For my most recent project for Sylmar Studios, I was tasked with the objective to visualize their massive sound stages and the Studio Net system that connects them. After several rounds of shifting concepts, the final direction became an illustrated “hidden valley” filled with sound stages, buildings, fields, and a sunset — a style inspired by a food-related commercial, but reimagined for a film studio.
My role was to hand-draw and digitally paint this entire landscape, which serves as the base for the animation. From there, the drawing was broken apart into sections, and then pieced back together in AfterEffects. It comes alive through animated light tubes that travel across the valley, visualizing the high-powered network connecting each building. Camera pans and zooms emphasize how every element is linked, turning the illustration into a living environment.
This project required not just creativity, but endurance. Building the final image involved extensive layout development, hand-drawing, digital painting, layer separation, and a full After Effects pipeline to animate the piece. It was meticulous, detailed work — but it also gave me the opportunity to showcase my digital painting process and how I build motion-ready illustrations from the ground up.
Final video coming soon!
CLIENT: Sylmar Studios
MY ROLE: Creative Director, Illustrator, & Motion Designer
MAIN COLLABORATOR: Wendy Zeller & Patrick Dempsey
CLIENT TYPE: Direct client