kid astronaut

Commissioned visuals for a touring musician's live show that matched his brand aesthetic and vibe. A journey through space with realism and dynamic content allowing the artist to tell a story through a combination of song and visuals.

My Role

Motion Graphics Designer (November 2019)


In order to create high resolution content that not only matched the clients exceptions but that was also manageable without using a supercomputer took careful planning and execution

  • Create realistic assets of planets and space objects in Cinema 4D
  • ‍Design a continuous star field
  • ‍Sequence and animate the 3D assets in After Effects

artist

problempbn

@kidastronavt

  • Kid Astronaut is a visionary, a musician and a creator
  • He was recently a featured artist at TedxBoulder, his music was featured on 303 Music Volume 2 a compilation album from 303 Magazine and he’s played stages from music festivals like Warped Tour to venues in London, England
  • ‍He’s also from the future. One day, while touring with his band (a crew of time-travelers, scientists and musicians) their spaceship hit a portal - sending them hurtling into an alternate past dimension set back in the year 2015

Kid Astronaut black and white with space projections overlaid

@kidastronavt

concept

A concept drawing of a spaceship with 5 windows

Previsualization of Venue & production Elements - with sound

A Journey Through Outer Space:

By creating a spaceship with portal style windows, we are able to create the element of motion by animating what passes by the viewports. Planets, meteors, supernovas and everything in between can be seen through 5 gateways to the universe.


  • Start and finish on Earth
  • ‍Include as many realistic space objects as possible
  • ‍Adhere to strict budget
  • Deliver in 2 weeks

A stage diagram

Stage Diagram

Video of the Live Stream in real time

Werker pitch document with images and text

Pitch Document

Video of the Live Stream in real time

Process

  • Decide what software we will use to create & sequence 3D assets
  • ‍Collect textures, high resolution content and 3D renders that are free use
  • ‍Build assets in Cinema 4D and export them as Objects for sequencing in After Effects (AE)
  • ‍Build endless star field in AE
  • ‍Import all assets to AE & sequence movements through space
  • ‍Add camera moves and fractal noise for added realism
  • ‍Find the correct codec that balances resolution with file size
  • ‍Deliver to client on time


Endless star field

Fractal Noise vs. static photo

Planet Object
Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D screen with earth object

Planet
Texture

Flat texture of planet Earth

High Resolution
NASA Photo

Nasa photo of a nebula

After Effects
Project

After Effect project with a distant galaxy

Results

The project was delivered on time and Kid Astronaut continues to use the visuals on tour!

  • After many design hours in Cinema 4D, After Effects and Photoshop the project took over 14 hours to render completely. After converting the render to a compressed codec we got a file that was still HD but only a few gigabytes, much easier to transfer and play on tour.‍
  • Below is the full 1 hour render with a live set from my favorite artist of the last few years. It truly is a journey through outer space, enjoy!


Final Render - With audio from David August

● Fiddle Stream is fully functional with Version 2 already in the works

● We are already having promising dialogue with several A-List DJ’s

● Plans to pitch to several Booking Agents, Management, and Venues all over the world

● With AWS integration Fiddle Stream is fully scalable and ready for high traffic situations

● AWS provides built in advertising options for immediate monetization if the client requests

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