Ray Traced Image

Zen garden scene using Blender Cycles, aiming for a blend of stylized aesthetics inspired by low-poly artwork and a touch of realism.

Roles & Responsibilities

Procedural material creation for water and stone surfaces
Lighting setup and sky implementation
Development of emitter systems for floating petals
Denoising and final scene refinement

Project Context

CS148: Introduction to Computer Graphics

Role

Co-creator

About the project

I worked with a partner, Vivian Xiao, who led the 3D modelling in the scene. The project uses the Blender Cycles rendering engine for high-quality visuals, along with various modeling and texturing tools in Blender. Adobe Photoshop creates and edits textures, while Adobe Illustrator designs the petal images. I created procedural materials for water and stone surfaces and set up the lighting and sky. I also developed emitter systems for the floating petals and refined the scene with denoising for a polished final presentation.

Concept

We wanted to create a garden scene featuring a pond with lily pads and a cherry blossom tree. My partner and I wanted to achieve a stylized look to our scene inspired by low-poly artwork with a touch of realism. We wanted our image to be resemblant of a relaxing, garden scene you’d see in Mulan – to evoke a quiet, tranquil quality. Games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons were also an inspiration for the setting and mood of our scene, especially how they blend bright, pastel colors with a soft, understated look. In our image, we combine the still mountains and greenery with elements of movement in the reflections of the water and the floating cherry blossom petals. The viewer is meant to peer at the view, focusing on the lotus flower on the water. We set the camera with the lotus off-center, framed by the cherry blossom tree and the floating petals to guide your eyes into the bridge to the distant mountains.