This was more fun (and less difficult) to make than I expected. I’ve been thinking about updating my previous homepage animation for a few months now; It’s not that I hated the first version, but I knew it could be better (okay, I thought it was rough around the edges – I liked the concept, but wasn’t thrilled with my execution). I was eager to incorporate some new (and revisited) techniques to replace the previous static astronaut image (animated with simple transitions) with a 3D version featuring subtle motion to make it a bit more interesting. 

I used the same starfield background as the first version, and combined it with a 3D model of an astronaut I built in Blender and textured in Substance Painter. Using the previous graphic as a reference, I rigged and posed the Blender model to occupy the same overall amount of space, and rendered a sequence of frames to import into After Effects. In AE, I composed two animated sequences: a short clip for the initial fade-in entry animation, and a second looping clip of the astronaut gently rocking back and forth while floating in space. To simulate the starfield reflection in the helmet’s visor, I made a tracking matte using the visor shape as a template, and composited a separate version of the background starfield clip into it, but time-reversed so that it looks like the stars are coming towards the astronaut in the visor reflection.

Lastly, and probably the most challenging part for me (since I’m better versed with the previously mentioned tools and processes), I used Slider Revolution to sequence the two clips, so that the entry animation plays once, followed by the looping clip which cycles forever. In hindsight, the steps to set things up in Slider Revolution were quite straightforward, but given my lack of experience using it, I thrashed around for at least an hour before figuring things out. Done! I may update the homepage graphic again sometime in the future, but for now, pencils down 🙂