When Time Breaks (Digitally) ⏳💥
In The Adam Project, DNEG didn't just design spaceships and explosions; they turned time travel into an emotionally resonant visual experience. Amid temporal distortions and futuristic battles, this breakdown reveals how the effects serve the narrative, not the other way around.
Fiction Physics: Effects with Soul
The film's technical pillars:
- Spaceships modeled in Maya with textures in Mari
- Houdini Simulations for plasma energy and destruction
- Temporal Distortions composited in Nuke with Arnold renders
Fun Fact: "The temporal distortions use inverted animation data: debris 'returns' to its original form," explains the DNEG team.
Workflow of the Future (Present)
Digital Environments
- 3D reconstruction of locations with photogrammetry
- HDRI plate-based lighting
- Procedurally aged textures in Substance
Special Effects
- Energy weapons with charged particles in Houdini
- Temporal collapses with geometric deformation
- Integration of digital doubles in fights
Temporal Toolkit
In 3ds Max
- TyFlow - Debris and energy simulations
- Phoenix FD - Futuristic volumetric effects
- V-Ray - Rendering of complex materials
In Blender
- Geometry Nodes - Spacetime distortions
- Mantaflow - Energetic fluid simulations
- Eevee - Real-time preview
⏱️ Tips for Believable Time Travel:
- Use time remapping with non-linear speed curves
- Add directional motion blur artifacts (like old cameras)
- Try chromatic dispersion shaders for distortion effects
Extra: The best time effects look like "reality malfunctioning," not magic.
The VFX Artist's Paradox
While the audience traveled to the future, DNEG artists lived a paradox: "We spent 300 hours on an effect that lasts 1.2 seconds... and then the director said 'Can it be 10% more blue?'". That's cinema: where minutes of screen time equal months of rendering. 🚀
"In visual effects, if your work is perfect, no one will notice... but if there's a mistake, EVERYONE will see it." - Anonymous DNEG time traveler.