OVERVIEW
Arrowhead began as a personal exercise over summer 2026 with a simple goal to design and model a spaceship in 3ds Max. Once the ship was complete, I decided to push the project further by building a short cinematic trailer around it, treating the model as though it belonged to a video game.
That decision led me to develop a cyberpunk city environment and a CRT television loading sequence. To complete the concept, I then designed Xbox and PS2-style box art, including a "wanted poster" and bounty narrative that hints at a wider story.
I was responsible for every stage of the project: 3D modelling, environment design, animation, lighting, compositing, sound design and graphic design for the packaging.
Skills: 3D Modelling · Environment Design · Animation · Lighting · VFX · Compositing · Sound Design · Graphic Design · Branding
Software: Autodesk 3ds Max · Adobe After Effects · Adobe Photoshop · Adobe Substance Painter
INSPIRATION
Slice of Life (2023)
ARROWHEAD MODEL
Blade Runner (1982)
For the spacecraft design, I studied development artwork from Destiny 2, using its angular forms and elongated silhouettes as a starting point. These references helped establish the shape of my own spacecraft, later named ‘Arrowhead’.
The model was then UV unwrapped and exported into Adobe Substance Painter where multiple texture layers where developed and applied. Using brush tools and image projection I was able to add welding details and bolts along the spacecrafts surface to give it a hard industrial look.
The model was then taken back into 3ds Max where it was imported into a space environment for render tests.
The main visual inspiration for this project came from the original Blade Runner (1982) and the short film Slice of Life. Both influenced the project's atmospheric sci-fi aesthetic, through their use of neon lighting, weather conditions and dense urban environments.
The model was created in Autodesk 3ds Max through a trial and error process of hard surface modelling. The main shape was made first which was then refined by adding small details using extrude and array commands which were used to create vents and panels.
ANIMATION
The animation for this project started in a living room environment where the camera moves in towards a CRT television where the Arrowhead video game is loading up. I used image sequences to animate the digital clock and the television for this scene.
The final shot shows a shot looking up from the landing pad with a custom rainfall/droplet lens effect which shows the craft taking off. Again this was achieved through the use of both 2D and 3D assets.
GAME COVERS
To complete the project, I designed cover art to accompany the trailer, imagining how Arrowhead might have been packaged as a real early-2000s release. Since the animation features an old CRT television, I produced covers for the original Xbox and PlayStation 2 as they all featured in the same era. The scene was built in 3ds Max using custom textures made in Photoshop, then rendered and finished with the official Xbox and PlayStation 2 branding to complete the designs.
The camera then transitions through the screen into the game which shows the cyberpunk environment. For this I layered a 2D background which I created and recorded on a game called ‘Dystopika’, and the 3D animated Spacecraft which I rendered in 3ds Max.
Final Animation
