the shaft

I could say many things about this project and the shot-based tasks involved, but I’ll stick to what’s most important. I basically love challenges—and while this task might not compare to a massive sci-fi CGI blockbuster, it had its own demands, especially since it was almost entirely full-CGI and a close-up.

As usual, I broke down the major components I needed to focus on so I wouldn't waste time and could plan my resources properly. From the start, I knew it would need solid art direction. The catch was that neither the director nor the lead had a clear idea of the shot’s final length, so in the beginning, I was mostly on my own.

Knowing the shot had to feel believable, I focused primarily on the three key areas: texturing, shading, and lighting.

I had just come off a stylized project, so I had to quickly switch my mindset back to realistic physics. I started with a simple blocked-out cylinder, a rough camera setup, and gathered tons of reference images. The real work began once I got some lighting cues from the actual plates. I extracted HDRIs for the underground part and used a provided HDRI for the top daylight exposure.

Then came the technical setup. I built a powerful but optimized lighting rig using portal lights combined with emissive lights, carefully assigning each one to specific light groups. I wish back then I had Solaris at disposal and it was actually to come just few months later... In the end, I narrowed it down to two main light sources and four supporting lights to simulate the secondary underground glow. Crazy, right?

For texturing, I had to move fast. I'm a big fan of simple but effective setups, so I relied on low topology and strong bump maps. I avoided overusing UDIMs and stuck to precise UV cuts. Given that edge seams are still a pain—even by today’s standards—I went fully procedural for the lids and the shaft walls. I built both the materials and the textures directly in RenderMan rather than pushing them through Substance or other tools.

Even though the shot was “just” a downward camera pan into the shaft, I knew I couldn’t rely on motion blur to hide poor texture work or a boring interior. So, I added supporting elements like cables, an electrical box, and other small details to support the perspective and help sell the shot.

I even squeezed in some of my personal time to push the quality further. Toward the end, I quickly designed some spider webs, but they turned out to be too render-heavy for an already intense scene, so the lead decided to add them in post.

There were other challenges along the way, but those above were the most significant. As some people say—what feels like torture and pain for some is pure pleasure for others. This task pretty much sums up my passion for problem-solving and delivering under pressure.

All rights reserved to Stargate Studios Malta