3D sci-fi short shows what Trapcode MIR can do

Stockholm-based design studio Potemkin, aka Magnus Östergren and Thomas Oger, have created this short which was commisioned by 3D and motion graphics software Trapcode to show off new After Effects plugin MIR.

The project was born when Peder Norrby at Trapcode asked Potemkin to make a short film using MIR. Potemkin accepted the challenge then, as they outline on their website, they "came up with a way-too-complex multi-part plot and went to work, letting the plugin affect our creative, narrative and technical results".

Epic opener

This "low poly semi-epic childhood tribute space saga" is the first part of a space epic, establishing the protagonists and a fragment of the universe as well as the timeline in which Exodus takes place.

Collaborative tool Shotbox was used for pre-production, storyboarding, shot planning, Premier Pro for editing, After Effects took care of illustration, animation, and post-production, and Trapcode MIR was used to model the polygonal shapes and wireframes.

If it seems a bit juddery, Magnus Östergren explains on the Vimeo comments section that the framerate (12.5 fps) was actually an aesthetic decision - and a protest against the whole concept of high frame rates ("I don't really like 'smooth'). We're not sure what director Peter Jackson - whose latest movie The Hobbit has a frame rate of 48fps - would think of that!

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