This island was a joy to make and compose! I love the winter, so I wanted to have a lot of fun with this. What's a typical Canadian winter season without driving on the highway and seeing the foot-deep snow on the shoulder? It is definitely an experience many can relate to. I love the idea of cabins in the mountains and being able to have bonfires to sit around while connecting with others. Making the snow was interesting, as I had to be careful not to add too much, or it would look a bit odd. Overall, this was a fun project to work on!
So many different tools came in handy for this scene, in particular:
Boole tool
The land, cabin, and street were all made using the boole tool. I did this to inset the street to create the illusion of the snow being very deep. The cabin had a lot of slates, windows, and a doorway that needed to be inset.
Connect Object, Cloner, Volume Mesher and Volume Builder
To create the snow-covered effect on the railing, wood piles, fire logs, trees, and cabin, I had to connect all the objects together. Then I added the snow via the volume builder and volume mesher. I watched an awesome tutorial on Youtube on how to create a snow texture and effect, which helped me with this.
Symmetry and Boole
For the car, I mainly used symmetry to make everything even, but I also used the boole to connect a lot of the car elements together.
What really made this scene come alive were the lighting and textures I created. The fire texture allowed for such a realistic glow, even adding a smokey ember effect. The car headlights created a nice evening and sunset atmosphere. I went for a more purple and blue lighting look because it reminded me of the aurora borealis. That is truly an amazing spectacle, and it makes winter one of those magical seasons!
Island without lighting and camera work
Close up of the fire pit