I started thinking of making a Baba Yaga hut in 2020 when I had more spare time (Covid times) to dream and enjoy the process of creation. This page shows my starting point at the very bottom, with the screenshots of the initial build and my learning of Octane, to much later, reworking the environment and the textures in Redshift (in Cinema 4D).
The final, reversed animation is in my showreel here.
Evolution of Baba Yaga Hut environment
PHASE 3
The environment starts making more sense. A test in keeping the scene light. The use of mograph and the use of matrix instead of cloners in Cinema 4D.
PHASE 2
Building an environment. Switching from Otoy Octane to Redshift.
This was the phase when I finally decided to add phones and mountains to the background and considered how to implement the existing Halloween JPJ promo into my fun scene.
Since this is really a personal project, I had the freedom, though with some constraints. I wanted to have fun with it, make the visuals pleasing for me, and also make it readable. It was a learning process in which I moved from rather "muddy" textures (as my fellow motion designer called them) to a clearer landscape in the final render.
Extra Ideation
Why not use genAI, right? Well, it was an interesting exploration. Made with Sora.
PHASE 1
2020, the Furlough Scheme in the UK, and the joy of creating with little to no obstacles.
Cinema 4D + Octane
Cinema 4D + Octane
I gathered references from Google Images, but coming from a Slavic country, I knew what Baba Yaga's hut should look like. It had to have a crow's foot that allows it to move, hop, and rotate. In the stories I’m familiar with, two young, hungry siblings become lost in the woods (or follow a path) and stumble upon the home of a child-eating witch. Baba Yaga captures the children and imprisons them, hoping to fatten them up. Eventually, as she prepares to cook them into a tasty dish, they manage to trick her and escape. 😁
