Maxon One Futuristic User Interface Design
The team at Maxon asked our team at Perception to design and animate a unique, cinematic vision video that would highlight the capabilities of the Maxon One toolset. This showcase video would feature a demonstration of ZBrush, Cinema 4D, Red Giant and other Maxon One tools, and would premiere alongside the Maxon One product announcements that took place online.
One of the most integral details of this video would be the inclusion of FUI. Maxon wanted this video to include a very distinct and memorable Perception touch inspired by our futuristic technology work. Everything in the showcase would be a blend of Maxon One’s capabilities and how Perception’s UI could explore them.
For the design of our UI, we referenced our vast portfolio of UI work for film and technology, since this piece was always meant to have Perception’s aesthetic. Pulling inspiration from our most futuristic creations, we turned to the Maxon suite. We use Maxon’s toolset for nearly every project, and for this, our team chose functions, details and purposes within Maxon One’s capabilities that could stand out within the UI.
The FUI carries throughout the entire video, ranging from appearing on the alien’s HUD to making up the base platform that the alien is being formed on. Action and data panels surround the alien, switching between modes to align with the Maxon One product at play.
Since the UI was our notable stamp on this piece, it was imperative that every detail of this futuristic interface stand out and be comprehensive. Each UI element was constructed in Adobe Illustrator. The elements were then brought into Adobe After Effects to animate them. This allowed our team to build purposeful and intricate details. We then brought them into the edit as textures.
Sound also played a vital role in developing the UI. When something moves, shifts or is operated, there’s a sound to match it. For buttons that are pressed, switches that are activated or elements that move, we picked out perfect and precise sounds for each action, edited with sound design to match the movement seamlessly.
The showcase ultimately was a tech savvy and futuristic visualization, using deep colors and intricate UI to represent the complexity and power of Maxon One’s abilities. The result was a blend of high-level, elaborate UI and a series of several narratives.
To create the video, our team used Cinema 4D as the main tool for creating the animation and building key elements to tell the story. ZBrush was used to sculpt the alien’s helmet, and to create the alien itself in collaboration with ZBrush instructor Ian Robinson. We utilized Red Giant’s various complex effects for compositing and the final edit, and rendering was done in Redshift. The final video can be seen here.
Learn more about this collaboration with Maxon and the development of our FUI in our full Maxon One Cinematic Toolset Showcase Design case study on the Perception website.
