This is a still shot rendered in 3D and augmented with a background matte painting. Once rendered, the fore and middleground city was broken into Photoshop layers and treated as a matte painting where additional details were painted in. Many elements were added later such as antenaes/towers with flashing lights, hologram projections, smoke, and a motion billboard (far right). Additional ships were also added to bring life to the city both in the sky and between the structures. Keeping as many elements as possible separate allows for greater control in the compositing stage. Tools used: Carrara Studio, Photoshop, After Effects and Knoll Lense Flares. View trailer