Ty Matthews
Newscape - Strange Universe
Project Overview
Role: 3D Generalist
I was hired by Newscape Studios to work on their YouTube documentary project for the channel Strange Universe, specifically the true crime episode “The Hunt for America’s First Serial Killer.” In this project, I served as a 3D Generalist, contributing across multiple stages of the production pipeline. I was responsible for building over 25 environments within a 20-day timeframe, as well as handling lighting, animation, and compositing. My work helped bring the documentary’s scenes to life through immersive visuals that supported the narrative and enhanced the overall storytelling quality.
Breakdown
For this project, I was responsible for creating all environments featured in the production, including both the exterior and interior of the primary location, the “Murder Castle,” which served as the largest and most complex set. I built the core architectural structures from scratch and integrated high-quality third-party assets for props and set dressing to efficiently populate and detail each space.
Using a limited set of references, I reconstructed an accurate, floor-by-floor layout of the castle, ensuring spatial continuity throughout the environment to support a seamless cinematic fly-through sequence.
In addition to the castle, I independently created every other environment seen in the project, including a jail cell, courtroom, and the Keeley Institute, establishing a full range of locations that supported the narrative.
After completing the environments, I transitioned into lighting, scene composition, and animation. This included setting up lighting to match the tone of the narrative, posing characters using rigged assets from Mixamo, fire effects, and animating the camera to guide the viewer smoothly through the environments and enhance the storytelling.
