The objective of this project was to design a room scene using a preset model template consisting of five nurbs planes and several nurbs columns in Maya. The exercise is relevant in that a similar approach could be used in adding this as a matte background with additional elements for a scene in a film, or taking the result for use as an environment in a video game.
The model itself in Maya is simple; but the nurbs surfaces were mapped out for UVs using the Paint Tool in Maya to locate texture details unique to each plane. All textures were painted in high detail in Photoshop. For each plane, a color map, bump, and transparency map were separately assigned. The column geometry was used as the light beams as opposed to being architectural, load-bearing elements. I assigned a surface shader to the geometry with a ramp connected to the transparency. The art was painted from the camera's vantage point so it was a bit of a challenge to paint texture details while estimating perspective.
I chose a Mayan theme because I appreciate the magnificent artwork this ancient mesoamerican culture produced. I had also once visited a Mayan seaport in Mexico, Tulum, and was very impressed with the scale of the architecture, and detail of every piece. Although the Maya belief system was polytheistic and had a bit of a flair for the macabre, it was also quite sophisticated when it came to astrology. This unusual melding of beliefs was reflected in their artwork or language and had resulted in incredible feats of sculpture and rendition.
Both facing walls show stone reliefs or carvings from possibly different periods, but I chose to use these particular pieces because I thought they were some of the most interesting examples I came across doing reference research. I'm not trying to be factually correct but artistic license was used on this piece.