Prompt : Make them look like handcrafted clay, with parts of their bodies buried in the clay. The clay color is a light mix of light green and yellow. Don't let the shadows be too dark.
This animation has been actively screened and presented across various international film festivals, educational events, and conferences, demonstrating its value across multiple domains:
Recognized for technical excellence through official screening at SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival
Pitched production workflow as a selected speaker at Annecy Festival - Mifa Student Pitch
Utilized as an educational screening resource for schools in Science Film Festival & Australia's National Science Week
Spoke at a seminar for design students at Kindwolf Design Class, Seoul
Won the "Best 3D Animation" award in New York Short Animation Festival
Awarded an scholarship and exhibition opportunity in Edith Fergus Gilmore Scholarship Exhibition
CONTRIBUTION
I Successfully merged analog clay aesthetics with 3D animation workflows, creating engaging Earth History narrative.
For independent creators with physical art background, collaborating with AI tools in 3D production can reduce technical barriers while still maintaining a strong artistic identity.
But I genuinely enjoyed learning this, my 3D skills has been rapidly improved.
Surprisingly, Generative AI has been also significantly developed together just in 6 months while I am on production, what was impossible in mid 2025 is now working seamlessly in February 2026.
Generative AI is also developed
This project was produced over about six months.
At the beginning, I only had basic knowledge of Blender, similar to what you might learn in an introductory course.
At least until the summer of 2025, image-to-video models still had consistency issues. That's why I built every scene in 3D first and used AI mainly for refining.
Still, using full AI is highly effective for specific scenes that require a sudden stylistic shift, and it significantly reduces production time.
CONCLUSION
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
You might be wondering,
Why not just use full AI instead of 3D modeling?
Targeted Detail Enhancement
Using Photoshop's partial image editing AI tools to meticulously correct scenes lacking detail.
Prop-Inspired Design
Using craft materials like toy marbles for the octopus's eyes, inspired by traditional puppet making.
AI collaboration for enhanced quality and Speed
3D Techniques applied for handcrafted aesthetic
Visual Reference generated with AI
3D Production
Sketch
So this time, I experimented with Generative AI to create visual references
Final cut in November
AI image Generation
3D modelling for base
Style frame in July
My technical Improvement
Image-to-Video AI
Generating Animation from keyframes and manually refining distorted frames following traditional stop-motion composition
Bendy Bone Rigging
Following the form of flexible wire armatures used in real stop-motion puppets.
AI-Generated Turnarounds
Creating multi-view references for 3D modeling.
Shape Keys for Expressions
Deforming the mesh to mimic physical clay shaping, rather than using traditional facial rigging.
Reducing Fear
Stylized design makes it feel more approachable
Before you read….
Tactile Intimacy
Audience feel as if they can physically touch characters
Material Metaphor
How I made a Clay style reference for 3D animation before?
Why Handcrafted aesthetic?
Can we turn heavy geological information into a fun, animated story?
A cross-section of the strata reveals characters from each period at a glance, visually showing timescale.
Highlighting the panicked appearance of the suddenly fossilized ant, within a arm and classic feeling of the amber.
3D Result using Blender (Click to See this Project)
Matching Subject Matter with Visual Medium
A fuzzy felt toy you want to touch
Sharp cactus
Fossil and Ancient Creatures
Clay, fossils = Earth Material
Crafting Handmade Reference
I used to build physical clay models to use as references for my previous animations.
The layers of rock are made of different materials, so cliffs show many colors
Multiple fossils embedded together in a single layer reveal their forms and cross-sections.
A fantastical world with massive, multicolored geological layers and tall cacti, while the tiny ants themselves are barely visible.
When insects trapped in tree resin, it becomes amber fossils. Sphecomyrma had an angular body, curved antennae, and wings.
Directed like a labyrinth with randomly tangled structure and organic texture, which is enveloped by natural light source from the top.
Harvester Ants builds grandiose ant nest with dozens of chambers and tunnels.
SCENE 4 : Ancient Ant
Ants wake an ancient ant deeply preserved in amber.
SCENE 7 : Collapse
A massive quake collapses the ground, and the ant colony became fossils written in the history.
SCENE 2 : Ant Next
Group of ant going on a field trip to an fossil exhibition hidden deep within their tunnels.
SCENE 3 : Cave Mural
In the top layer of earth, Cenozoic Era, the ants discover cave paintings made by early humans.
SCENE 5 : Dinosaur
They rouse the skeletal remains of dinosaurs, and playing a symphony by tapping upon the bones.
SCENE 6 : Paleozoic ocean
The ants with Ammonites drift through the waters of the Paleozoic ocean.
The Background music ‘Danse Macabre’ is inspired by a poetry written in the Black Death, showed people cheerfully accepting mortality rather than fearing it.
Inspired by this cheerful acceptance of death, this animation turns a geological event into a simple, imaginative story.
Story
Scientific Features Into My Artistic Interpretaion
Inspiration
This page details the conceptual intent and design strategy of Layers In History as part of an MFA research project.
Please click the thumbnail ->
to check the Overview first!! 😊