Momentary Lapse of Summer – A CG Short Film ☀️🏖️
A Nostalgic Glimpse into Summer
What started as a simple client project—a single render of a raised swimming pool—soon evolved into something much more personal. As I built additional frames, I found myself reaching back to my own summer memories, capturing fleeting moments that feel almost like flashes of time. This project became an exploration of nostalgia, where warm light, shimmering water, and small details bring back the essence of summer.
The original project was set in South France, which naturally led me to find the right soundtrack to match the atmosphere. I landed on April March’s "Chick Habit" (French version)—a playful yet retro song that complemented the vintage, sun-soaked aesthetic I wanted to achieve.
But beyond the artistic storytelling, this project was also a technical deep dive—especially into rendering water, caustics, and fluid simulations.
Creative & Technical Execution
Software & Tools
·Cinema 4D & Octane Render – Core tools for modeling, shading, and rendering.
·Insydium X-Particles – Used for condensation and underwater particle effects.
·JangaFX LiquiGen – Used for the waterfall simulation (my first time experimenting with it).
·AI-Generated Models – The flamingo float and wine glass were created using AI-generated 3D models.
AI Modeling Exploration
Even though I could have modeled them from scratch, I wanted to explore AI-generated 3D models for the flamingo float and wine glass. It was a bit of a hit-and-miss process, requiring multiple trials to get usable results. After selecting the best outputs, both models needed:
·Remeshing & Cleanup – To ensure proper topology for animation and shading.
·UV Mapping – Fixing and optimizing for texture application.
·Texture Corrections – The flamingo float, in particular, needed refinements to achieve the right material look.
Lighting & Materials
·HDRI + Octane Sun – A custom lighting setup to capture realistic sunlit environments.
Procedural Material Workflows:
·Custom Octane node setups for surfaces and reflections.
·Water Shader – Featuring caustics and subsurface scattering for realism.
·Flamingo Material – A mix of glossy and specular shaders, with subsurface scattering for depth.
·Octane Dirt & Curvature nodes – Used to add natural imperfections like dust, watermarks, and sun-worn textures.
Simulations & Effects
·Water Simulation: First-time exploration of LiquiGen, which was challenging but rewarding.
·Underwater Effects: Created using Insydium X-Particles for realistic fluid motion and condensation.
·Soft Body Simulation: The beach ball was simulated with soft body physics to achieve natural movement and deformation.
Challenges & Optimizations
One of the biggest technical hurdles was rendering water-heavy scenes. The combination of caustics, reflections, and subsurface scattering resulted in long render times, requiring significant optimization:
·Tweaking render settings to balance quality and speed.
·Adjusting sampling rates for transparent surfaces.
·Optimizing geometry and textures to improve efficiency.
Final Look & Artistic Direction
The final animation balances photorealism and stylization, inspired by California modernism and 70s-80s aesthetics. The visuals are designed to feel like memories—glimpses of summer afternoons, frozen in time.
Every detail—from the warm sunlight hitting the pool deck to the gentle movement of water—aims to evoke that perfect, fleeting summer moment.
Sound Design | DaVinci Fairlight Workflow
Sound plays a crucial role in immersing the viewer into the hot summer afternoon setting:
1. Walkman Audio Processing
The song is diegetic, coming from a Walkman with cheap headphones.
Used EQ filtering & stereo spread to simulate low-quality audio leakage.
Adjusted volume dynamically based on camera proximity.
Added subtle tape hiss & mechanical clicks for authenticity.
2. Ambient Soundscape for Summer Atmosphere
Created an immersive, windless afternoon with:
Birds chirping, dynamically adjusted for natural variation.
Waterfall sounds, with increased low-end rumble when the camera gets closer.
Subtle environmental details, like distant cicadas & pool water ripples.
3. Underwater Sound Design & Transition Effects
Used low-pass filters to simulate the effect of hearing underwater.
Whoosh SFX & breath-in sound to create anticipation before the transition.
Layered subtle splashes & body movement sounds for realism.
4. Stereo Panning & Spatial Depth
Applied stereo panning & Doppler effects for objects in motion.
Enhanced Walkman stereo spread, mimicking headphone sound bleed.
Lessons Learned & Takeaways
·Technical Growth: This was my first time working with LiquiGen, and it opened up new possibilities for fluid simulations.
·AI in 3D Workflows: While AI-generated models can speed up the process, they still require manual cleanup to meet high-quality standards.
·Simulation & Physics: Experimenting with X-Particles, LiquiGen, and soft body physics expanded my ability to create realistic interactions in CG.
·Rendering Efficiency: I learned new ways to optimize Octane for complex water scenes without sacrificing quality.
·Sound Design in DaVinci Fairlight: I have been using Ableton for audio production for over 15 years and after this exploration I am going back to it and will never leave it again.
·Personal Exploration: This project reminded me that even a client brief can evolve into something deeply personal—where memories, technique, and emotion come together.
Additional Assets
Walkman: Ilgis (Dolgov) Fatykhov
Walkman: Ilgis (Dolgov) Fatykhov
Vegetation, garden objects: Quixel
Random bits from Greyscale Gorilla
Random bits from Greyscale Gorilla
Adidas flip-flop: Cweyrich Flip flop (sketchfab)
Watch the Full Animation!
Would love to hear your thoughts—what does summer feel like to you? 🌞💦
