This crystal project started as an early endeavor into using Houdini’s procedural modeling tools to create something that would’ve taken ages in any other software. As I got more comfortable with the workflow, I started experimenting with more complex modeling/ shading techniques to reach an even higher level of photorealism and detail.

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Not only did this project serve as a vessel to get comfortable using Houdini, but because I rendered in Arnold and combined many computationally heavy effects like volumes within refractive objects, it proved to be a rendering challenge as well. With some of the macro shots taking up to 8 hours per frame to render on a single computer, I coded up a script that I then deployed to 96 of my school’s lab computers which shortened the total render time to a little over 24 hours.