Arise, Dherue, Swordsmith of Narnia

Meet Dherue! He and instructor Mirena work together in the Manhattan studio as part of Game-U’s Accelerate program. Dherue’s a Chronicles of Narnia fan, so when he and Mirena started working on a 3D model, they turned to the world of Talking Beasts and White Witches and endless winters for inspiration.

When Father Christmas visited Narnia for the first time in many, many years, he gave each of the Pevensie children (except Edmund – but that’s another story) a special gift to help them bring spring back to Narnia. Peter, the oldest, received a sword. Dherue and Mirena pulled up photos of Peter’s sword online so they could figure out how to recreate it in Maya, a professional modeling and animation program. Dherue explored two different viewports and the material editor while he shaped the sword. Mirena even showed Dherue some completed models and explained how they figured into the Narnia movies’ special effects!

Father Christmas’ gift to Peter came with its own sheath, to protect it, so of course Dherue had to model a sheath for his sword too. He also added a finishing touch to the sword itself! A lion’s head on the sword hilt now reminds Peter of Aslan the Lion, who won the battle against the White Witch and brought spring back to Narnia.

Beautiful work, Dherue! Your sword turned out so well that you could be a Narnian swordsmith yourself. Thanks for sharing the model with us! You and Mirena are off to a great start.