This piece was the core case study for the latest edition of my mentorship program: "Improve Your Render".

The Arenysaurus ardevoli is a fascinating lambeosaurine hadrosaur found in Spain. For this reconstruction, the main challenge was balancing paleontological accuracy with a cinematically appealing look that stands up to high-end production standards.

TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN:
🦖 TEXTURING: Organic skin patterns and material breakup authored in Substance 3D Painter. I focused on how surfaces react to light at different scales.

💡 SHADING & RENDER: Developed in Maya using Arnold. I built a modular shader tree to ensure micro-displacement and SSS remained consistent under various lighting scenarios.

⚙️ WORKFLOW: From efficient UDIM management to advanced node logic in the Hypershade, aiming for a clean and optimizable production setup.

It’s been a fantastic journey watching my students tackle these technical hurdles and sharpen their eyes for detail.
Hope you like it!