3D
2024
Chrome in Motion
No two frames reflect the same colours
A material study in Blender. Instead of giving the chrome fixed colours, I built an HDRI of stretched-out colour around it, so the surface reflects different colours as it moves and no two frames match. Displacement cracks the form. Rendered in Cycles at 15 minutes a frame.
PROJECT INFO
Team Solo · Timeline 2024 · Tools Blender (Cycles), a custom HDRI, displacement
The brief
Self-initiated. I wanted a chrome material that isn't consistent: one that shows changing colours instead of the colours it's given, so every frame is unique.
What I found
Chrome has almost no colour of its own. It shows whatever surrounds it. So the way to change its colour is to change its world, not the material.
The idea
Put the colour in the world, not the material. The object sits inside an environment of stretched-out colour, so as it moves, the chrome reflects different colours in every frame. The colour is real reflection, not chromatic aberration added afterwards.
How it came together
The world. I made my own HDRI of stretched-out colour. It lights the scene, and it's all the chrome has to reflect.
The material. Mirror-like chrome, so every colour on the surface comes from the world around it.
The cracks. Displacement breaks the surface into cracks, so the reflections split and shift across the form.
The render. Cycles, at about 15 minutes a frame.
What shipped
Three short animated loops, each reflecting colours that never repeat.
Outcome
What it taught me: a sense of 3D space, and how different materials reflect light.
Credits
Concept, material, lighting and animation Shaurya Singh