FLY-BY SEQUENCE

This short Unreal Engine animation showcases the Nomad in deep space, slowly cruising toward a distant planet with subtle engine hums and atmospheric sound.  The flyby highlights the ship’s weight, scale, and solitude - hinting at a larger story without a word of dialogue.

HERO SHOTS

The final renders highlight the Nomad’s profile across various lighting conditions and angles.  Using Redshift, the shots emphasize material separation (plating, tubing, carbon paneling), atmospheric wear, and cinematic depth.  These compositions help sell the Nomad as an active player in a larger sci-fi universe - ready for flight, combat, or cutscene close-ups.

MODELING IN MAYA

This screenshot reveals the Maya workspace where the Nomad’s base mesh was built using clean, modular hard-surface workflows.  Maya enabled efficient blockouts, precise edge flow, and organized scene management - laying the technical foundation for the entire ship.

WIREFRAME

This wireframe view displays the underlying mesh structure of the Nomad.  Modeled with a real-time mindset, topology is optimized for clean edge flow around engine housings, control fins, and the cockpit.  Geometry density was concentrated in curved turbine components and weapon detail while maintaining an efficient polycount for potential use in Unreal.

UV MAPS

UVs were laid out to prioritize visual clarity and texel density across key surfaces like the forward hull, wing panels, and engine nacelles.  Materials were authored in Substance Painter, with texture sets including Base Color, Roughness, Metalness, and Normal maps.  Dirt passes, paint chipping, and panel wear were painted to add realism without over-noise.

ANIMATING IN UNREAL

This behind-the-scenes screenshot shows the Nomad imported and animated inside Unreal Engine.  The ship was rigged with basic flight controls, subtle engine thrust animations, and light interaction for atmospheric flybys.  Animation focused on slow banking turns and hover behavior, showcasing how the ship reads in motion with camera dynamics and VFX potential.