Anubis - A Burning Man Monument: Rendering, Texturing, & Lighting Techniques

Last year, I was lucky enough to attend what I like to call the biggest art project in the world. At Burning Man 2011 there was an amazing, massive monument of a Trojan Horse built by Dan Fox. Like most art at Burning Man, this statue was "combustible," meaning that it is burned down during the festival. Seeing a 40ft tall Trojan Horse replica burn to nothing was truly an amazing experience. This was something that took hundreds of people and hours to build. It was truly an inspiring experience.

Trojan Horse, Burning Man 2011 Night Time

A couple of months ago I was made aware of the new project that Dan Fox is spear heading for Burning Man 2012. This is bigger and more elaborate.  It is a statue of Anubis over 50ft tall. People can climb a spiral staircase from the bottom of the monument all the way up to a look out tower in the hollowed out head of the statue. Needless to say after seeing Dan's project last year I was eager to volunteer. Lucky for me Dan was in need of someone to help with the 3D design portion of the project. He already had a good model which he built in Google Sketch Up. What he needed from me was to texture, light, and render the 3D Model to make high quality renders which he could use for the necessary presentations that it takes to get a project like this off the ground. It was a lot of fun working on this project and the results are great. Mr. Fox was very pleased with the results and it served as an accurate guide for what finished lighting, painting, and construction would look like. Check it out!

Original Google Sketch-Up Rendering by Dan Fox:

My Renderings:

Texturing & Lighting done with Maya 2010. Renders generated with Mental Ray.