Overview
Live concert visuals for Luke Chiang's debut concert at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. After a multi-year hiatus, Luke Chiang released his debut LP, TYPHOON. It marked a defining moment in his creative journey after a vocal condition temporarily took away his ability to sing.
We brought these themes to life through nearly sixty minutes of animated concert visuals. Each shot serves as a visual metaphor for the album TYPHOON, and aims to connect audiences deeper with Luke Chiang's music.
We brought these themes to life through nearly sixty minutes of animated concert visuals. Each shot serves as a visual metaphor for the album TYPHOON, and aims to connect audiences deeper with Luke Chiang's music.
3D Animation
Compositing
Art Direction
My view from the Fonda Theatre balcony
My Role
In collaboration with Ryan Telfer, I served as Creative Director and Animator for a majority of Luke Chiang's visuals performed at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles.
Ryan and I brainstormed, storyboarded, and sourced references for the shots. I 3D modeled, animated, rendered, and composited the visual elements, and Ryan edited & composited the final show together.
Ryan and I brainstormed, storyboarded, and sourced references for the shots. I 3D modeled, animated, rendered, and composited the visual elements, and Ryan edited & composited the final show together.
Story concept diagram explaining the emotional flow of the show
Design Challenge
Visually represent the motifs of the album "TYPHOON" using modular templates that maximize variety and content, condensed into a swift, rapidly-changing production schedule and limited budget.
Mood board we referenced when creating the visuals
Building the Banyan Tree
Banyan Trees are lush, expansive trees with roots trailing down the branches in a distinct way. The decision to feature this tree developed from Luke Chiang's trip to Taiwan where he wrote the majority of his album. With our limited budget, we sourced a pre-built 3D banyan tree and heavily modified it to accomodate our needs. The textures are re-built for Redshift, and a custom wind rig using Cinema 4D deformers allows for controlled, looping wind.
Converting textures into Redshift render materials
Early lighting tests
Summoning the Storm
With the banyan tree's unorthodox branch structure, typical methods of rigging a 3D tree weren't as effective. The first R&D experiment involved using Houdini to classify the tree by branch structure, and assign stiffness attributes for each level and run it through a cloth simulation with wind forces applied. This method works well for typical trees, but the banyan's roots caused too much uncertainty and the algorithm did not work.
After the Houdini method proved ineffective, I disregarded the branch structure entirely and masked out full sections of the tree using Fields in Cinema 4D. I layered multiple Displacement modifiers of varying sizes, and a Bend deformer to represent strong wind. This method doesn't require forces or simulations, resulting in painless fine tuning and efforless looping capability. At a slight cost of realism, the end result is a rig that can be adjusted with ease.
After the Houdini method proved ineffective, I disregarded the branch structure entirely and masked out full sections of the tree using Fields in Cinema 4D. I layered multiple Displacement modifiers of varying sizes, and a Bend deformer to represent strong wind. This method doesn't require forces or simulations, resulting in painless fine tuning and efforless looping capability. At a slight cost of realism, the end result is a rig that can be adjusted with ease.
R&D tree rigging in Houdini
Deformer shot breakdown
View Out the Window
The mood transitions to an interior scene, as the audience views the changing weather from a Taiwanese apartment. The set was built from a mix of hand-modeling and kitbashing digital assets. To keep within our production schedule and budget, I also composited additional 2D props since the camera remains stationary.
3D modeling window unit from Taiwanese apartment reference
Interior scene clay renders
Final show render
Final show render
Whatever Dies, Must Be Reborn
A major motif of a typhoon is destruction bringing forth new life, so to conclude the show we travel back the banyan tree flourishing post-typhoon. We built out clever ways to grow flowers and swaying grass using Fields and Deformers in Cinema 4D without the need for simulation.
Final show render
Using Fields in Cinema 4D to grow flowers
Final show render
Incredible Comeback
The visuals were part of Luke Chiang's debut sold out performance at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. This show is important because it is his first public performance after a multi-year hiatus. Anticipation was high, and the energy and audience reception was electrifying!
Photos: Nathan Hong
Result
Luke Chiang returned with a triumphant, visually stunning sold-out live performance. We were able to deliver a variety of show visuals, and deliver great-looking content without going over budget. Making use of compositing, the variety of tools available in Cinema 4D, and resourceful time-management, our concepts were delivered ahead of schedule and perfectly on-budget.
