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M80
ORIGIN HEAVY FIGHER
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Developed the liquid and glass simulations - transforming the M80’s materials into art-directed expressions of elegance, precision, and power.
Created for the launch of Star Citizen’s Origin M80, the film introduces a heavy fighter defined by a contrast between elegance and power. Working with Midnight Sherpa, I developed the liquid and glass simulation systems used throughout the piece, creating art-directable transformations that reveal the ship through its materials, surfaces, and silhouette.
Rather than treating the effects as spectacle around the spacecraft, each simulation was designed to enhance a specific quality of the M80: its aerodynamic form, precision engineering, refined finish, and concealed aggression. The result is a series of controlled visual studies that present the ship less as a machine and more as a meticulously crafted object of performance.
RND Show-Reel
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MATERIALS IN MOTION
This reel brings together the simulation work developed for the film, including fluid interactions, glass transformations, surface reveals, and abstract material studies.
Each system was constructed to remain highly art-directable, allowing the motion, timing, shape, and composition of the effects to be precisely controlled around the ship. The objective was not simply to simulate realistic materials, but to use their behavior as a design language—guiding attention across the M80 and revealing its defining features through movement.
Design Process
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Making The M80
The design process began by studying the M80 as both a spacecraft and a luxury object. Its proportions, surfaces, and mechanical details needed to feel powerful, but also controlled and refined. Working with Midnight Sherpa, I explored how simulation could reveal those qualities through motion rather than simply surround the ship with effects.
Liquid, glass, particles, and abstract material behavior were developed as parts of a single visual language. Each material responded differently, but they all served the same purpose: to guide the viewer across the spacecraft, frame its silhouette, and amplify the contrast between elegance and force.
The process moved continuously between design, simulation, lighting, and composition. Early tests focused on discovering shapes and behaviors that felt native to the M80. Those ideas were then refined around the camera, edit, and defining features of the ship. The result was a collection of simulation-driven moments that feel physically rich, while remaining carefully composed and visually intentional.
Art Direction & Control
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Directed Simulations
The central challenge was preserving the physical richness of simulation while maintaining precise control over the composition. Every effect needed to support the ship’s form, remain readable within the edit, and arrive at specific visual moments.
The systems were built using guided velocities, shaped forces, custom collision behavior, timed activations, and procedural controls. These tools allowed the materials to travel through deliberate areas of the frame, interact with selected features of the M80, and respond precisely to the camera.
Each simulation was continuously evaluated through the final shot rather than only in three-dimensional space. Scale, density, breakup, timing, and silhouette were adjusted according to how the material revealed, framed, or temporarily concealed the spacecraft.
The goal was not simply to produce believable physical behavior, but to choreograph simulation as an extension of the M80 itself.
This gives the section more depth than the current version without becoming too long.
Replace “Liquid Form” with a real Look Development section
The current heading says Look Dev / Liquid Form, but the writing is still about technical simulation direction.
Look Dev
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Simulation Design Lenguage
The simulation systems provided the underlying motion, but their final identity was developed through material, lighting, scale, and surface response. Each treatment needed to feel physically recognizable while still belonging to the refined visual world of the M80.
Liquid surfaces were shaped to move between smooth, controlled forms and more energetic breakup. Glass and crystalline materials were developed to capture highlights, distort the spacecraft, and create moments of tension before revealing its structure.
The look-development process was closely connected to the camera and lighting. Reflection, transparency, refraction, thickness, and surface detail were continually adjusted so the materials remained readable against the ship while reinforcing its combination of elegance, precision, and force.
Credits
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M80 Launch Trailer
Production: Midnight Sherpa
Director: Miguel Lee
Art Direction: Kono Matsushita
CG / FX Lead : RMA ( Alejandro Robleod Mejia )
C4d Lead: Caspain Kai
Motion Graphics Artist: Kono Matsushita, Alejandro Robledo M, Caspian Kai, Miguel Lee
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