Shaping energy with COPS

I used Copernicus to generate the portal’s outlines and masks, building the foundation procedurally within Houdini. Copernicus (COPS) is Houdini’s modern, GPU-accelerated compositing context for creating and manipulating textures and image data.

With its recent revamp, I saw an opportunity to shape the portal’s origin by emitting energy and particles from outlines generated in COPS. Working within a fast-paced production timeline, I needed an approach that allowed for speed without compromising control. The result was a flexible setup that evolves over time, with organic forms emerging from the X shape.

Light defines form

By observing real world storm references, I focused on how thunderclouds are revealed through flashes of light. Keeping the scene nearly pitch black, I allowed procedural lightning to act as the sole sculptor of form. Rendered in Karma and through layered light passes, each strike becomes a momentary unveiling of nature in its raw state.