Following my initial 3D audio-reactive project, I wanted to explore a different mood and iterate on the techniques I had utilised in the past. The song I chose was Machinedrum's 'Star', which personally evoked feelings of mystery and introspection, as well as solitude or abandonment. 

Previously, I didn't do any processing to the audio files which resulted in the full spectrum being 'reacted' to, so this time I decided to cut the frequencies down to the 60-400hz range, focusing on the drums. The bass was still partially kept because the rumbling texture added to movement but the low sub frequencies were too loud to make the visual reaction effective.

I started by experimenting with similar extrusion techniques in Houdini using my CHOPs setup. After a few iterations, I began to consider adding more dynamic effects and took the alembic cache into Cinema 4D, where I continued to experiment with bullet dynamics and the Tracer effector. I liked the particle-effect that it produced because it began to resemble a cloud of insects, and the longer trails seemed to amplify the luminance as the beats hit.

Using Unreal Engine and Megascans, I built out the environment as I had initially imagined and sketched out. I wanted a glowing light that pierced through a dark blue environment, and used the glowing particles as an implied form by only importing the trail elements. I then also pushed my use of the experimental water features by creating a large body of water that added to the stormy feel that I achieved with Ultra Dynamic Sky.

Check out Machinedrum's 'Star' below!