Hungarian director/3D animator János Nyujtó makes his Stash debut with this standout CG concept film for a fictional Nike sneaker he says was “designed purely for artistic expression.”

János Nyujtó: “This idea started after I saw a Hungarian TikTok creator showing a basic sneaker shop UI design that unexpectedly went viral. So I set myself a challenge to push this idea further and create a more advanced landing page concept featuring a custom sneaker, with some Houdini magic to give it an edge.

“The sneaker was made in ZBrush and once I was happy with the sculpt, I jumped into Substance Painter and gave myself complete creative freedom. At that point, I realized the project had potential to become a strong portfolio piece, so I decided to keep pushing.
 

“I wanted the bottom part of the sneaker to flow backward like a liquid, but achieving that was a journey.”

 
“The biggest creative and technical challenge was the fluid simulation for the sole. I wanted the bottom part of the sneaker to flow backward like a liquid, but achieving that was a journey. Simulating liquids in Houdini often feels like a toxic relationship — you experience the highest highs and the lowest lows.

“After three weeks of constant experiments (POP forces, turbulence, curve forces), the breakthrough came when I created a custom velocity field to drive the FLIP sim. That finally delivered the dynamic motion I had in mind.

“One of the best Nuke compositors in Hungary, András Pfum, is a close friend of mine and made huge improvements to the animation and added exceptional color grading. it was a +30% boost. A second +30% came from the sound design by Leo Richter who delivered magic in just a few days.

“And thanks for a final +30% goes to my girlfriend who didn’t leave me after I spent three weeks staring into space, constantly thinking about the project.”
 
 

 
Director/animator: János Nyujtó
Colorist/Compositor: Pflum András

Sound design: Leo Richter