Blender 3D · RISD CGI 3D · 2024–25
Gracilineustes: The First Camera Study
A low-poly 3D study of a prehistoric marine reptile — my first creature model and camera animation in Blender.
Role
Modeling · Animation
Year
2024–25
Software
Blender
Course
RISD · CGI 3D (FAV-5118)
Subject
Metriorhynchid (marine croc relative)
The Idea
A digital specimen
A short low-poly 3D animation built around a prehistoric marine reptile (a metriorhynchid relative) modeled in Blender. The creature stays still while the camera orbits the body, treating the model like a digital specimen in a slow cinematic reveal — observation rather than action.
1st
My first 3D creature model and camera animation
Low-poly
Silhouette, proportion, and a slow camera orbit
So many decisions — keyframe velocity, interpolation, pacing — live inside even a simple camera orbit.
The Film
Watch the film
Course
FAV-5118 · Computer-Generated Imagery 3D
Made for RISD’s Computer-Generated Imagery 3D studio, taught in Blender. The course covers lighting, modeling, and animation grounded in core 3D principles; after lectures on navigating the interface, each student produces a short animation with focused, individual instructor time.
Reflection
Reflection
This was my first real 3D creature model and one of my first attempts at camera animation in Blender. I started it in Spring 2024, took a gap year, and came back to finish it in Spring 2025, so it became a record of where I began rather than just a technical exercise. I deliberately chose Gracilineustes over a famous dinosaur because its lower visibility forced me to treat it as a reconstruction problem — silhouette, proportion, fins, head structure. The topology is still beginner-level, but that roughness is exactly why it matters to me; it taught me how many decisions live inside even a simple camera orbit.