Büchi w/ Field.io, 2022 Role: 3D design, simulation, animationPart of "Aggregate States," a series of films taking an artistic perspective on the chemical processes behind Büchi's laboratory equipment.
My chapter focused on spray drying: the process of atomising a liquid feed into fine droplets and evaporating the solvent with hot gas.
The brief was to visualise something that happens inside a sealed machine at a scale invisible to the human eye. The output needed to be scientifically grounded but not literal. Instead, an interpretation that reveals the beauty in a process most people will never see.
Early R&D exploring spray behaviour and particle flow patterns. Testing how different velocity fields and forces could produce interesting visual rhythms in the atomisation.The main technical challenge was simulating powder accumulation. In reality this involves millions of tiny particles calculating position, neighbour proximity, and the space between them. At that scale, a direct simulation would be impossibly heavy. The solution was to merge two systems: particles falling from above trigger an infection spread across a pre-built pile shaped to match the falloff pattern. Composited together, it reads as a single continuous buildup.CREDITS
Creative Lead: Julien Bauzin
Executive Producer: Jamie Raap
Producer: Tom Feustel
3D Design: Nico Le Dren, Phil Bonum, Margot Hofmans
Motion Graphics: Max Palmer