Practice 1: Developing Skills

I created an additional spotlight for each window to reflect only on the seats of the plane. I wanted to illustrate the increase in yellow lighting as the ranking improves through the way the light reflects on the seats, serving as an introduction to the window frames that contain the food.

I think the sunrays emphasize effectively that the first window is the first place in the ranking. The light gradient is also working well to set the difference between rows and identify the hierarchy visually.

Rendering this scene is the next step which is challenging due to my computer's capacity to render and rendering remotely from the university's computers.

Final Render:

After rendering the scene, I composited everything in After Effects where I added a blur to every landscape and added a tint to the food so that it matched with the lighting coming through the window.

I changed the window shapes again to a regular airplane window shape, but increasing the size significantly as the ranking increases.

This is a render view of how the first frame showing the country in the lowest ranking. I wanted to show the lowest rank in a dim cold light and make the light warmer as it increases in ranking. I used the image on the left as a reference for the lighting of this frame.

This is a side-by-side comparison of the ranking to test the color of the lighting. I like how even though the light gets warmer, there are still some traces of the blue light as it creates a complementing contrast.

This is the final frame showing the country with the best food, according to the statistics I found. I still want to make the light fade more inside the airplane. I also think of adding sunrays to emphasize that it's the first place.

Texturing of Spanish Dish on Substance Painter

The following images were used as reference for the texturing of this dish:

I first textured the dish container by using a dark grey color layer and a noise texture map with a darker grey and roughness.

This is my first attempts to do the rice texture. For the one on the left, I used a Weave texture map but it didn't look right because the pattern didn't have an oval shape. Thus, I used a Voronoi texture map which created a better shape for the rice similar to the reference image.

I then tried to add the vegetables to the rice seen in the reference images. Even though I increased the height of them, they still look flat on the rice.

Then I textured the clams by starting with a yellow color layer for the clam meat and a dark purple colo layer for the shell.

I used an Anisotropic radial texture map, gave it a darker color, and increased the height to create rings on the back of the shells.

I then painted using a lilac color the inside of the shell, similarly to the reference images.

Finally, I textured the shrimp by starting with a pale orange color layer. I used the Voronoi texture map again to create those darker orange strips characteristic of shrimps. Then, I painted the heads of the shrimps with the lighter orange.

This is how the model looks rendered in Maya Arnold render using a basic Skydome Light.

Texturing of Turkish Dish in Substance Painter

These are the reference images I used to texture the Turkish dish for this project.

I first textured the plate surface by giving it a wooden base texture. Then I created a brown color layer for the first Pide model. I added a noise texture map to it and made it a darker brown color. I painted the inner borders with a brighter brown and painted the outside borders a darker brown.

Then I created a yellow base color layer and added a cloth texture map to create an uneven look to it. I also added orange and red spots to the cheese texture. Finally, I wanted to create pepperoni slices by adding big, defined red dots that had a high height and painted the borders in a darker red to add more dimension.

I duplicated the brown bread layer for the second pide model. I slightly adjusted the brown color for diversity. I also duplicated the cheese texture I created and added more orange spots.

Then I wanted to add those green leaves similar to one of the reference images by creating a green color layer with height and made a mask layer so I could paint them in with a calligraphy brush.

For the final pide model, I duplicated both the bread and cheese textures and tweaked the colors. However, I tried to simulate a meat texture for variety.

This is how the model looks fully textured in Substance Painter.

I rendered it in Maya Arnold using a Skydome Light which looks like this:

Texturing of Italian Dish in Substance Painter

I started with a light yellow base color and painted some orange spots to add color variety, similar to the reference image.

I added a texture map to add more orange spots, especially at the borders of the lasagna.

I painted more spots on the borders similar to the ones on the reference image and painted the corners red too to simulate the red sauce and meet of the dish.

Then I textured the oregano leaves on top of the plate.

This is how it looks in Arnold Render with a Skydome Light. I think the texture looks really good, but the ceramic plate gets lost with the background, so I will make sure that the surface that the lasagna will be placed on doesn't have a light color.

Texturing of Greek Dish in Substance Painter

I exported the Greek dish model as an FBX file to be imported into Substance Painter. I began adding a pattern to the dish with colors similar to the reference image.

After, I began texturing the meat by starting off with a brown base color. I also painted the top part with a darker brown to add dimension and make it look a bit burnt from the grill.

I changed the base color a bit to a lighter brown and rose color as it was too dark in comparison to the reference image. I also added orange spots to add color variety to the meat.

Then, I started working on the pita bread texture. I started off with a light yellow base color and added a noise map to the height to create a grainy texture. I also painted some brown patches on the bread for color variation.

Finally, I worked on the sauce texture by starting with a pale yellow as base color with some specularity. I also added some spots with a green color map with height to emulate the sauce presented in the reference image.

This is how the textures look in Arnold Render with a basic Skydome light. The dark spots of the meet look a bit too dark giving the impression that the meat is burnt. I will lighten the dark spots to improve the texture, but also the lighting is making the textures look darker overall, so changing to another light will also help.

I decided to change the window shapes to reinforce the ranking. Therefore, I decided to make the window frame increase in size and in number of edges as the ranking increases.

I also decided to change the camera move so that it starts at the lowest ranking and also so that the seat screens show the ranking number and the flag of each country.

Texturing of Mexican Dish in Substance Painter

I began texturing the lemon slices of the dish, using the following image as a reference. I first created the base colors for the center, corner, and peel. I added a noise layer to the lime peel and decreased the height to mimic the pores found in the peel like in the reference image.

I then found the Voronoi texture for creating the texture at the center of the lime and increased the height. I might need to go back to it because the height looks too strong in this lighting.

After, I worked on the texture of the meat by using a raw meat texture from Substance and adjusted the colors and roughness. Then, I created the base color for the taco shell.

I painted the edges of the shell darker and added other brown tones around like in the reference image. I also used a spots brush to create dots around the taco shell.

Finally, I painted the sauce container. I tried to add depth to the sauce by making the edges of the sauce lighter. I also painted on top of the container to emulate sauce stains inside.

I UV unwrapped all the models, revised the modeling of the airplane windows, and had to modify the camera as well. I added basic textures to the models so that it will be easier to identify them in Substance Painter. I still want to add a little flag on the food to make it clear which country the food belongs to. I also think the camera movement needs further polishing, especially when it turns to the next window.

The following is a playblast of the current models:

Though I still need to work on the texturing of the food, I found this image that I want to use for lighting reference. I want each food to have its own color of light and make the interior of the plane dark so the attention will remain on the windows. However, I don't want the color of the light to be too saturated as in the reference image, because I don't want to lose the detail of the food model.

References:

The dishes were added behind the windows of the plate according to their ranking.

I received some feedback about showing the ranking visually, so I decided to add a camera to show a closer view of the dishes on the window and hierarchy. I put some images behind the dishes to show a landscape of the country and reinforce the association of the dish with the country.

Spanish Dish: Paella de Mariscos

These are the reference images for the Spanish Dish.

First, I modeled the bowl dish as the base by transforming a cylinder geometry.

After, I made the left handle of the bowl first and then duplicated it onto the right side.

Then, I proceeded to model the shells of the dish.

I duplicated the shells model and rotated them around the dish.

After, I created a shrimp geometry and duplicated it around the dish as well.

Turkish Dish Modelling: Pide These are the reference images that I used for modelling the Turkish dish.

First, I modelled the dish plate for the Pide. I decided to create a wooden plate similar to the first reference image.

Then I created the Pide model based on a rectangular geometry and gave it a shape similar to the first reference model.

After, I duplicated it twice and rotated it around the wooden dish plate.

I plan to texture the inside of the model, similar to the image below.

Mexican Dish: Tacos

This is the reference image I used for modeling the Mexican dish for the project.

I first modelled the plate from a cylinder geometry.

Then, I created the tortilla based on a cube geometry.

I created a base geometry for the meat around the tortilla using a rectangular geometry, duplicating and rotating it around.

I grouped all the geometry and duplicated it twice. I rotated them around the plate.

Then I created the sauce pot behind the tacos.

And modelled the lime slices on the side.

Italian Dish Modeling: Lasagna

This is the reference picture I'm using to model the lasagna dish for this project.

I used two cubes to create the model. One for the dish and another for the lasagna.

I then added more subdivisions to the lasagna geometry because I wanted to make it uneven like the reference image. I also added two oregano leaves at the center of the lasagna, though they look invisible right now because of the texture.

Greek Dish Modelling: Souvlaki

I used the following image as a reference for modeling the Souvlaki dish:

I first modelled the plate based on a cylinder geometry. After, I created the pita bread from a cube geometry.

I duplicated the pita bread model and rotated it in a similar manner to the reference image. I grouped these three pita bread models to mirror them on the other side.

Then, I created the meat on a stick by smoothing a cube geometry and sculpting it using the sculpting tool in Maya.

I created different versions of the meat pieces to make them look more organic. Then I duplicated the whole meat stick model two more times and changed the position of some of the meat pieces to give it more variation.

Then I proceeded to do the sauce similarly to the reference picture. I started with half a smoothed cube geometry as the base of the model.

I sculpted it to create clumps to emulate the texture of the sauce.

References for modelling the airplane cabin:

I collected these pictures for reference when modelling the interior of the airplane for the project. Since I want to create the first five rows of the plane, it meant that I would need to create first class seats. However, I didn't want to create intricate and modern cubicles because I want the main focus to be on the windows, but still maintain the consistency of a plane design. The first-class seat design I'm using as a reference doesn't have screens behind the seats, which is why I am using the last picture for a more modern look.

Airplane Modelling:

I first started modeling the seats in Maya using the following image as a reference.

This is how the back of the model looks:

I duplicated the chair and mirrored it.

Then grouped the whole geometry of the first row to create 5 rows. I also created the base of the plane.

I added more detail to the plane, such as the carry-on storage compartments and the windows.

I added more detail to the windows

Here is a wireframe view of the models all together.

I found a website containing the top 5 rated countries for best food in 2025 which are as follows:

1. Greece

2. Italy

3. Mexico

4. Turkey

5. Spain

I have decided to present the information through the window view of an airplane to connect the countries. The cabin number will represent the rated position of the country. I also wanted to show a dish with a landscape representing the country behind it to emphasize its origin.

Reference Images:

The following are images I gathered from the internet as reference for modelling

Greece

Italy

Mexico

Turkey

Spain