Before building the scene, I mapped out the sequence through a storyboard to plan composition, timing, and camera flow — from the initial setup to the peak moment of the dunk. Each frame focused on key beats: player positioning, camera angle, and motion direction. This pre-visualization also guided decisions for environment layout, lens choice, and pacing, making the production process more intentional and efficient.

To begin, I extracted character models, animations, and textures from game files using UModel. These assets required organization and cleanup before they could be used effectively — including identifying usable rigs, sorting animation sets, and preparing geometry for import into Blender.

After importing into Blender, I reconstructed the characters by manually reconnecting textures through shader nodes — linking diffuse, roughness, and normal maps through a Principled BSDF setup. This involved troubleshooting missing maps and ensuring materials rendered correctly under scene lighting, including a day/night blend pass for one of the costumes.

I designed and built the basketball court environment from scratch in Blender, focusing on composition and framing to support the action. Lighting was then carefully crafted to highlight the players and increase contrast — helping the movement read clearly while adding the dramatic intensity needed for a hype trailer moment.

Character motion was sourced from a combination of in-game animations and additional clips obtained online. After importing and applying them to the models, I focused on seamless integration — adjusting timing, alignment, and positioning so interactions felt natural and impactful across both characters. Maintaining consistency between different animation sources while fitting the overall cinematic composition was the key challenge of this step.

After rendering in Blender, I brought the shot into After Effects for compositing and final polish. This included color grading and additional effects to match the tone and pacing of the full trailer — pushing contrast and saturation to heighten the cinematic energy of the dunk moment.

The intro needed to feel like a journey through the event's history. The concept: walk through a hallway lined with every past Design-A-Thon poster, each year lighting up as the camera moves forward, until emerging into the present — the 21st Annual. The posters below were the source material and visual inspiration for the sequence.

I filmed the live-action plate in a real college hallway, carefully considering camera movement, lighting, and perspective for the planned compositing work. Tracking markers were placed on the walls to allow precise camera-match in After Effects — ensuring the 3D elements would align with the real footage throughout the shot.

Using After Effects' Classic 3D environment, I reconstructed the hallway as a stylized digital space and positioned each year's poster along the walls with proper depth and perspective. Lights were animated to illuminate each poster as the camera moves through the scene. The camera rig was matched to the real footage so every element tracks correctly through the shot.

With the live-action plate composited into the 3D environment, I applied color grading to unify both layers, added motion blur for realism, and refined the lighting to make the digital space feel cohesive with the real footage. Year labels were added beneath each poster, and the sequence was timed to transition cleanly into the documentary.