the pre-made materials to mimic the real materials on the actual cars like carbon fibre and vinal wrap to name a few. I’m also able to create PNG stickers to add to the car for sponsers and stickers.

To begin the 3D modelling process I start with gathering reference images of the specific object I’m trying to replicate. For this project I collected a number of different types of references including photographs and video footage but what I found most helpful were detailed illustrations by an artist called Ohad Bark who posts drawings capture the accuracy of the designs of modern F1 cars on instagram. As each Formula 1 car is a bespoke design, I decided that instead of replicating a specific manufacturers design, I would gather references from a range of different team’s cars and use them to inspire my own unique design as it would allow me to gather significantly more material.

Where possible, I try to find the mesurements and dimensions of the models I create in order to capture their likeness with as much accuracy as possible. Fortunately, Formula 1 is a regulated sport with strict limits to the designs of the cars. This information is also very easy to find so I was able to use it to accurately shape my cars length and width in general, but also with specific elements like the dimensions of the areodynamics and tires etc.

When I have gathered all of the necessary references and measurments, I like to use them to create a 3D reference in Autodesk Maya, where I will be creating the models, using the image plane. I line up the reference images so I easily start making a basic block of the model, in this case the fully assembled car, to capture its general size and shape. In this case I chose to start with the car as when I had it completed I would be able to take parts from it to create the components from my model list more effeciently that doing it last.

Now that I have the general shaped blocked out, this model becomes my main guide for the more detailed models and I use the images to create much more detailed versions of each part piece by piece.

In order for my project to be completed efficiently and on time, I had to start with a plan on what I intended to complete and for when. This was difficult as up until this point I wasn’t confident with my ability to predict how long certain tasks took. However, thanks to the experince I gained throughout my placement I could make educated guesses but more importantly knew an effective order in which to go about completing my project that meant everything had enough time to be completed to the best of my ability.

The first thing I planned was a model list. Particularly for the car parts, using the reference images and videos gathered, I listed out all of the models that I would need to create to capture the desired effect that I wanted in each shot. Using my previs video alongside my list, I was then able to decide which models needed more time due to their complexity or prominence in certain shots as I knew I could save time by only making the models the camera focuses on extremely detailed while saving time with models that aren’t seen as closely.

Once I had the model list completed, I actually started work on creating the fully assembled car model first. I chose to this because not only would I have to model the car piece by piece to fully assemble a facade of a working Formula 1 car, already giving me an number of assets on my model list, but I prioritised this model as if the modelling process took longer than what I expected, there was more I could do with a fully assembled car than a number of random car parts. The car model took priority as a contingency and then I would begin to work through my model list.

Alongside working down the list of assets I had to create, I would also work on learning how to create the LED screen effect in Unreal Engine in order to make them look as realistic as possible. This was a major part of my planning process as the screens feature heavily in the production and I had never attempted an effect like this in Unreal before. After some research I found this Youtube tutorial and plan to follow it while applying necessary changes in order to get my own custom screens working.

I also had a track scene to plan as well. This came with it’s own model list, however I made an effort to effeciently only create one of any model and could be duplicated around the scene. This would save time and add to the quality of the production. I had to include time to get these models created as well along with learning how to effectively duplicate the models in the scene, which I found how to do with this tutorial video.

When I have everything modelled and the enviroments set up, it will be time to start animating each shot. I will use my previs video to inspire each shot and use the sequencer function in Unreal to animated my desired models and cameras.

When it comes to render the shots I have to save each clip as an image sequence and import it into Adobe Photoshop in order to export it as a video file. This is easy to do and realitively quick, offering high quality exports.

After each shot is exported, I will then have to edit the shots together. I plan on having extra shots than in the previs that I will prepare in correlation with what I think would best be added in between the shots I planned in the previs. The editing process I am faily confident in as I will have animated most of the shots in a way that will require little to no post-production editing. It will just be a case of putting the clips in the correct order and adding small effects where I see fit in Adobe Premier Pro.

Sound design can begin when I have a good idea of what the final edit will look like. This allows my to see what in the animation requires a sound effect and also allow me to look for music tracks for example that best fit the pace of the animation. I will then use Premier again to include the sounds in their required location in the timeline.

When I have a full draft of my project, I will seek feedback from my Tutors and Peers and take into account how different audiences suggest to improve my project and then plan the edits I need to make.

After all of this have been completed and I’m left with a product that I am happy with, I will be ready to submit, double checking all the additional material, like the blog, is also completed to a high standard and this will then allow me to focus on the end of year show materials.