Interface | Episode 22 | Ascend to Solitude - AIRSHIP Design and Animation

The fantastic Justin Tomchuk, the founder and creator of the youtube channel Umami and Interface Series (www.youtube.com/channel/UCqrrxZeeFSNCjGmD-33SKMw) reached out to me and asked if I could create a mechanized airship for his Interface series.

The brief was challenging to say the least but it was a challenge that I wanted to take as it would really test my technical abilities. The process was 90% trial and error and the rest was just pure euphoria knowing I could (at this stage in my career) produce something completely out of my comfort zone.

There were many challenges, such as the debris, noise arms and their interactions with objects, appearing effect and a plethora of values to dial in, that allowed me to think outside of the box when it comes to my current workflow. I had to dive into a bit of python (literally one line of code) and xpresso in Cinema4D to achieve the desired effects for the airship transformation.

The medium constraints, such as the posterized time framing and 640x480 resolution, allowed me to focus more on the technical design of the animation however I made sure that the objects were all visible meaning nothing can be too small as the shading of the toon shader fresnel would completely engulf the surface.

Justin did not leave me to do all the work myself, his drive to learn more about the technical processes and applying them to his surreal medium inspired me to work harder and think differently during the entirety of the process. Most of the time, after I presented a solution, he would come back with a variation/better technique which I am truly grateful for as being a freelancer I would generally have to figure every detail and value out myself. Luckily there is a countless amount of free tutorials on the internet, it's all about applying them to what you need.

The experience to work on something such as this has made me believe that I am doing something right and know that I made the right decision taking this path of design over my previous 9-5. I feel I've really accomplished a lot after seeing the final result and the changes Justin added to my design is just inspiring that he took my designs to another level.

Justin's Interface series is an obscure surreal tale that follows Henryk Aka Blue Guy and a nightmarish shapeshifter Mischief that you ALL NEED TO CHECK OUT!! :D

More unreleased work to come!