The upcoming Argonaut lunar lander is tailored for launch aboard the Ariane 64 rocket. With the Argonaut developed by a large consortium of European companies headed by Airbus, and the Ariane 64 developed by the French company ArianeGroup, the synergy of these two systems has been envisioned to form the backbone of Europe’s independent access to the Moon.
Objectives
For the purpose of an internal presentation, the head of Ariane Launch System and Engineering Division requested a rendering of the Argonaut lander inside the Ariane 64 fairing. The rendering was meant to illustrate the interoperability of these two systems.
What I did
I was able to obtain a pre-made model of the Ariane 64 rocket. Nevertheless, I had to edit the model to fit the purpose of this project and create all textures from scratch. After integrating the rocket with my Argonaut model, I rendered the scene and created a final picture composition in Photoshop. The entire process took me about 20 hours to complete.
Workflow
The supplied Ariane 64 model only included the exterior. To achieve the stated goal of showcasing the Argonaut lander, the fairing needed to be ‘exploded’ to unveil the payload. Working in Cinema 4D, I split open the fairing mesh and added interior geometry to fill up the otherwise ‘hollow’ model. I then integrated the Argonaut model (which I had already developed for a previous project) and brought the final product into Substance Designer for texturing and rendering.
Through an online search, I found a freely available photo of the sky taken at a relatively high altitude. By applying some initial color correction, my aim was to enhance the image to give the impression of representing an even higher altitude, bordering on the threshold of space. This then served as a backdrop for the 3D rendering I had produced. As a finishing touch, I introduced additional elements like exhaust flames and sparks. Finally, I applied a subtle directional blur to parts of the scene to give the impression of speed, enhancing the overall dramatic effect of the image.
