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Dana Brooks
Art Creation
A Dynamic Simulation of Time
My thesis project is a dynamic simulation of decay and flooding shown through a reconstruction of a real ruined building : the Great Synagogue of Constanta , located in Constanta , Romania . It shows the synagogue starting in a pristine state , transitioning to a decayed and overgrown state , flooding , then decaying more underwater . My goal for this project was to have a smooth transition to each state of decay so it would truly be a simulation of time . My main areas of study were ruins reconstruction , dynamic liquids , and foliage lifecycles .
I chose this project because it gave me an opportunity to blend my artistic and technical knowledge in a scene I was excited to create . I now feel much more capable using Unreal to create complex shaders , particle effects , and blueprints . I learned to use Substance Designer to create procedural materials which was very helpful in speeding up my process ,
especially since I needed to create three different texture sets for each mesh to show three progressive states of decay . When creating my procedural trees , I also gained my first experience using Houdini .
Many aspects of this project are useful to the games industry . Houdini has a steep learning curve and is starting to be widely used in the games industry , so any Houdini knowledge is valuable . An implementation of dynamic water and water effects that is efficient for a real-time scene is also beneficial to the games industry , and many games need to implement some form of reactive water .
My thesis took me 423 hours over nine months . The first two months were spent exploring topics and solidifying my areas of study , and the following months were spent implementing my artifact and documenting my work .
10 ART CREATION