Project:

The Tardigrade is a phylum of 8 legged micro animals sometimes referred to as water bears. The average size of one of these animals is .5mm when full grown. In the wild, they can often be found on moss and lichens where they feed on plant cells. What makes Tardigrades particularly interesting is their ability to withstand extreme conditions. They can suspend their metabolism to go over 30 years without food or water, survive extreme temperatures, radiation and pressure, and have even survived exposure to outer space. Despite these abilities, Tardigrades are not invulnerable and do not thrive in these conditions.

This animation was created to practice using Insydium X-particles, a dynamics/physics simulation plug-in for Cinema 4D. The goal was to create an artistic interpretation of what the microscopic world these animals live in might look like. The Tardigrade model was sculpted in Zbrush, animated in Cinema 4D, rendered with Redshift, and composited in After Effects.

Tardigrade Particle Sim Animation

Tardigrade Zbrush Sculpt