How I Made a Stylized Blender Short Film - NOXIOUS Breakdown
In this deep-dive breakdown, I take you behind the scenes of my 2024 HKU graduation film, Noxious.
Watch the full film here: • NOXIOUS - Blender Animated Short Film
From early 2D concepts and custom NPR/Blender projection pipelines to an intense production crunch that forced me to cut my shot list in half, I share the full story of how this world came to life.
We’re also joined by the film's composer and sound designer, **Mikael Umarov**, who gives a look into how he crafted the score.
Whether you're interested in 2D/3D hybrid workflows, camera projection tricks, geometry nodes, or just navigating the messy creative process of a major project, I hope this breakdown inspires you for your own work!
In this video, we cover:
The core philosophy behind mixing 2D illustrations with 3D animation
Developing camera projection & line art pipelines in Blender
Translating real-world organic decay into sci-fi environment design
Re-scoping a project after hitting burnout and crunch
Mikael Umarov’s breakdown of the score & sound design
Overcoming perfectionism and releasing work to the world
What’s Next?
Now that Noxious is out in the wild, I’m using this channel to share my technical & artistic workflows. Focusing on procedural setups, Geometry Nodes, and non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) techniques.
If there’s a specific shot or pipeline from Noxious you’d like a dedicated breakdown on, drop a comment below!
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:07 - The Obsession
2:48 - First Ideas
4:49 - The Backgrounds
5:39 - From 2D to 3D
8:32 - The Environment
9:51 - The Ecosystem
11:32 - Building Noxious
13:52 - Confrontation
15:18 - Music & Sound
24:50 - Full Circle
26:46 - Looking Ahead
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My Website: https://kayhilman.com/
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External Sources:
[0] NOXIOUS (2024) • NOXIOUS - Blender Animated Short Film
[1] The Computer (2019) / b1ot6b3ft7f
[2] Ladybird Jetpack Dude (2019) / bxrs-8dfsxu
[3] Logman (2020) / b-wp1frh0fh
[4] DEPART (2021) https://vimeo.com/563670352?fl=pl&fe=sh
[5] New Year Animation (2020) / b6wsxexhsts
[6] Scavengers (2019) Joseph Bennett & Charles Huettner • Scavengers
[7] Playground - Trailer (2023) Rodrigo Goulão de Sousa • PLAYGROUND- trailer
[8] Art shop (2022) Alariko https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Pe...
[9] Cloudy day (2023) Alariko https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Ev...[]
[10] Arcane Bridging the Rift (2022) Riot Games • Arcane: Bridging the Rift | Part 1 - I Onl...
[11] Deep Dive Into the Arcane Look and Camera Projections (2022) Lightning Boy Studio: • Arcane Tutorial Part 2 : Deep Dive Into th...
[12] The King and the Mockingbird (1980) Paul Grimault https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079820/
[13] (2022) Dirty Iron https://x.com/_dirtyiron_/status/1571...
[14] (2022) Dirty Iron https://x.com/_dirtyiron_/status/1601...
[15] (2022) Dirty Iron https://x.com/_dirtyiron_/status/1731...
[16] Scavengers Reign (2023) Joseph Bennett & Charles Huettner • Scavengers Reign | Official Trailer | Max
[17] Showreel (2026) DOT4 https://dot4.co/work/showreel-2025
[18] CARTON (2025) DOT4 https://dot4.co/work/carton
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Music:
Song: Algoma
Composer: Ross Bugden
Website: / @rossbugden
Song: Jul
Composer: Scott Buckley
Website: / musicbyscottb
Song: The Chimes
Composer: Ross Bugden
Website: / @rossbugden
Song: Life In Motion
Composer: Scott Buckley
Website: / musicbyscottb
Song: Flowing Into The Darkness
Composer: Nyoko
Website: / redowthered
Song: Stellar Hills
Composer: GalaxyTones
Website: / galaxytones
Licenses: Creative Commons (BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Music powered by BreakingCopyright: https://breakingcopyright.com