Younity LP - 3D Music Videos
Four fully CG lion journeys for Merlin Moon’s reggae album
Overview
A series of four fully 3D-animated music videos for Merlin Moon’s Younity LP, built around a recurring lion protagonist with dynamic dreadlocks. Each video places the lion in a distinct world that mirrors the song’s mood—from jungle mysticism and hazy cannabis farms to cosmic rebellion and 60s flower-power road trips—while syncing every footstep and key visual beat to the track’s BPM.
Goals
- Create a cohesive visual identity for the Younity LP using a single lion character across four unique music videos
- Sync the lion’s walk cycle, camera motion, and environmental events tightly to the BPM and phrasing of each song
- Leverage advanced simulations (hair, particles, volumetrics, VDBs) while maintaining a stable, scalable render pipeline across multiple machines
- Deliver broadcast-quality 3D music videos for YouTube with fully original environments and visuals tailored to each track
Problem
The band needed more than generic visuals or stock footage—they wanted a strong, iconic character-driven visual identity that could tie multiple songs together while still letting each track have its own world. This project solved that by turning a single animated lion into the visual anchor of the Younity LP, using custom rigging, simulations, and world-building to create four distinct yet connected journeys.
Links
Tech Stack
Responsibilities
- Directed the overall visual concept for the Younity LP, defining the lion as the recurring protagonist and mapping each song to a distinct world (jungle, cannabis farm & lab, cosmic landscape, 60s flower fields)
- Customized the lion character by creating a dynamic dreadlock system in Cinema 4D using joints and IK chains, then baking the motion to Alembic for stable playback in heavy scenes
- Synced the lion’s walk cycle to the BPM of each track by adjusting animation speed so every footstep and head bob lands on-beat
- Built fully 3D environments for all four videos, including foliage, rocks, ground, water, and props (such as the 60s Volkswagen van for Younity), with all key elements set up as collision objects
- Used X-Particles to drive water, dust, and ambient particles that interact physically with the terrain and environment
- Integrated Embergen simulations for smoke trails from the lion’s dreads in Last Of Kings and volumetric clouds/fog in Akasha’s sky and horizon
- Implemented a continuous day/night sky cycle in Akasha, tied to the rhythm of the song so the sky flips between daylight and deep-space starfields in time with the music
- Set up and managed Octane network rendering across three machines (main i9-13900K workstation with 128GB RAM, 8TB NVMe, dual RTX 4090s, plus two additional nodes with dual RTX 3080s each) to handle heavy VDB and volumetric workloads
- Handled end-to-end post-production in After Effects and Premiere Pro, including compositing, grading, subtle post FX, and final YouTube-ready exports
- Collaborated directly with Merlin Moon, incorporating feedback while retaining full creative control over the visual language of the project
Timeline
8 Months
Deliverables
6
Concept: One Lion, Four Worlds
The starting point was to unify multiple songs under a single visual idea: a lion with reggae-inspired dreadlocks acting as the spiritual guide of the Younity LP. Instead of treating each track as a standalone video, the lion becomes the thread that ties everything together. Last Of Kings places him in a mystical jungle, SinSemilla walks him through a cannabis farm and grow lab, Akasha sends him through surreal cosmic landscapes, and Younity wraps the journey in 60s flower-power vibes with a classic Volkswagen van.
Character: The Dreadlocked Lion
I started from a purchased lion model and transformed it into a unique character by building a custom dreadlock system in Cinema 4D. Using joints and IK chains, each dread was rigged to react naturally as the lion walked, swaying and dragging with weight. Once the motion felt right, the animation and hair were baked to Alembic files so the lion could be dropped into any scene without risking sim instability. This gave the project a consistent hero character that could survive long renders and complex environments.
World-Building Per Track
Each song received a bespoke world. Last Of Kings leans into a spiritual jungle atmosphere, with volumetric light shafts, dense foliage, and Embergen smoke trails behind the lion’s dreads. SinSemilla dives deep into weed culture: outdoor cannabis fields, an indoor grow lab, warm lighting, and macro-style looks at buds and glass. Akasha pushes into cosmic rebellion with alien ground planes, VDB fog, and a sky that cycles between day and star-filled night. Younity closes the loop in rolling flower fields, with a hero 60s Volkswagen van and MoGraph-driven flowers blooming in rhythmic, trippy patterns.
Simulations: Particles, Volumetrics & VDBs
Sim work played a big role in giving the videos weight and depth. X-Particles handled water, dust, and ambient particles that collided with rocks, ground, and plants, making the lion feel grounded in each world. Embergen provided stylized smoke trails from the dreads and thick volumetric clouds and atmospherics, especially in Akasha. VDB fog and volumetrics in Octane created layered depth in the jungle, farm, and cosmic shots, balancing realism with a stylized reggae-psychedelic vibe.
Octane Network Rendering Pipeline
Rendering four VDB-heavy music videos required a serious pipeline. I configured Octane for network rendering across three GPUs nodes: a main workstation with an i9-13900K, 128GB RAM, dual RTX 4090s and fast NVMe storage, plus two render nodes each running dual RTX 3080s. Scenes were optimized for stable GPU memory usage, and Alembic caches ensured consistent playback of the lion and dreads. This setup made it possible to push high-resolution frames with volumetrics, particles, and complex lighting without killing iteration speed.
Post, Delivery & Reception
After rendering, all shots went through a compositing and finishing pass in After Effects, where I layered additional glow, color work, and subtle post FX. Premiere Pro handled final edits, track alignment, and exports. The videos were released on YouTube as official visuals for the Younity LP, and the response from the band and their audience was very positive—fans called out the lion, the worlds, and the overall vibe as a big part of what made the album feel special and cohesive.
Media Gallery
Builder Notes
All four videos feature a custom rigged dreadlocked lion with footsteps synced to each track’s BPM.
All four videos feature a custom rigged dreadlocked lion with footsteps synced to each track’s BPM.
Dynamic dreadlocks were built with C4D joints/IK, then cached to Alembic for stable playback in heavy scenes.
Dynamic dreadlocks were built with C4D joints/IK, then cached to Alembic for stable playback in heavy scenes.
Octane network rendering ran across three machines (dual 4090 main box plus two dual-3080 nodes) to handle dense foliage, VDBs, and volumetrics.
Octane network rendering ran across three machines (dual 4090 main box plus two dual-3080 nodes) to handle dense foliage, VDBs, and volumetrics.
Embergen simulations provided volumetric clouds and smoke trails from the lion’s dreads in key shots.
Embergen simulations provided volumetric clouds and smoke trails from the lion’s dreads in key shots.
Each track has its own environment: jungle, marijuana grow farm, cosmic Akasha nebula, and 60s flower-power road trip.
Each track has its own environment: jungle, marijuana grow farm, cosmic Akasha nebula, and 60s flower-power road trip.