color transform shape animations (UPDATE)

This technique is crucial to my style and is both mind-blowing and fun to explore. It quickly brings stages to life through color transformations of stage elements. I also use this method to create shadow effects on my stage mapping, as well as to generate animated black-and-white masks that I apply to layers and clips. Although the magic happens in 3D space, I typically render clips without perspective so that these animations remain perfectly aligned with the shapes and mapping. I've made three videos that explain this in more detail.

In a nutshell, one texture (transform map) controls the movement of elements. As they change position along the Z-axis, their color shifts based on a color gradient (color map).

Attached, you will find project files for Blender and 3ds Max. I'm sure there is a similar workflow for Cinema 4D. It should be easy achievable with MoGraph. If you want to share a similar preset file for C4D with others here please let me know !

I've also created a preset file for Blender that works great with Geometry Nodes. Experiment with the wave texture node and the color gradient. When you start Blender, activate viewport shading first. You can easily swap your vector files—I made a video on SVG import for you.

my blender and Illustrator file is setup to 2560x1440px so that the blender camera will perfectly match.

Steps:

- Import stage design vector into the 3D application.
- In Blender, use Geometry Nodes, or in 3ds Max, use the Data Transform Modifier, which will transform object elements along the Z-axis based on a texture map.
- Assign a color gradient to the object with orientation along the Z-axis.

color transform 1 concept
https://youtu.be/rlq5Y3uk5AI

color transform 2 blender
https://youtu.be/tIyDioqgsqQ

svg import and cam match in blender
https://youtu.be/Z7mUSnBtmsI

exchange the svg with blender file IMPORTANT !
https://youtu.be/v33G73-r1sE

when you import a new svg file you have to select all elements of svg and set the origin to center of mass (see screenshot and video) then you have to center your svg to the origin. in blender you can do this by creating a parent. select the elements in the list and the last element you select will be your parent. right click on the element in viewport and select Parent > Object. now you can set x and y position to 0. alternatively you could move the camera so all your new imports will be centered.

For shadow effects, I extrude the shapes into blocks. Usually, I position a wide light at the bottom, pointing up at the stage, or use multiple point lights moving around the stage. With Redshift Renderer, I can create realistic shadows on these blocks. For this, I keep the stage plain white, and then in Resolume, I optimize the contrast of the renderings. You can see my stage shadow setup in my first video.

I am curious to see what you can do to develope further blender geometry nodes. if you want to share with me and others here please let me know !

please let me know your questions in the comments.