english version
Deutsche Version
Mystery of snowflakes
expanatory video
How a snowflake is created is a complex topic - but this way everyone understands it.
Created with ADOBE AfterEffects, Illustrator and Photoshop.
Concept, artwork and animation: Christian Thamm.
Created with ADOBE AfterEffects, Illustrator and Photoshop.
Concept, artwork and animation: Christian Thamm.
Acknowledgements:
This project (and other animations) I was able to create in the framework of a grant by
"Bild Kunst Kulturwerk" - "Neustart Kultur" - "The commission of the Federal Government for Culture and Media". ... special thanks!
This project (and other animations) I was able to create in the framework of a grant by
"Bild Kunst Kulturwerk" - "Neustart Kultur" - "The commission of the Federal Government for Culture and Media". ... special thanks!
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/0a04c083-1874-4ac3-8ec4-00a8fd5246bc_rw_1920.jpg?h=ecac12ec04e882074ab55ff8631af8e1)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/ea74e8db-24a6-4737-a8db-0e367a2b6ae5_rw_1920.jpg?h=8576c0fb0f60c63b148dce3d6afa6702)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/316a3213-f7ee-43c5-9e7c-bd1592307a73_rw_1920.jpg?h=8a0a3b985bef83baa1d31b26f2314f53)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/90bfbc99-acfe-43e4-8046-071f6252405b_rw_1920.jpg?h=a6b17740826783698baf2c0bc6efe08d)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/61dbc75a-d55d-46c6-b0ae-74a242a11a45_rw_1920.jpg?h=57af17c99d2bf413c50cf6fde99a5043)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/7732c84a-b5ae-4cc5-996e-52f644413edc_rw_1920.jpg?h=90ba6eedc099da5fb41540ddaecd6713)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/7bab597f-d354-4b30-abd8-1f1befdb262a_rw_1920.jpg?h=8aa0fc327f103297f772e20ec0616b98)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/357c0fdc-a5b8-4a01-9491-b6486690f404_rw_1920.jpg?h=1739de63204a4a0dce05da78ce8f07a6)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/6b0634ad-a910-48a3-8660-cad4f64042a6_rw_1920.jpg?h=7064bfdc261a156aa652923ed57cbdc6)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/d3fe13e5-c3b4-4557-958d-384ca12a70d6_rw_1920.jpg?h=700b6884f9b69c590c8ae36f9d766333)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/e66904c0-474f-4f88-b33e-9a971eb071c6_rw_1920.jpg?h=1e4d3386389de3dd7ed639d6c7cc069c)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/2ff0c71a-21e5-4c55-b035-da6b44c8d404_rw_1920.jpg?h=542aa91eb4630fd3a6ff39f94283e44a)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/35579d4f-2596-407f-a22a-e3e50cad2edb_rw_1920.jpg?h=08af3fe744b6e1c4c02c9ba962476874)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/0a2d8403-8eeb-4b3a-81e2-86f53109100f_rw_1920.jpg?h=a04e3c002b421c553e3566b663c6d6d7)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/1daf7ef6-c127-46ee-b2c2-67dcdbb86dfc_rw_1920.jpg?h=f953ca752b24e5351365b3d010c3bfbc)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/fab678d2-65bf-4ada-89be-4a4cdd282b8c_rw_1920.jpg?h=a56116e5f862561aa274024f91c0652f)
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![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/88f09e67-7e8f-44f2-a5d7-c6ea8a404293_rw_1920.jpg?h=f9b5d3902049220079a1448af8e891e1)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/f41e81e0-587c-4045-92e9-f94c60fabcc0_rw_1920.jpg?h=fee0d09780e2d857b8f61a2ccf0a76e7)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/c91924ae-16b3-46c4-a6a3-a95b02d1f33a_rw_1920.jpg?h=56e1fe987587581d79cef5b52fd6336f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/b20d8cfe-be58-4181-90e4-55f57475ec75_rw_1920.jpg?h=98d6e9c0118207bec6d762ff9b732e81)
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![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/bdf89211-d8c9-4adc-8ffe-93f82d78a519_rw_600.png?h=24a09027b6db9b057b8bfb8653b82580)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/4e8782da-73de-43c2-9786-562604941ba0_rw_600.png?h=d7c653c91d7168395aeeb98b0c6289c5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/58ed85c2-186c-4b19-926b-202b2812f64c_rw_1920.jpg?h=bca2281d554d6b057beda0a0794c138b)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/adde0cd4-1ff0-4ce8-acfc-f6cd54b539ec_rw_600.png?h=4662915fa5557811f9411c8a95f333a8)
Creation process
The construction of the snow crystals was the real challenge in this project - to understand how ice crystals grow and how that can be adequately represented and animated in 2D.
From the infinite abundance of crystal variations, I decided on 8 different shapes:
From the infinite abundance of crystal variations, I decided on 8 different shapes:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/183add3e-41f2-4258-a041-82da99905f91_rw_1200.jpg?h=af633fdbb6fd4123c629f5c3151cdbe5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/259d4fd1-4b08-484f-8f9f-419e72a0605b_rw_1200.jpg?h=f36ad897634a0380d76cf0192c4310c5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/454ffa78-c0df-4cdd-8a89-c002c6b77395_rw_1200.jpg?h=cd677f39e909566eab901569ecd25491)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/bc854c23-2359-4540-9e5c-153bae3e7329_rw_1200.jpg?h=e5683f3580c17e2003c6e5145236a3cd)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/392a7c92-b9bd-44dd-8c43-d152e5d83138_rw_1200.jpg?h=33333392da2aa0355ff8ea53513f4f6b)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/f1bf3f7f-ebee-4aaa-ac45-51d5203f5be6_rw_1200.jpg?h=4d7c3a626cf57789604e3a7de7e7ef3e)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/39c3402a-123d-4e19-954c-f407b48712a1_rw_600.png?h=748b419422d4e3225e4ec4a5d3079dc6)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/d310d62b-20a0-41cc-9b26-9f45867e1907_rw_1200.jpg?h=a02e9e3a617b501b42cec93b104bac3f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/243457a3-20ca-4782-9a95-2ba447245726_rw_1200.jpg?h=c6bdb1cbf5520cf6fb57f3f1f82bd715)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/190f69da-0c4f-465d-a77f-d2505bfdc910_rw_600.png?h=3706989815143a743e57ac38d9a42caa)
In ILLUSTRATOR I constructed the outer shape and the skeleton, in PHOTOSHOP I created specific grayscale images from them. In AFTER EFFECTS they served as references for several combined AE effects - a real journey of discovery until the result was perfect. Here are three examples:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/9360ec5c-aafb-47c0-9cdb-967baa899eeb_rw_1200.jpg?h=80dc9e0a8f24e4bf7c204366dba10dc1)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/91cb1a76-3706-453c-870c-65e8dce13c6e_rw_1200.jpg?h=65a23ad08ea30f6da3251b8561929440)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/ef29cc2e-96b6-449f-b69d-aa4d878cd02c_rw_1200.jpg?h=9dbbe395393ad2d0a6d3443e605d8185)
Making the "iced disc" was a pure pleasure: several elaborately edited Photoshop layers and lots of effects magic in AFTER EFFECTS:
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/36ec8003-911a-4f6e-abf8-7c2e159dab80/c7a3d6b3-3d3a-4b9e-8a55-d22162e8c7a9_rw_1920.jpg?h=36d5bb7febbb3d9e6c336b64704045b3)
Tiny objects, those snowflakes ... but so much to discover and learn.
Thank you for your interest!
Thank you for your interest!
© 2021 Christian Thamm