Small Project and Maya 2010

Hey been working on my shading and lighting techniques a bit because I'm getting preparred to take an art test at school. The image below is what I was testing some things out on. i still need to get caustics to render properly but so far so good.

Base mesh with shader and IBL.

Base mesh with HDRI Map and Dir Light.

Base mesh with HDRI only.

I also got to play with the new 2010 version of Maya and this is my first render with it...

I'm bored... So look what I'm posting on my blog...

Short film!

Alright so I've been working on this short film for a while now and Im finially ready to move on with its actualt linear production.... I've got a bunch of the ship models ready for rendering aswell as the main set modeled, lit and textured... My main problem now is working out all of the vfx needed for the shots... The openeing shot is what I am trying to build right now and I really want it to open with a BANG but to get that effect takes a lot of work... I've done a bunch of research on space warps but haven't really found something that interests me... I might have to come up with my own idea for a spaceship coming out of a warp. Anyways here is a production still for the opening shot...