The Strider's Escape

For my Senior Capstone Project, I took it upon myself to create this cinematic shot inspired by an original concept. The project drew on a wide range of resources, with Houdini and Nuke Resources proving especially valuable. My pipeline spanned the full production process, moving through Photoshop and PureRef for preproduction planning, Unreal Engine 5 for lookdev, Maya for modeling, UV, animation, and blocking, Substance Painter for texturing, Houdini for VFX, environment, lighting, and rendering with Karma, and finally Nuke for compositing. 
Coming into this project as someone relatively new to both Houdini and Nuke, the learning curve was real. While I've spent four years working in 3D with a strong foundation in Maya, making the transition to Houdini required a different way of thinking — one I've been gradually building comfort with through hands-on problem solving throughout this shot. 
Ultimately, this project gave me a meaningful opportunity to grow in two tools I'm genuinely passionate about and hope to build my career around. Beyond the skills developed along the way, it produced a shot I'm proud to carry into my portfolio and demo reel.