Showtime | Brand Video | Cyberpunk 3D Animation

We created a brand video for Showtime, a new Web3 brand, producing an animated film in the style of a game trailer to match the brand image. The client had very high standards for quality, and we kept in close communication throughout, delivering a piece both sides were happy with in a limited time. It was challenging and very rewarding.

We were honoured to have Hans Lin of Group G take part in the planning. Back in university we learnt design from Hans’s online courses, and we never imagined we would one day work alongside our idol. We learnt a great deal about video planning and communication along the way.

Final Brand Video

Using AI as a Reference for 3D Animation Pre-production

More and more AI tools have appeared in recent years. Used appropriately, AI can lower costs and speed up communication with clients, for example by using Midjourney to create storyboards, style references and character designs for early discussions.

The brand emphasises adventure, rebellion and connection, and the film responds to these themes with cyberpunk and group parkour elements.

Early Motion Design

Once the project and story were confirmed, we began motion design in Blender. This is the most important stage of pre-production for setting the direction of the film, as the overall flow is largely decided here.

AI Character Design

With the early AI mood images as a reference, we then used AI to create character design references, reached a clear consensus with the client, and began building the characters.

The most important element of this film is the heroine who appears at the opening. We made her outfits in Marvelous Designer, then assembled and lit them in Blender, testing them in key shots of the film for the client to choose from. After discussion, design No. 2 was chosen.

AI 3D Animation Environment Design

For environment development, we continued to use the early AI-generated references, along with the basic scene blocking from the animatic as layout drafts for building the environments. As the theme is cyberpunk, the assets were mainly in a cyberpunk style.

We also had to ensure visual quality during production. Here the earlier AI mood images served as a quality benchmark: when placed side by side, the two had to reach the same level.

Overall Colour Mood

In line with the brand’s theme colours, purple, blue and green run through the whole film. The two leads’ theme colours are taken from either end of the logo’s colours, and the environments are mainly blue and purple.

3D Animation CompositingNuke

Compositing is the most crucial step in determining the look of a 3D animation, and a great comp supervisor can instantly raise the quality of an entire 3D animated film. We composite in Nuke so that we always keep maximum control over the image.

Hologram UI Design

Whenever an interesting project needs design elements, we turn to Yuko, our long-time collaborator. This time we entrusted the hologram UI entirely to her with complete confidence. The client was very pleased with the frame-by-frame animation she made specially for this project, and it was approved on the first pass!

Hand-drawn 2D Effects

We have always wanted to bring more hand-drawn 2D elements into our work. This time we borrowed two of Daisy’s practice pieces and tried blending them into the film, and they fit surprisingly well.

Website Motion Background

This video is mainly used as the motion background for the website of the Showtime watch, a Solana-related product. If you are interested, visit the Showtime website.