Mood Board
A futuristic machine with a glowing green core, built with detailed mechanical parts and an industrial look. It gives a strong sci-fi vibe and feels like it’s powering something important.
Clean Plate
This setup builds a clean plate by combining 3D projection with roto paint work. The scene is reconstructed using projected textures, allowing consistent perspective across frames, while roto paint is used to remove unwanted elements and fill missing areas. Multiple projections are blended and refined through node iterations to achieve a seamless, stable background for compositing.
3D Tracking
3D tracking was completed to match the camera movement accurately with the scene. Once the track was solved, proxy geometry was added to represent the main surfaces in the environment. This helps in placing and interacting the 3D elements correctly within the scene, ensuring proper scale, perspective, and realistic integration.
3D Models
This asset was modeled in Blender using HardOps and boolean workflows to achieve the complex mechanical forms and sharp detailing. Cable structures were generated using Cableator for added realism. The texturing was completed in Substance Painter, focusing on worn metal surfaces, edge damage, and layered materials to give the machine a grounded, industrial look.
These are the additional models created for the scene, showing their development from basic shapes to detailed and textured versions. Each model was built step by step, adding structure, color, and materials to match the overall look of the main machine.
Placing CGI’s in the scene
CG elements rendered separately to gain precise control over AOVs in compositing.
This node setup manages multiple AOV passes for the CGI elements, allowing each component such as lighting, reflections, emission, and masks to be separated and controlled individually. The structured layout ensures flexibility in compositing, making it easier to fine-tune the final render with precise adjustments.
These are the individual render passes used to build the final CGI composite. Each pass isolates specific information such as diffuse, glossy, transmission, emission, shadows, and ambient occlusion along with utility passes like normals, position, UVs, and cryptomattes. This layered approach allows precise control over lighting, materials, and effects during compositing.
All CGI elements were rendered in separate passes to maintain full control over AOVs. This allows independent adjustment of lighting, reflections, shadows, and effects during compositing, giving more flexibility for fine-tuning the final look.
Blender Simulations
The central electric effect was created using a displacement-based setup in Blender. Noise textures drive the displace modifier to generate irregular, branching shapes, which are then refined to simulate an energy arc between the two structures. This approach gives a procedural, animated feel without relying on simulations.
The full electricity effect was built using Geometry Nodes in Blender, allowing a fully procedural and controllable setup. The system generates dynamic branching arcs, with parameters to adjust shape, intensity, and flow. This approach enables flexible iteration and animation while keeping the effect non-destructive and easily customizable.
The boiling effect was created using Blender’s particle system to simulate rising bubbles and motion within the liquid. A displacement modifier was added to introduce surface distortion, giving the water a more dynamic, agitated feel. Together, these techniques create a convincing boiling simulation with controllable intensity and behavior.
Houdini Simulation
The magical sphere effect was created in Houdini using the Pyro Solver. Custom source attributes like density, temperature, and burn were shaped and driven through noise to achieve a stylized, rising energy plume. The setup allows controlled behavior and detailed simulation, giving the effect a fluid, organic motion.
This uses the same Pyro Solver setup as the magical sphere, extended to generate a smoke plume. By adjusting density, velocity, and shading parameters, the effect shifts from energy-driven to a softer, rising smoke behavior.
The main core of the machine was created in Houdini using Pyro, and the smoke was generated using VDB in Houdini.
Final Video
This is the final video after rendering all the 3D elements with different AOVs, colour correcting them to match the original footage, and adding an overall grade to give it a green look and a clean, finished feel.