“Saturn” is an aesthetic tribute to one of the most beautiful objects in the solar system and the second largest planet of our system. Along with its 60-plus moons, Saturn is a gas planet with a hydrogen and helium primary atmosphere, and its atmosphere is characterized by violent storms and high-speed winds. Like most planets, it has no surface; it graduates to a deeply crushed core, all under its thick cloud.
The film illustrates the vastness and activity of the rings of Saturn that are made of over a million icy and rocky particles, from the size of a dust particle to that of a boulder. The rings extend from 280,000 km in diameter but are only 10 meters thick in radius and are controlled by the gravity of Saturn’s moons. The moon Tethys is also shown in the film, a rocky, cratered, and canyoned world that moves around within the rings of Saturn.
The atmospheric effects in the film reflect the stormy climate of the planet and, specifically, the hexagonal storm at the northern pole, one of the strangest phenomena in the solar system.
Procedural textures and fluid simulations are used to create the atmosphere and clouds effect in the short film, which provides a very close-up view of this planet and its mighty yet elegant appearance.
Special thanks to Max Cooper’s soundtrack “Small Window On The Cosmos” which gives the film depth and an emotional feeling.
Special thanks to RNDR (Render Network) for giving me the chance to use their cloud rendering platform.
Made with: Blender, Houdini, Octane, Nuke, Substance Designer, DaVinci Resolve, After Effects.