Archives > 3D Modeling & Animation > Roman City & Tardis
Ostia Antica Alleyway & Tardis
Maya | 2011
For the second assignment in Maya, the task was to create an environment. Since I had prior experience with interior modeling, I decided to challenge myself by creating an outdoor environment right from the start. I already had a 3D model of the TARDIS from Doctor Who that I had previously created, and I wanted to incorporate it into a historical setting. Thus, I chose to model an outdoor alleyway in Ostia Antica, an ancient Roman city.
To construct the alleyway, I began by creating a road intersection. Then, I proceeded to model the front part of a Roman Insulae (apartment building), which I could duplicate and paste to fill both sides of the intersection with buildings. To populate the street and bring it to life, I added simple boxes and a cart as props. I also had ideas for additional props such as torches, wooden shop stalls, and hanging laundry on the upper levels of the buildings.
Texturing the environment was a time-consuming process, but it was relatively straightforward to set everything up. However, I encountered an issue where applying the default wood texture in Maya caused the program to crash whenever I tried to use it on an object.
In terms of lighting, I still had some difficulties finding an optimal method for illuminating the interior windows of the buildings without the light bleeding out into other floors. This is an aspect I would like to continue experimenting with and improving upon.
Overall, the project allowed me to create an outdoor environment with historical significance, incorporating elements from both ancient Roman architecture and the world of Doctor Who.
