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Athena's House: A Stylized 3D Digital Diorama

Environment Artist

Athena's House: A Stylized 3D Digital Diorama served as my M.S. in Visualization capstone project at Texas A&M University. The abstract to my project's paper describes the purpose behind Athena's House perfectly:

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Dioramas depict three-dimensional (3D) scenes, and can range from multimedia artworks to personal art projects. To build a successful one, the replication of a scene should be produced with distinctive characteristics, including shape and color, to ensure visual appeal and legibility for those who view it. The objective of this capstone project was to create a stylized digital 3D diorama of an imagined house for Athena, the patron goddess of Greece. Her representations of peace and wisdom led to the use of the ancient Greek building, the Erechtheion, for inspiration. As a result, her symbols were then fused with the architectural features of this magnificent structure. Additionally, the application of stylistic elements, including the exaggeration of shapes, the use of vibrant colors, and the utilization of dramatic lighting, were applied to the model to help reinforce a satisfying viewing experience. Software applications and tools used to bring Athena’s House to life include Autodesk Maya, Substance 3D Designer, Speedtree, and Unreal Engine. 

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Image of the Autodesk Maya logo
Image of the Unreal Engine logo
Image of the Adobe Substance 3D Designer logo
Image of the Speedtree logo

3D Modeling

This project gave me the ability to incorporate my passion for art and art history by making 3D models in technical software. For Athena's imagined house, I modeled everything using Maya. However, for the tree, I used Speedtree as it proved to be more efficient due to its procedural nature.

Image of the digital 3D model of the house in grayscale.
Image of the digital 3D model of the house in grayscale with wireframe applied.
Image of the procedural tree leaf texture applied to a 3D modeled cylinder.
Image of the procedural tree bark texture applied to a 3D modeled cylinder.
Image of the procedural tree branch texture applied to a 3D modeled cylinder.
Image of a procedural, 3D modeled tree with the procedural textures applied to it.

Look Development

Image of the different 3D digital diorama textures applied to cylinders.

For Athena's House, I wanted to challenge myself by tackling procedural texturing. Since there were many aspects of my project that repeat, such as the terracotta roof tiles, olive tree leaves, pentelic marble, and meander pattern, I knew that using Substance Designer would be a good way to go. Additionally, its non-destructive work flow allowed me to make any necessary changes throughout the process.

Image of a stylized, digital 3D diorama of an imagined house for Athena.
3d modeling
look dev

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