Scale model for VFX reference or stop-motion — 1:24 to 1:1000 depending on use. Provides visual depth cues and lighting reference for the effects team.
You need a maquette as soon as you cannot build a set or a character at a 1:1 scale — be it for cost reasons, size ratios, or because you need to track later. This is your physical, miniature model that provides the VFX team and the camera with the exact geometry, surfaces, and lighting situation. While your digital 3D model exists later in the computer, the maquette works analogously, giving you immediately tangible information: How does light break on an edge? What shadows are cast? How does the surface texture behave at different angles?
Depending on the commission, the scale varies massively — an architectural model for a drone flight is often 1:50 or 1:100, a character maquette for stop-motion works closer to 1:10 to 1:20, and a tiny spaceship for close-ups can be 1:500. The crucial factor: the maquette must be photographable by the camera. This means it needs enough detail for textures to remain legible, but not so much that the manufacturing time explodes. You build out the areas in detail that you photograph on set — the rest can be reduced.
In practical work, we use maquettes in several scenarios: motion-control shots, where the camera must pass the maquette precisely and a large set is to be composited digitally behind it later — here, the maquette serves as the timing and spatial grid. Stop-motion projects work exclusively with maquettes that are armed (made movable). And in hybrid productions, you photograph the maquette under standardized lighting to give the 3D team exact lighting and surface references. This saves hours in the digital texturing and shading phase.
Craftsmanship-wise, maquettes differ depending on the material — wood and plastic for robust architectural models, silicone and armature material for animatable figures, acrylic and etched surfaces for futuristic sets. When photographing them, you need rigid mounts and a consistent lighting setup (usually halogens or LED panels). The digital workflow connects seamlessly: your photos go directly to texturing and lighting in the CG pipeline — no separate reconstruction needed, the geometry is exact.