Environments
For the environments, I made a list of possible props with Nicole and went through them to work out which were the most necessary to build the sets, the rest could be done at the end if we got time, sadly we did not. I followed this video for the coral.
Using the technique in the video I modeled 6 different coral designs, 4 of them are made to look round and soft for the outside cave scene so it looks more inviting, the other 2 are sharp for the cave scene to show hint at the danger. 
I used the same technique to make the coral wall, just bigger. One coral tree was modeled then scaled and rotated to make a wall.
After the props were completed I uv unwrapped the coral and coral tree. Nicole uv unwrapped her rocks.
I textured all of mine and Nicole’s props; using Nicole’s concept art I colour picked for it, I used a base colour similar to the ref then added gradients of darker and lighter colours using the cement 2 brush. The spots on the coral are made using the same brush and the lighter colour. All the alive coral used bright colours, the dead coral used browns and greys colour picked from real dead coral. 
To model the sand, I followed this video. I adjusted the intensity of the dunes to better suit the scene.
After putting the scene together, I went in and added divots around the rocks as well as carving a path in the tunnel. 
To texture it I originally used the sand smart material, however after seeing it in the scene with the lighting I felt it looked too realistic for the style we were going for.
I adjusted the size of the pebbles to make the texture a little smoother and lightened the colour to look more cartoony.
Since there were 2 sets needed, outside the cave and inside the cave, Nicole and I took one each. She worked on the inner cave, and I took the outer cave. I started by adding rocks to form the tunnel and walls, then added coral to the rocks and sand. I used the sharp rocks and dead coral inside the tunnel and a little on the outside to slowly transition from friendly, colourful scenery to sharp and scary. I then added coral walls sporadically into the rock walls to break up the shapes as it was looking a little repetitive. Finally, I added Michael’s seaweed.
Rocks models by Nicole Seaweed by Michael Lighting by Sarah
Starfish
I was in charge of modelling the starfish character. Originally, I did not want to model any of the characters as I wanted to focus on environment models however, no one else wanted it so I took as long as I didn’t have to rig it. Meghan rigged it and Sarah made the blend shapes for the eyes. I struggled more than I thought as I was unfamiliar with character modeling and making sure the edge loops followed the joints. The first version of the starfish was created by adding a cylinder with 10 vertices, selecting ever other vertices and scaling them into the middle. I then added more edge loops to round the shape. The eyes were squares with a subdivision modifier.
The issue with this model is the edge loops don’t allow the model to bend at the arms of legs.
The next version was made using a square for the body and cylinders for the limbs. I only modeled the front lefts side as I could mirror it to make a full half and then mirror it again to make the whole starfish. This version was better as the edge loops would allow him to bend.
The issue with version two was the triangles where his body connects to his legs, these would cause weird deformations in the mesh when bending. The tutor Sarah told me the reason the legs connected like that is because he was not in a T pose, straighten the legs and the edge loops would connect better.
The third version used the same techniques as the one above, I modeled him in a T pose like Sarah said and the edge loops connected correctly.
The issue with version three was that it looked disproportional, the legs were too thin and long, the head was too fat, and the eyes looked too small even though they were the same as the ones in the first version.
For the fourth version was made the same as the second, however, I paid better attention to the proportions used in the concept art. I knew he would still look a little weird as he was originally drawn in with his legs in a wide stance, but I thickened his legs and thinned his head which looked a lot better.
The only issue with version four was the edge loops not curving on his body where his legs attach, the straight lines would deform weirdly. I adjusted the loops; this is the final model.
I uv unwrap the starfish by cutting him in half along the sides as starfish naturally have a divide there, so the seam would not show, I did the same for the eyes. For the textures I colour picked from Nicole’s art as she added colour dots to make it easier. The gradients used the cement 2 brush, for the dots I used the basic hard brush.
UV Unwrapping and Texturing
Oisin uv unwrapped his squid and I textured it. I textured it with a slight shine to make it look rubbery, the colour was applied the same way as the starfish, darker gradients on the ends of the tentacles.
Model and uv unwrapped by Oisin
I also uv unwrapped and textured Nicole’s angler fish while she rigged it. I used the same process as the other texturing, so everything looks cohesive when in the scenes.
Modeled by Nicole
Animation
Before everyone could animate Nicole and I added cameras to the sets, we tried to make them look as close to the animatic as possible. I was assigned shots 3-6.
I started by blocking in the main movement of the starfish and working out the timing. I used Meghan’s walk cycle when he is chasing the fish, I also added a track to constraint to his head so he would follow the light in the tunnel as he turned back. I adjusted the walk cycle to make it slightly slower when he walks down the tunnel, I also bring his arms in, so he looks more nervous. He also looks around at the cave as he walks.