Must-see 3D short pushes Unity 4.0 to the limit

We love this new animated short, The Butterfly Effect, which tells the story of an ordinary guy who, as he nurses his hangover, is propelled into one calamity after another following an innocent act by a small butterfly.

The short was produced by games engine developer's Unity who, earlier this year, approached animation studio Passion Pictures to work with them on a CG animation. The idea behind the film being to really push the new version of the games engine - Unity 4.0 - and highlight it's realtime rendering capabilities.

Push for Unity

Also working with global computing technology company Nvidia, creating the film involved considerable challenges for everyone involved. Unity 4.0 was still in development while the film was being made and it was the first time the team at Passion Pictures had used the software. But, the Unity crew worked closely with them, modifying tools along the way to ensure the best possible output.

Despite the hurdles, the collaborative effort resulted in an incredibly bright, fun and somewhat crazy three-minute animation, which turns the most mundane Monday morning into something much more chaotic.

Behind the scenes

You can find out more about the technical aspects of the project, including the animation pipeline, lighting, shading and VFX on The Butterfly Effect mini-site.

You can also check out this cool behind the scenes video.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.