What is Zenith?
The Zenith project is the final project I created at Freestyle as a senior. It was an opportunity to use everything I learned in my two years of animation experience in a culminating product that demonstrates growth and skill. This project is what I wanted it to be and what I wanted to get out of it, and that freedom to explore is something I valued throughout the process.
Zenith – the time at which something is most powerful or successful.
This happens to be the end of my Freestyle journey, when I have produced the most projects and learned as much as possible. The Zenith is a final statement from me to the world, showing everyone what I have accomplished in a single project.
About My Zenith
My Zenith Project is a realistic render of a modern living room interior. Even though it is only one room, I tried to incorporate as much detail as possible and spend a lot of time on textures and lighting to achieve a photorealistic look. As someone who is interested in architecture and 3D modeling, I thought this would be a challenging but fun endeavor that would make for a good Zenith project. I also created a short animation showcasing different parts of the room. This project is important to me because it is similar in nature to my Junior year Explorations project, in that they are both focused on architecture. Seeing this project in comparison to last year’s project highlights how much I improved at 3D modeling and shows personal and professional growth.
This Zenith project was a new challenge for me because it tested my skills in attention to detail and technical expertise. I feel that this has not been a focus of mine throughout the year, as I did not have a lot of time to polish my previous works. This project was the perfect opportunity for me to do so, with a longer time frame and more freedom in what I wanted to do.
I incorporated what I learned in Maya (modeling with reference images) heavily in this project. However, most of the challenge involved things I haven’t learned at Freestyle, such as realistic lighting and texturing. I also decided to use Blender instead of Maya because it is more lightweight and facilitated a more efficient workflow. Despite all of these technical differences, I still think that my work ethic and determination translated well into my Zenith project.
Process
Final Product
