Invasion 3 Exterior Sets

Exterior case study for the crashed Huey sequence. The work began with the real forest location, then moved through polyscan, Rhino cleanup, Unreal reconstruction and drawings to lock the helicopter, alien growth and camera intent into one environment.

Using Polycam, we 3D scanned the forest so the design stayed grounded in the actual location. Rhino placement drawings translated the scan into practical information for rigging and greens, fixing the Huey, vines, trees and dressing for the build.

The scan was cleaned up in Rhino, where I added the Huey, alien vines and dressing logic as a measured production model. This gave us a practical bridge between creative design, department planning and the physical realities of the forest location.

A small physical maquette helped us test placement before the build phase. We 3D printed a neural vine, used a toy Huey and added a miniature Mitsuki to study scale, performer space and the relationship between the wreckage and alien growth.

The helicopter angle was a key design decision because SFX needed to weld and prepare the frame before the forest build. The drawing fixed the Huey’s attitude in space, supporting a specific shot with Mitsuki and the alien vines.

The Rhino model was exported through Datasmith into Unreal Engine, where the environment was rebuilt with tree assets, boulders and atmosphere in the scanned positions.

We tested the reconstructed forest in VR to understand scale and spatial relationships, but the most useful review came through the intended lenses. That allowed the DP and director to judge framing, depth and how the wreckage would read on camera.

An unseen early development frame from Unreal Engine, created when the crashed Huey sequence was still being considered as a snow exterior. It helped test mood, silhouette, alien growth and the scale relationship between wreckage and forest.

To keep the stunt grounded in the real location, we scanned the cliff face and rebuilt it in Rhino. The existing rock profile, ledges and fall zones became the basis for a controllable set version that could break away safely on stage.

Using the scan as a base, I rebuilt the cliff in Rhino and produced measured elevations and plan views. That allowed the stunt geometry to stay faithful to the location while giving construction a practical buildable form.

Section studies translated the scanned cliff into a set of buildable profiles. These drawings were important for engineering the breakaway action, coordinating stunt requirements and controlling how the cliff could safely fail on cue.

The final stage build carried the scan-derived geometry into a practical cliff wall for the stunt sequence. Rebuilding the location accurately gave the performers a believable environment while allowing the cliff breakaway to be controlled on stage.

Early Unreal frame establishing the containment wall breach. The aim was to turn a Maple Ridge location into a fortified WDC frontier, with the wall reading as both military infrastructure and a failed line of defense.

AI-assisted reinterpretation of an existing production render. While this project predates widespread generative workflows, AI is now being incorporated into my pipeline for rapid exploration and iteration of design ideas.

The full site was rebuilt in Unreal from scans, Cesium terrain and design drawings. Cesium brought real-world geolocated landscape into Unreal, helping the team study the outpost at master-plan scale, with circulation and sightlines in context.

Another Ai render (post project)

The wall drawing translated the digital design into a buildable section, combining practical construction with extension in post. It fixed the scale, broken breach profile and concrete character of the containment line.

Elevation drawings developed the barracks as a practical build, resolving structure, finishes and working details. These drawings helped carry the larger world building down into believable, usable architecture on the ground.

Behind the scenes stills

Behind the scenes stills

Behind the scenes stills

Behind the scenes stills