CONCEPT

These scenes comprised my final project at Hyper Island with the prompt of climate change.  As someone who majored in Biology, I feel strongly that humans should be more cognizant of how we are irrevocably changing the natural world.  In order to embody this idea, I wanted to symbolize the destruction of nature by showing a colorful, organic coral-like texture receding into a cold, dead human handprint.

PROCESS + R&D

This effect was achieved using a simulation within Blender's Geometry Nodes.  I started with a tutorial to simulate a reaction diffusion pattern similar to those in the examples above.  From there, I experimented with the node system to start the growth of tendrils from a handprint.  The speed and behavior of the texture varied depending on multiplication values of the "texture" float.  

In order to vary the texture, I used a combination of regular keyframing and an F-curve noise modifier to add minute variations more efficiently. 

Also visible are the keyframes that allowed the camera to switch automatically within the project to eliminate the need to deal with multiple batches of renders.

For the background, I used multiple textured plant models.  To simplify the scene and make it easier on my laptop, I rendered out my own custom HDRI.

This project overall showed me the power of proceduralism and awakened the interest in me to explore it more in the future.  If I had the chance to do this project again, I would put more effort into setting the stage and establishing more of the context of the scene.