Concept and creative process
"Early tests by FutureDeluxe for the 'Space/Discovery' ident involved us taking a very quick tour around our solar system, showing the various shapes and patterns that planets can form. We decided a more elegant solution would be to spin around the same planet, showing how two very different natural planetary processes could form our characteristic '2' shape. The first side resembles the turbulent convection of clouds in gas giants, using the '2' as a boundary layer between two densities of cloud. This was created using fluid simulations in 3D software. The other side was a fantastical take on a rocky planet like Mars, that exhibited colorful natural processes like wind and water erosion. This was created using heightfield techniques in 3D software, enabling us to design our mountain shapes and colors around our '2', but then retrospectively use erosion forces to create a realistic landscape. The piece was created using Houdini as the 3D software, with compositing in Nuke."