Due to COVID-19, the GameStop Manager Show in 2020 was completely virtual and Microsoft reach to Ten Gun Design looking for creating virtual stage in which the Xbox host could present all the news for the upcoming Xbox Hardware and services.

In order to utilize the form factor of the new console and the ability to create anything cool, I proposed something I have always been fascinated since my time in architecture school:

The Kinetic Wall.

Stage Design

Since my concept was chosen by the client, and since I was most familiar with the technology and mechanics of a kinetic wall (I created small scale kinetic sculptures during my Architectural studies), I was given the opportunity to design the stage.

I provided the following three stage design options.

Wall Animation Exploration

Along with the stage design options, for proof of concept and since we could not wait to see the wall moving, we provided the client with a series of Wall animation tests.

Technical Challenges

The main challenges of the project was the timeline and the length of the video which contained 6 sections with a total of 27 minutes. We strategically design different patterns for each of the sections, each with its own character and animation to avoid the repetitiveness of the wall.

In order to speed up the animation process, I created a script that will allows to select different design patterns from which we could create multiple animations. I implemented the offset animation for the wall to give the cool and intricate wave effect as we transition from different patterns.

The script was crucial for the success of the project since we took longer to finalize the design of the stage and we have less time than anticipated for animation. Between 2 animators we created all the animations and transitions necessary in a matter of days with this script.

This Script was the foundation for the Kinetic Wall Toolkit