Hello #hive 
Step 1 : Layout and Set dressing
As a start I always like to make my scene look busy with elements lying around to make it look more interesting, And more objects means more details in the shot, Specially when its in light/shadow, So what i do is i start first by setting up my camera and once i am happy with the angel i start shuffling around the objects around to fit the frame
Step 2 : Creating Basic Lights
I was keen on creating something interesting with the lights, I have many elements to take advantage of, So instead of creating the obvious day lights i had to create a nice mix between cold and warm, Creating cold lights to come outside of the window, And a nice warm light in the living room
Step 3 : Lighting Details
After creating the basic lights and set up the mood of the shot, I started creating extra details with the light, I got my hero’s of the shot which is the Robots, So i wanted to create a balanced mix between orange and blue without distracting with many colors so i kept it simple and neat, Because the main focus of the shot was the Robots
Step 4 : Unfolding UV’s
After I'm done with my lights, And the whole shot set up is ready, I start my next step of work’s which is UV unfolding, I start by assigning a checker to my material so it helps to make sure there is no stretching in the UV or any flipped UV’s, After i'm done i start to layout and re arrange my UV’s, What helps me sometimes is using UDIM for some elements to save some time creating shaders.
Step 5 : Texturing
After all my UV’s are done, I started my next step which is starting assigning textures to my elements, I used substance painter as it is easier for me to see how my textures looks like before baking them to the objects and render them, I have used a mix of the smart materials in the software and some realistic textures i have found online ( texturehaven.com )
After I’m done i start to plug in all my textures to the shaders and adjust the shaders a bit according to the lights, I tend to use ( diffuse \ roughness \ normal ) as my basic textures and i can always add on if needed
Step 6 : Setting up for render
After I’m done with my shot and finished my lights/shaders, I started to prep for render, Using Arnold render engine is quite tricky when it comes to samples and at the same time I do not want my render to take long hours so i tried to keep it clean and not expensive to render
Step 7 : Composting
After the render is done, I start setting up my AOV and compiling them in Nuke, Using color correction and grades to merge and balance the final output
Step 8 : Final Touches Edit
This is new to most CGI artists as i like to use Lightroom to do the final touches and color grading to the final image, The colors control i get in Lightroom is very helpful, And as a photographer i tend to use it too often, Which make it a comfortable tool for me to use
Let me know if you want more details, Or you can share with me your fav step !
Software used : Maya | Arnold | Nuke | Lightroom
For more work's Feel free to go through my works on Vimeo
https://vimeo.com/ahmadturki
artstation
https://www.artstation.com/ahmadturki
