EPCOT Test Track Re‑Imagining — GM Industrial Design
Role: Lead 3D Artist / Pipeline & Surfacing Specialist
Timeline: Rapid‑turnaround delivery for Disney presentation
When GM Industrial Design needed a polished reveal animation for the re‑imagined Test Track presented by General Motors at EPCOT, the studio’s internal concept team had already built early models in Blender — but without sculptor support or A‑Class surfacing. Their director needed something far more refined to present to Disney, and the assets were nowhere near production‑ready.
The challenge was significant: all five autonomous‑vehicle concepts were missing major components, and the parts that did exist were rough cut‑outs. The team also lacked a proper pipeline for moving from Blender to the studio’s standard toolset.
What I contributed

• Established a clean production pipeline by converting all Blender models into Maya and organizing a reliable data flow for the team.

• Designed and built missing and underdeveloped components — including exterior mirrors, grills, headlamps, taillamps, wheels, diffusers, suspension, and other key design elements — using A‑Class surfacing in Autodesk AutoStudio to meet GM’s internal quality standards.

• Developed textures, graphics, and lighting for all five vehicles using Substance Painter, ensuring visual consistency across the lineup.

• Distributed finalized vehicle models to teammates for animation and shot work, enabling parallel production.

• Built all environments for the animation and shared them across the team for shot assembly.

• Animated and rendered the “Road” and “VTOL” concepts in Maya and V‑Ray, handling lookdev, lighting, and camera work.

• Composited in NukeX and edited the final piece in Premiere Pro and Audition, shaping the final pacing, color, and sound.

Outcome
Despite extensive revisions and the complexity of rebuilding incomplete assets, the team delivered the final animation on time. The polished presentation was approved, showcased to Disney, and later published across GM’s social media channels. The project demonstrated our ability to rescue underdeveloped assets, establish a robust pipeline under pressure, and deliver a high‑quality animation for a major brand partnership.


Public Release Notice: This project was officially published by GM Pressroom through GM’s public channels, allowing it to be shared without violating confidentiality agreements.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOoaNF5jyJ4/?igsh=MXZlYzV1MmxwbXZoZw%3D%3D