In March of 2020 I began working on a 3D animation for The Denver Museum of Nature and Science located in Denver, Colorado. The video is a permanent installation piece which is part of the Space Odyssey exhibit.
The goal was to create a scientifically accurate 3.5 minute animation about the scale of things in the known universe for visitors to learn from.
The video is installed on a physical device that can be played backwards and forwards by the rotation of a knob that the visitor controls. In addition to constructing things as scientifically accurate as possible, this also meant that all shots had to be 100% seamless and as fluid as possible.
Over the course of a few months, I spent nearly 600 hours designing, storyboarding and animating the piece in its entirety.
Though the project was far from being void of numerous crashes, troubleshooting, and new error codes, it was a long and rewarding journey to be able to bring such a large piece together by myself which I hope will inspire the museum's visitors about the universe we live in.
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There were 37 key shots in total, 74 including the transitions in between. I created all the shots using Cinema 4D and Octane. The UI and typographic animations were all done using Illustrator and After Effects.
Below are fragments of the final piece now playing in Denver, Colorado along with the numerous concepts of UI, 3D imagery, and typographic posters that were not in the projects scope.
If you’re in the Denver neighborhood be sure to swing by and check it out.
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The music is a piece I pitched for an HBO trailer in 2020 thanks to a close friend of mine. Although the piece was not selected, I was happy with the results, and it complemented this video's pacing nicely.
The music is a piece I pitched for an HBO trailer in 2020 thanks to a close friend of mine. Although the piece was not selected, I was happy with the results, and it complemented this video's pacing nicely.
