VB 560
This project marks Kuhn North America’s first fully in-house animation—a significant leap from the trench's of VHS that I brought them out of. By transitioning to internal production, we’ve achieved this quality of animation at just 1/6 of our previous costs! Technically, one of the most challenging aspects was ensuring the baler’s belts remained flexible and properly formed while spinning. Additionally, configuring the particle system to feed into the machine correctly and disappear at the precise moment required meticulous attention. I particularly enjoyed focusing on the camera work, striving to maintain continuous shots for as long as possible. This project was so enjoyable that I almost applied my face as a material on one of the machine’s cogs.
Countdown
I decided to tackle a project modeling a wristwatch and its inner workings. I haven’t done much modeling from scratch, so I wanted to test my skills—and my patience. This project was a real time investment, both literally and figuratively. Getting the lighting just right for those reveal shots with all the reflective materials was tricky. I aimed to showcase the generational pristine craftsmanship (me after making one watch), without overexposing the scene. The spring drive needed some fine-tuning because of the motion blur it caused. I had to ensure the beats per minute were spot-on to avoid any visual distortion. I was deep into my Sabrina Carpenter bag during this project and took a sip of XPresso. It was sweet but yet bitter; I might try it again occasionally, but I’ll probably leave the rest to the enthusiasts.
Bubble
I’ve been diving into fluid and particle simulations lately—they’ve become my favorite side projects. The complexity and realism they bring to animations are both challenging and rewarding. Initially, working with turbulence and friction parameters was quite the learning curve. Fine-tuning these settings was essential to mimic the unpredictable nature of real fluid movements. Incorporating carbonation effects added another layer of complexity, but it significantly enhanced the authenticity of the simulation. The effervescent bubbles rising and interacting within the liquid brought the scene to life, capturing the dynamic behavior of carbonated beverages. Tweaking the material color of the soda took was extremely tedious and I know some might say it doesn’t look quite like Coca-Cola .
Well, it’s actually Diet Pepsi.
Murph
I was inspired by reading some sci-fi anthologies and rewatching Interstellar, Dune, and Star Wars. Being named Luke has always tied me to this genre—for obvious reasons. But the hardest part? Growing up adopted and constantly hearing adults say, “Luke, I am your father.” It reminds me of one of my dad’s favorite quotes: “Now this is podracing.” Most of my animation work is done in C4D, but I wanted to challenge myself by using Blender for this project. I hadn’t worked with armatures before, so this was a great introduction to bones and IK rigging. The sound design consisted of me finding fun spaceship sounds and arguing with people that I know that it's silent in space. I picked up a ton of useful techniques that I can apply to future projects.
Lucky charm
For this project, I wanted to dive deeper into color grading using DaVinci Resolve. My wife and I traveled to Ireland and experienced some truly breathtaking views—and I wanted to share that beauty with everyone.
Throughout the process, I gained a much deeper understanding of how to color grade log footage. This experience has not only enhanced this project but also improved the quality of all my future work.