Keiji Kinebuchi was a Japanese artist who made the first 3D illustrations used in early Pokémon cards. He used Lightwave 3D, an early 3D software.

I wanted to recreate his iconic Poké Ball card as a tribute, while making it feel more 3D. As you twist and turn the card, there's a nice parallax effect, creating the illusion that there's real depth inside the card.

how I built it (in 2 days)

• all geometry made in Blender
• custom shader for the "glittering world" inside the card
• custom shader for the hearts' light trails (they're animated!)
• custom shader for the poké ball opening effect
• some black magic for making the card "portal/window" (geometry shouldn't be visible from the side)
• rigging, compositing & animating in Blender

my overall approach to 3D motion projects

• I plan the motion and storyboard all the moments, effects & what I want to happen. (saves so much time lol.)
• If there's a certain effect or technique I haven't used before, I research how to do it & apply it to my project.
• Always start simple, blocking things out & refining as I go