How do you kick off one of the most awaited tech conferences in New York? With a liquid-fueled hacker trip, '90s-inspired characters and a rabbit, of course.
Vercel Ship is the flagship annual event from our friends at Vercel — and every year, we team up to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
For the 2025 edition, “liquid” became our north star, a concept that shaped not only the main keynote but the entire visual identity of the conference.
We brought our craft across different touchpoints: from a custom WebGL hero experience and badge physics on the event’s landing page, featuring liquid shaders, to bespoke animations and assets designed specifically for the keynote.
As always, we kicked things off with a big opening: an original animated short that set the tone and style for everything that followed. Built for the big screen at the Glass House venue in NYC, it was designed to make an impact — whether you were there in person or watching in 4K from anywhere in the world.
Short animation
We treated it like a short film: carefully structured, richly layered, and thoughtfully crafted from start to finish. Together with EvilRabbit and Genny Dee, we kicked things off by developing a concept and building a moodboard that blended it all: the vibe of Hackers (1995), the spirit of NYC through scenes reminiscent of Soul and Hey Arnold, and visual metaphors for how V0 could reshape the real world by just prompting.
Storyboard
Final frames
The story begins with a vibe coder in NYC who slowly starts to sense that his world is malleable. Through V0, he begins bending and reshaping the reality around him. Energized by his discovery, he shares it with the team — and then comes the twist: the rabbit appears. An unexpected companion.
That’s when everything shifts.
The digital and physical worlds begin to merge, setting off a surreal chain reaction. Nothing is accidental. Every detail, even the little black guy, is there for a reason.
Art direction
In parallel, we developed detailed concept art: full-color scene illustrations, environment design, and character development. Once we had the world, we moved into blocking, translating the animatic into 3D space, animating cameras, understanding scale, and mapping out what needed to be built.
Characters 2d illustrations
Characters 3d
From there, the world began to take shape, every object, texture, and background thoughtfully composed and positioned based on the blocking. We animated using master keys: the character’s core movements and defining poses.
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Main character face rigging
Character's body rigging
Still frames were developed to match each scene in the story, using the concept art as a visual blueprint.
Every animation in this project was done entirely by hand — pose by pose — without relying on libraries or pre-made motion templates. Everything was built from the ground up.
We leaned into a technique known as animating on twos , holding each pose for two frames. This gives the animation a rhythm of 12 frames per second, even when the camera or environment moves at 24 fps. The result is a more expressive, stylized motion that feels closer to hand-drawn animation or illustrated storytelling.
Animation test
We made this choice for both aesthetic and expressive reasons; the controlled, less fluid rhythm lends the movement a graphic, stylized quality that sets it apart from conventional 3D realism.
The result? Animation with greater personality, intention, and a distinct visual language, closer to animated illustration or moving comics, where every pose is deliberate and filled with meaning.
Next, we ran full preview render passes (prerenders), giving us a first look at the piece in motion and helping sharpen the narrative. Storyboarding is one thing — but seeing it animated is something else entirely. At this stage, we fine-tuned the timing, added or trimmed shots, and ensured the story landed with both clarity and impact.
From 0 to 1
We exported the render in EXR passes to maintain full control during post-production. By separating elements like direct light, indirect light, reflections, and volumetrics, we could fine-tune each layer independently, without needing to re-render. We also included Cryptomatte, which gave us the flexibility to instantly isolate objects and generate masks, enabling a faster workflow, greater creative freedom, and a sharper final image.
Lighting process
Then came color grading and post in DaVinci Resolve, the stage where we truly dialed in the tone, pushing the colors toward a warmer palette to enhance mood and atmosphere. Every scene was treated with purpose, carefully balancing the stylized 3D lighting with subtle grading to make everything feel cohesive, cinematic, and alive.
Post-processing color grading
Lastly, remember the liquid shader concept? To bring it to life, we developed a custom material in Blender, designed specifically for the short film. Built with a node network of position-based masks, procedural noise, and layered shaders, it transformed every object into a uniform black silhouette—clean, fluid, and full of intent. The result is a striking aesthetic that maintains the geometry’s essence while evoking movement, control, and quiet power.
Liquid reveal
Music
Our weapon of choice
Built entirely in Blender, the project brought the spirit of a major animation studio like Pixar into our little setup in Mar del Plata. Big dreams, small team, basement-made.
3D & Animation: Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter
Color & Edit: Adobe Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve (Color & Fusion), Adobe After Effects
Render Engine: EEVEE & Cycles
Under towering expectations, we found clarity. In the story, in the craft, in the collaboration. Ship isn’t just any event, and this wasn’t just another project. It was our chance to help set the tone for one of the most anticipated moments in tech, and we took that personally.
You can just ship things.
We pushed ourselves as a studio. We raised the bar. Not just in what we shipped, but in how our design and 3D teams think, grow, and build.
