4. Environment – Spooky Countryside
Continuing my work on the environment, I focused on creating a spooky countryside road that serves as a central element of my 3D animated short. This road winds through the eerie world, surrounded by unusual trees, vibrant grass, and rolling hills, all contributing to the atmosphere of the scene.
I envisioned this road surrounded by unique trees, bushes and vibrant grass. The trees, five in total, started as traditional green designs, but as the environment evolved, so did their colours. They now stand in striking shades of red, creating a vivid contrast against the night sky. The grass underwent a similar transformation, moving from green to a bold, luminous orange that perfectly captures the quirky, eerie atmosphere I wanted.
The grass proved to be the most challenging aspect of this process. I used geometry nodes to create thousands of individual blades, modeled as small, round-tipped pyramids. This method allowed me to attach the blades to a plane, which I had already sculpted into gentle hills, and offered flexibility to adjust their density, size, and distribution dynamically.One of the most exciting features of the geometry node setup was animating the grass to mimic the effect of wind passing through it. This subtle movement brought the environment to life, adding a layer of realism to the surreal setting.
To make it even more dynamic, I gave the grass multiple shades of orange, arranging the colours in rounded patterns with a Voronoi texture. I also decided to make the colour a little bit emmissive to look like more bright. The result is a vibrant, quirky look that ties the whole environment together.
Creating this countryside road was a rewarding challenge, and it has become a key piece of the eerie, vibrant world I’m building. Seeing it animated, with the grass flowing gently in the wind, feels like watching my imagination come to life.
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