My take on 3D software

Blender is my favorite tool for 3D modeling and 3D animation. Although some may find it intimidating due to its numerous workspaces, panels, and program-specific settings, as well as the challenges of node wrangling and slow render times in Cycles (especially compared with Unreal Engine), mastering Blender opens up a new realm of creative possibilities. Over the past few years, Blender has become incredibly dear to me, particularly for its customizable workspaces, layer, and scene systems. The supportive community, offering endless inspiration and plugins, has been instrumental in maximizing my creativity.

I've had experience with Autodesk Maya and Cinema 4D during my university days and have worked with Cinema 4D and Houdini on various productions. However, Blender stands out for its experience and capabilities. The introduction of object nodes in recent years has made it even more appealing.

The Project Brief

I was tasked with creating two distinct shots of a book for a TV trailer. Using a PDF of the book, I needed to recreate a hardcover book shell and animate the pages. The first shot required the book to open smoothly, with pages turning one by one. For the second shot, I envisioned an arrangement of books rotating on a plane, leaving whitespace for the title animation.

Setting Up the Blender Project

The most challenging aspect of a complex project is maintaining simplicity and adjustability while ensuring logical structure and visual appeal. For the remodel of a book with hundreds of pages, I aimed to be smart with page distribution and animation. The best approach was to model and texture the outer book cover first. By creating a custom rig, I was able to control the logic of the opening with a single controller.

Creating the pages initially seemed like a tedious task. However, I discovered that modifying a single plane with a deformer to achieve the page-turn animation was highly effective. With object nodes, distributing the texture from the PDF and repeating the pages over a hundred times became remarkably easy.

Delivering a Render that Fits Perfectly into the Cut

Collaborating closely with editors, producers, and other motion designers was essential for fine-tuning the animation to achieve the best result.

Matching the animation to the timing of transition wipes, rendering a 4K PNG sequence, and compositing it in After Effects for a glossy product shot were all part of the process. Rendering with Cycles, using a high number of light bounces, and leveraging the full depth of color resulted in high-end reflections. Adding a surface shadow and performing color grading in After Effects provided the final polish.

Simple things can be incredibly beautiful. I loved working on this project because of the freedom Blender gave me to recreate something as familiar as a book in 3D, achieving a result that feels very real yet as perfect as an Apple product shot.