Overview
Ross Draws commissioned myself and a team of artists to tell the story of his upcoming book, Symphony: The Art of Rossdraws (2026) through a series of short films. This art book represents fifteen years of Ross' art career, with eight story characters (Guardians) serving as metaphors for the artistic journey. Ross is a professional concept artist who amassed a large social media following on YouTube creating art-related content and tutorials. These collections of short films and renders serve to drive traffic to order the book and its periphery offerings.
3D Animation
Compositing
Art Direction
Special Edition short film
Hard & Softcover Edition short film
My Role
I was selected early on as a key creative player in the marketing of Ross' book. Through significant brainstorming sessions, we extracted the themes and motifs necessary to tell a succinct visual story. I drafted storyboards and early concept art to build a strong foundation for the resulting films.
As a Visual Effects Designer, I assembled 3D content and built 3D environments, textured and lit 3D scenes, placed and animated cameras, rendered a majority of the shots, and composited final results.
As a Motion Designer, I built titles, animated a 2D sprite character, and applied stylized effects to achieve our desired look.
During production, I tracked hours, hired and managed subcontractors, and led creative meetings.
As a Visual Effects Designer, I assembled 3D content and built 3D environments, textured and lit 3D scenes, placed and animated cameras, rendered a majority of the shots, and composited final results.
As a Motion Designer, I built titles, animated a 2D sprite character, and applied stylized effects to achieve our desired look.
During production, I tracked hours, hired and managed subcontractors, and led creative meetings.
Behind the Scenes content edited and narrated by Ross Tran
Design Challenge
Tell the story of Symphony without giving too much of the plot away, and don't make it look like a stereotypical product advertisement. Additional creative assets like 2D animation were already produced, and we needed to build something new that would integrate seamlessly into that visual world.
Special Edition video initial storyboards
Directing new 2D hand-animated sequences for the films
Directing live action shots for the films
Start with the Storyboards
Through brainstorms and charettes I was able to work with Ross and identify the book's key theme, and the resulting motifs manifested throughout the book. We translated those motifs into core elements and shots in the promotional videos, like digital compression / dithering artifacts, panels of art converging to a single point, and the parallels between Ross and the book's main character, Journey.
Modeling the Portal Room in Cinema 4D
Left: Original Portal Room Illustration, Right: 3D Portal Room Reconstruction work in progress render
Testing ground fog simulations in Embergen
Portal Room beauty render with Softcover and Hardcover edition
From Sketch to 3D World
Ross sent over artistic references he illustrated himself, and I translated the concepts into 3D environments. The films center around a portal room, where Journey perceives the eight Guardians and can glimpse into their respective worlds. I thought this would be the perfect set for the products to be staged on.
WIP 3D Product models
Greyboxing the 3D products in-render
Digital Products
Since the products were not manufactured yet, we needed to accurately mock up the products in 3D. To achieve a polished look beyond what one would find using templates, we commissioned Taylor Medve to 3D model, rig, and UV map the digital products. The products were modeled and rigged in Maya, textured in Substance Painter, then brought into Cinema 4D where final textures were applied using Redshift materials.
Placing 2D animations into the 3D scene using planes and post-processing
Compositing live action footage
A Multi-Media Extravaganza
What made this project unique was incorporating so many mediums into the final composite. The films used live action footage, hand drawn 2D animation, 3D assets created in Cinema 4D, Blender, Maya, and Houdini, with final composites in After Effects.
Fine-tuning product lighting in Cinema 4D
The Details Make it Real
Thanks to our bespoke 3D product models and attention to detail while texturing and lighting, we are able to deliver product shots that feel like the real products before manufacturing even starts.
Result
These promotional short films exceeded the expectations of Ross' fanbase, and set a high bar for the upcoming book release. Viewers commented especially on the different book covers, and the different options available to pre-order. The attention to detail given to these films allowed them to be presented as art pieces rather than advertisements, and positioned Rossdraws as a brand that champions quality and creativity.
