.jpeg)
research
I researched what younger people are listening to and the general trends we see on social media like TikTok. As a 22 year old myself, I took into consideration my own tastes and what I've seen. Since music is quite subjective, it's hard to appeal to all! Generally, Tiktok trends resurface older songs like "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush for trendy dances or video edit styles. This is a good example of what we see today where people look to the past for music.
Audience
My intended audience are those seeking beauty and calm in music. As I have mentioned before, there are songs that are much older being used in modern trends. The song I chose has a very human feel using instruments rather than manipulated sound. I want to celebrate the art of humanness in musics creation.
Tech talk
I used After Effects for this project but had some help with textures from texturelabs to create a softer human feeling.
animation
I used trim path animation and depth to drive the visuals of this animation. I wanted to explore 3D layers in After Effects a bit more in this project. I would map out each stroke completely before adding any keyframes since I would animate to the end of each path. This made it easier to see each composition.
Image textures
I used glass textures to create the soft look and feel. Using 2 images as overlays onto of effects like camera lens blur worked well. The highly detailed image of glass was used strictly in the background.
render
The depth created with stylized shadows and good opportunity for interesting movement. I would use a camera, environment light and shape layers mostly to achieve this look.
The Client
Universal Production Music is a world renowned production music company that creates, curates, and licenses music specifically for use in media.
Initial plan
I wanted to convey the thought of an idea and the way it evolves. I was going to do 3 versions of a shape that we travel into and witness it's change.
what wasn't working?
In the initial plan I had motifs of shapes that were sharp and didn't communicate the flow of the song itself. This wasn't going to work! Music visualizers are supposed to relate to the sounds and the sounds of the song are organic and fluid.
How to fix?
I need to focus on stroke animation to convey the feeling of the music. Fluid animation that moves forward playing with depth and color.
release date- 30 July 2025
Album ID- Idea063
Mirage
The song selected from Universal Production Music by ideal.e is titled "Whispering Trees". It has a warm, delicate and elegant tone
UNIVERSAL Production music
MUSIC VISUALIZER
The main goal for this project is to create a music visualizer that appeals to young adults in hopes that they would choose Universal over AI for their music needs.
Dimensions- 1920 x 1080
Credits- Whispering trees by ideal.e
Animator + Designer - Abigail Atwell
1st pass animation
I realized here that the imagery was too sharp in a lot of areas. The shape language of the fluid strokes worked well.
2nd pass animation
I really liked the feeling that 3D shape layers gave in this pass. I still needed more exploration for stroke animation and how to make it feel more fluid.
3rd pass animation
The texture above my imagery saturates the visuals but leaves a dirty feeling due to texture. I had to refine my textures. Another aspect worth exploring more is dimension.
the final
thoughts
I really enjoy animating with strokes and creating soft visuals. I always liked how compositions with warm and soft visuals looked. I think one thing I would hope to improve on is the variety of visuals. I think it may have become too repetitive by the end.