RECENT PROJECTS
November 2023
Music video for Jebadiah
Still from Rubberman animated music video. Created 2023.
In August, 2023 West Australian band Jebadiah approached me to make a music video for their song Rubberman. I loved the song as soon as I heard it and listened to it many times while walking my dog. After playing the song over and over for several weeks, I created a storyboard in a just few hours. It came easily because my mind was full of imagery that had percolated on repeated walks through Melbourne's windy parklands. Like the song, I wanted the video to be evocative or experiential and wasn't concerned with having a definitive meaning or narrative. The song lends itself to a journey, a figure walking through a landscape. I wanted the mood to start tranquil and get increasingly chaotic as invisible forces become evident (deforming the landscape and producing colourful ribbons). I wanted it to feel Australian and to allude to global concerns including the proliferation of plastics in the environment. Although addressing dark and depressing themes, the clip needed to be visually appealing. Key images that inspired the visual aesthetic include the cover illustration on James Bridle's book "Ways of Being", the paintings of Clarice Beckett, and some of my own paintings like the one below (painted in 2006).
Oil on board, landscape painted 2006.
June 2023
Presentation for SAS conference
This year the Society for Animation Studies annual conference was held at Rowan University in the USA. I was lucky enough to travel there in person and deliver a presentation called "Virtual Representations of Real Locations: Using emerging animation technologies to promote ecological awareness ". Check out my presentation slides and text here.
February 2023
Seahorse animation for gallery exhibit
Given the mathematical nature of seahorse bodies, this project was a good opportunity to create a procedural animal model. This means that, instead of creating a “one-off” seahorse , I created a tool for creating seahorses with varying topology. To read about procedural workflows, check out my blog post 3D Animation, Automation and Cliche mentioned below
Still from Seahorse animation.
Created in collaboration with Mikala Dwyer.
Exhibited at Chau Chak Wing Museum, Sydney, in March 2023.
More about the exhibition
here
August 2022
Landscape and wildlife for Virtual Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island (MI) is a subantarctic land mass situated south of Tasmania. Virtual Macquarie Island (VMI) is an ongoing project which ultimately aims to create an immersive virtual representation of MI. I became involved in the project in January 2021 when CI Peter Morse contracted me to create virtual flora and fauna.
The first output of the VMI project, an 18-minute 4K projection, was completed in August 2022 and is currently on display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Stills from this video, rendered in Unreal Engine, are shown below.
Some interesting aspects of the project so far include creating the VMI landscape using satelite data combined with Houdini heightfields. I also created animals including a Wandering Albatross, King Penguins, and Royal Penguins (which gather in colonies of up to 100,000). Elephant seals were created by Jack Cornish.
Peter Morse provides more information about the project here
See more of Jack's beautiful CG work here
March 2022
Blog Post for Society of Animation Studies
In response to a call for posts on the theme of AI in animation, I wrote 3D Animation, Automation and Cliche
December 2021
Ringtail possum animation for AR project
I created a low poly Ringtail Possum character for Troy Innocent’s “64 Ways of Being” project. In the WIP video linked below you can hear how much I enjoy exploring Houdini’s procedural workflows for low poly characters.
Click on the image above to see Ringtail Possum WIP video
More about "64 Ways of Being" here
July 2021
Pigeon animation for gallery exhibit
Birds are a challenging subject matter for 3D animation but I enjoyed the way this project made me notice all the pigeons and lace-necked doves in my neighbourhood. Pigeon is an animated projection featuring a lace-necked dove created in collaboration with artist Mikala Dwyer.
Image of Pigeon animation in Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney - photo by Luis Power
Watch the final exhibited animation loop here
March 2021
Koala and joey animation for outdoor projection
During the many hours it took to create this animation, I fell in love with koalas. The animation features in Mikala Dwyer's exhibition "Phantom", at the MUMA Gallery's Ian Potter Sculpture Court.
Image of the animation in situ - photo by Christian Capurro
The video above shows how I made the animation
Watch the final exhibited animation loop here
Find out more about the exhibition here
For 3D students, this video shows how I created the koala model in Maya starting with a cube
February 2021
Possum animation for outdoor projection
Possum making-of video
As described in the WIP entry below, I created a series of animation loops featuring a Brushtail Possum for "Apparition", a public artwork by Mikala Dwyer commissioned by Melbourne City council.
Still from video showing the animation in situ
September 2020
Beach Scene II - exhibited at Panacea
Beach Scene II , 1999. oil on canvas
First exhibited in 1999, this painting was recently shown at Panacea , an exhibition featuring a variety of work from the Fremantle City Council art collection.
Fremantle Arts Centre, Western Australia.
September 2020
Brushtail Possum - WIP
I was recently commissioned to create a photoreal Brushtail Possum. The following are movies and images from this work in progress.
November 2019
Self Portrait - exhibited at Western Currents
Self Portrait as an Early Morning Swimmer , 1999. oil on canvas
Between 1995 and 2000 I made a series of beach paintings featuring early morning swimmers and the painting above belongs to this series . It was my habit during these years to spend an hour at the beach each morning (swimming and sketching) before painting in my studio. Inspired by Soviet propaganda images from the 20’s and 30’s, Self Portrait as an Early Morning Swimmer was painted from life with the help of two mirrors and a strong spotlight.
First exhibited in 1999, this painting was recently exhibited at Western Currents , Fremantle Arts Centre, as part of the Fremantle Biennale .
June 2019
Melting Painting - Reaction Theatre
As part of a forthcoming immersive theatre project, “Secret of the Raft” by Reaction Theatre, I explored Houdini fluid simulations to create animation loops of an ocean and melting painting. The above movie is indicative of the desired effect (the blue figures stand in for real actors). The final movies will be rendered for large scale projection. More information on the theatre production can be found here
April 2019
Inavision - animated logo
July 2017
Cow Herd - VR artwork
Cow Herd is a VR experience that uses motion capture data and flocking algorithms. After putting on the headset, a viewer of Cow Herd notices a group of cows who seem to be aware of the viewer’s presence. At first the cows are inquisitive but they soon become startled and begin to run. Swept up by the momentum, the viewer follows, becoming one of the herd - becoming cow.
Created in collaboration with
Chris Barker
with sound by
Celeste Potter
.
Exhibited at Nexus Arts, Adelaide. July 2017.
A screencapture of
Cow Herd
can be found
here
.
Below are process pictures from the project.
November 2016
THROUGH THE DARK - GOOGLE PLAY MUSIC AND HILLTOP HOODS
Designed by Eran Hilleli and created at XYZ Studios, Through the Dark is a web based interactive music video. This project was technically challenging and was made possible by a multidisciplinary team including designers, animators and programmers. My involvement included a variety of 3D generalist tasks.
Through the Dark was designed to be viewed on a current model Google phone and it can also be viewed on a computer. To experience Through the Dark on your computer visit this link . For a behind-the-scenes look at the production process, click here .
July 2016
FLOCKING WHIPPET - VR artwork
Exhibited at the Animaladies conference exhibition in Sydney, and at the Spring Sculpture Prize in Castlemaine.
A screencapture recording of Flocking Whippet can be found here .
The VR version of Flocking Whippet is based on my first attempt at flocking algorithms created with vex in Houdini (image below with link).
October 2015
NIGHT SCENE - URBAN ANIMATORS LIVING LABORATORY
Night Scene is a large scale projection work commisioned by RMIT University as part of their Urban Animators: Living Laboratory initiative. An excerpt from Night Scene can be viewed here. Click on the image above (or click here ) to find out more about RMIT's Urban Animators: Living Laboratory .
October 2011
LITTLE RIPPER - animation
A short excerpt from Little Ripper .
Directed by Celeste Potter for XYZ studios , Little Ripper is a 5 minute animation about pigeon racing and forms part of the feature length documentary Fast, Feathered and Fearless by Streamline Media .
My involvement in the Little Ripper project included modelling, texturing, 3D animation and compositing
August 2011
THE SLAP (title sequence) - PLUS FILMS
Based on the bestselling book by Christos Tsiolkas, The Slap is an eight-part drama series commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).
My involvement The Slap title sequence included animation direction, production, and involvement in initial simulation tests for the CG plate. The expertise of Houdini wizard, Pawel Grochola, was essential for the successful completion of this project. The title sequence itself was conceptualised, directed and produced by Plus Films .
September 2011
BLUE SKIES - HONDA
Stills from Blue Skies test animation.
Directed by Eran Hilleli For XYZ Studios , Blue Skies is a TVC created for Honda. My involvement on this project included shading, texturing, modelling and previz animation.
Click here or on the images below to view the full TVC on the XYZ website
Stills from Blue Skies TVC .
August 2011
THE BIG SQUEEZE - FOUNTAIN SAUCES
Directed by Steve Watkins For XYZ Studios , The Big Squeeze is a TVC created for Fountain Sauces. As "3D Lead", my involvement on this project included lighting, shading and rendering, as well some rigging, modelling, and animation. Click on one of the images below to view the full TVC on the XYZ website
December 2008
STORIES OF THE SEA - MELBOURNE ZOO
Commissioned by David Lancashire Design on behalf of Zoo’s Victoria , Stories of the Sea is a 5 minute animation depicting krill, barracouta, dolphins, seals, Australian salmon, and blue whales. The animation is projected as a 25 metre long, 3 metre high image in the new section of the Melbourne Zoo called "The Deep".
A short excerpt from Stories of the Sea .
At 4096 x 768 pixels, Stories of the Sea is difficult to show on a computer screen. The movie above shows a montage containing sections of the original animation. To see the full animation, visit the David Lancashire Desgn website.
Project Development - This is one of the initial visual style images created using Adobe Photoshop.
This photo shows the animation in situ; a 3D animation projected onto a 25m long screen.