- ClientAlmashhad TV
- Year2025
- Role3D artist · Compositor
- ToolsBlender 3D · After Effects
- DisciplineNews opener · 3D animation
- DeliveryOn-air, daily news
What a news open has to do
A news opener is the most-played piece of graphics a channel owns. It runs every bulletin, every day, for as long as the package lives. That single fact rules out most of what looks good in a portfolio. It cannot depend on a surprise, it cannot be so busy that it tires on the fiftieth viewing, and it has to hold up at broadcast bitrates where fine detail turns to mush.
What it does have to do is signal two things fast: this is current, and this is credible. The globe is the shorthand for scope; the corridor is the shorthand for speed.
The build
The globe is modelled and shaded in Blender 3D as a holographic volume rather than a textured sphere — latitude and longitude structure is emitted rather than mapped, so it reads as projected light instead of a painted ball. The corridor around it gives the camera something to move through, which is what converts a rotating object into a shot.
HUD panels, blueprint linework and data readouts were built as separate layers and composited in After Effects, which keeps them editable without a re-render. On a news schedule that separation is not a nicety — it is the difference between a note being a ten-minute fix and an overnight job.
Decisions worth naming
- Cool blues, one accent. A restricted palette survives compression and stays legible behind a lower third.
- Motion in the camera, not the object. The globe rotates slowly; the corridor supplies the pace. That way the energy can be tuned in the edit without touching the 3D.
- HUD as texture, not information. The readouts are rhythm and density. Making them legible would invite the viewer to read instead of watch.
Working in Blender for broadcast
Modelling, shading, lighting and rendering live in one file, so an amend does not mean a round trip between applications. For a package that has to be delivered against a transmission time, that consolidation is the reason the tool gets chosen.
More on this discipline: broadcast graphics and channel branding and 3D motion graphics.
Next: Almashhad Channel Ident — a 3D logo animation for broadcast and smart TV →
Let’s make something move.
Open to full-time roles and select freelance projects — Dubai, the Gulf and remote. Showreel, breakdowns and CV available on request.
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