SCAD x NYC – Week 1

My progress during the 10-week collaboration with Harbor Picture Company and Electrical Theatre Collective. Most recent updates are at the top.

Jan 12, 2026

Pitch

Here is our pitch for Boll & Branch to the mentors:

FX Shot Lists + Responsibilities:

  • Shot 1: Weaving (Mia)
  • Shot 2: Embroidery, Vellum Cloth (Nidhi)
  • Shot 3: Vellum Cloth (Mia), Pyro Clouds (Nidhi)
  • Shot 4: Pyro Clouds  (Nidhi), Vellum Cloth (Mia), Live action green screen footage
  • Shot 5: CG Hotel room, Green Screen human

Jan 11, 2026

FX Previs

Shot 4 Previs :

One shot I wanted to do some initial FX tests for is the final shot, where the clouds come out from under  the bed to transition to the hotel room environment. Since this is a very early test, my main goal was to communicate the intention and get an idea for the timing in this shot. I created this with a Pyro Simulation. 

 

Cloud Tool Research + Layout:

Resources:

To begin 3D previs, I wanted to create an initial cloud layout, so I started learning more about Houdini’s cloud tools.

 

Method 1: Sky Box (Volume from Noise)

I adjusted the settings till I achieved the cloud shapes I wanted. I still have much more to learn with this!

Method 2: Cloud Shape Generate

This tool gave me a lot of control on the look of individual clouds and it may be useful with scattering variations of clouds!

Embroidery/Weaving:

These are some resources/tutorials I plan to use to begin researching methods for creating an embroidery effect:

Reference from Boll & Branch page:

We did a few tests with Gemini and Vizcom for a style frame of the embroidery shot. It was interesting to compare the results of both of the tools with the same prompt: “Use this image as a guide for a photorealistic image of a white sheet with gold thread embroidering the edges with a background of fluffy sunset clouds. 

Input Image (Storyboard drawn by Emily)
Gemini Result
Vizcom Result

Jan 10, 2026

Brand Research + Shot List

Since last meeting, I did research on Boll & Branch and created thumbnails for shots to share with my team.

 

Boll & Branch is a luxury home textiles brand, whose biggest focus is ethically sourcing the highest quality raw materials and detailed craftsmanship. I think this would be something to emphasize in our advertisement, so it feels like a specific brand and not a generic bed sheet commercial. 

 

I chose two of the higher end sheets that they sell for more specific research and examples for us to draw inspiration from in our project:

Here are some thumbnails for shot ideas as well as some of my references:

Cumulus clouds for a softer, fluffier look, to emphasize comfort. We will look into using ZibraVDB for volumes.

https://learntoflyblog.com/weather-cumulus-cloud-bases/
https://stock.adobe.com/images/bright-colorful-cumulonimbus-clouds-at-sunset
https://www.bollandbranch.com/collections/fabric-swatches/?srsltid=AfmBOoqP76Y4EhUciQxKhJIHA1qziu7qlBgycGxQBck-PeEKaVZPA6ab

We ordered some fabric swatches from Boll & Branch to have reference we can hold and further examine the material properties as well as the behavior!

Jan 9, 2026

Brand Selection + Research

Today we had our second class and after some discussion my team and I decided to focus on luxury bedding, specifically on the brand Boll & Branch (bollandbranch.com). Some of the general shot ideas we talked about were cloth weaving, embroidery, sheets flying, and clouds to emphasize the softness of the sheets. 

 

Our goals before the next meeting:

  • Each person will do research on the company, find references, and create storyboards with shot ideas

Jan 6, 2026

Team Intro

Today was the first day of class, and we were assigned our teams! I’m excited to work as an FX artist with my team (Team Nuage):

Our challenge is to create a high-quality commercial for a high-end product, utilizing AI as a tool throughout the process.  We are continuing to develop ideas for the type of product we want to focus on. However, as a team, we have decided to incorporate CG integration with live action, and we plan to use Karma or Arnold for rendering.  Some possible types of FX we would like to try and include are hair, cloth, or particles, however, we are still gathering ideas! I am looking forward to meeting the mentors next class!

 

Our goals before the next meeting:

  • Gather product ideas + narrow down topic
  • Gather references/inspirations as we move into storyboarding