Photoshop concept ideas translated into Maya 3D

 Storyboard concept idea in Photoshop

3D perspective view in Maya

Render test of CG elements. Background to be timelapse footage comped in Nuke

Close up of iceman face - idea for shot set up

Sculpt tool on a polyplane to create ice on a branch

 Creating a poly plane and using the sculpt tool to create a riven surface.
Then applying it, sculpting it and using the soft select tool to shape the vertices to the branch and then applying the mia_material_x shader, as per the icemen.
The will help the icemen 'sit' in the scene and be part of the ice on the branch.

Directional and point lights in Maya; to light tree barks

Lighting the scene in Maya

Left and Below: Render shot at 50%

Right: Perspective panel showing IBL sphere, two directional  lights (one above the branches in the same position as the bright spot of the image plane footage, and another lower down to light the lower branches; both directional lights are set at 3.5 with a light gold colour. I've also included one point light underneath the branches, to give a rim and uplight in pale blue, to show the bounce light created by the snow...

Love lighting!

Scene setting, showing the green screen footage on an image plane

Left: rendered shot

Right: Perspective panel

Now that I have the eyeline established, I can remove the green screen image plane and insert the footage of the timelapse clouds, as a tiff sequence...so that the light refraction shows through the ice men

Importing models and setting the scene

Perspective panel showing the tree, with a spotlight casting a blue daylight effect, plus the iceman imported in.

Now time to scale the man, duplicate him and set up the final poses ready for animating

Creating directional lights and setting the scene

Setting the scene and creating the lights.

These images show the IBL (image based lighting, with a file node attached, showing a screen shot of the live action cloud footage), a test render of the tree with one simple direction light and the perspective panel showing the model, camera and directional light.

Scene setting

Starting to scene set using final render settings.

Tree section with new normal map created in Photoshop, using the painted texture map created in Mudbox

First direction light created in the scene. 

Positioned roughly where the main light source is coming from the clouds in the live action footage. More daylight rim lights to be added.