Product Animation
Animating 3D renders to market
trap-seals
Overview
I created this product animation for the DEKS website to introduce the new Trap seal. The goal was to clearly demonstrate the product’s fast and simple installation while showcasing the key protections it provides against bugs, odours, gases, and ensuring reliable water flow.
Personal Growth
This project strengthened my ability to deliver clear, instructional product animations under time pressure. It improved my skills in technical problem-solving, hybrid VFX techniques, and creating focused visual storytelling that communicates product benefits effectively to customers.
the process/behind the scenes
Modeling
In the modeling phase, I created a clean, production-ready topology for the trap seal to ensure flawless deformation and sharp visual quality in extreme close-up shots. I also fully rigged and animated a functional valve mechanism at the base of the unit to demonstrate internal water flow and sealing behavior, even though this animation was later removed from the final edit.
Product Features
To showcase the main protective functions of the trap seal, I created several targeted visual effects:
- Bug Protection: A partial effect that pushes the bugs down at the top of the pipe, clearly demonstrating how the seal prevents bugs from entering back up the Trap-seal.
- Odour & Gas: A cylindrical mesh with animated alphas to represent the unwanted smells and gases.
- Water Flow: A fluid simulation showing water passing smoothly through the Trap-seal.
Overcoming hurdles
One of the main challenges I faced was creating a realistic fluid simulation for the water flow without exceeding render time limits. To solve this, I simulated only the lower half of the water in Blender and created the upper section of shower water as a 2D element in After Effects.
This hybrid approach significantly reduced rendering times while still producing a clear and convincing visual of the water flow.
