THE CRADLE / Short Film / Project detail

I was responsible for creating hair and fur, as well as simulating hair and clothing (for some shots). I also worked on various tasks involving the simulation of tears, sweat, disintegration clothing, and much more. Additionally, I created face and body textures for the main character and assisted with shader setup and lookdev in UE.
The groom for the moth was created in Ornatrix Maya and then transferred to Houdini for detailed tuning of the “wave” animation across the body. The hair and dynamic simulation for the main character were created in Houdini. Texturing was done in Substance Painter.

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https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oJgZ0W

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The Cradle is our take on bringing Beksiński-inspired visuals into 3D.
We created a dry, decaying world where time feels distorted and reality slowly breaks apart. The project focuses on mood, scale, and presence — less about explaining the world, more about letting you feel it.
At the center is Diana, a fragile figure moving through massive, abstract structures. Around her, glowing moths guide lost bodies deeper into the space, pulled by a distant, almost physical sound.
A big part of the work went into translating a painterly, surreal look into real-time 3D. We focused on lighting, materials, and depth to keep the image tactile and imperfect.
Animation, cloth, and hair were tuned to feel slow and unnatural, reinforcing the sense of trance.
Sound plays a key role - low drones and organic tones act like a force inside the world, drawing everything inward.
Cradle started as a visual experiment and evolved into a short cinematic piece about scale, decay, and losing control.
http://argentum.studio