Rebuild a Macintosh Classic II in enough detail to be recognisable, then apply a modern deformation simulation to it and see how much of the object survives the melt.
Modelling, screen art, simulation setup, rendering and the framing layer.
A short film and a still presented inside a period-correct viewer window, where the machine is both the subject and the interface.
Blender, Photoshop, After Effects
Context
The idea
Old hardware is designed with an honesty that is easy to admire and hard to fake. I wanted to see whether a modern simulation could destroy that honesty without destroying the memory of it.
Why this project matters to my portfolio
It sits exactly at the seam I work on: hard-surface modelling on one side, simulation and look development on the other. Nothing here was bought or scanned — the model, the interface and the deformation are all authored, which makes the result a fair test of my pipeline.
Constraints & Deliverables
Constraints
- The machine has to be recognisable at a glance, before it melts.
- The screen content has to stay legible while the geometry deforms.
- No modern gloss: the plastic has to read as aged ABS, not new CGI.
Deliverables
- A hero still framed inside a System 1.1 viewer window
- A short looping animation of the deformation
- Period-correct interface art (icons, window chrome, menu bar)
Pipeline & Process
Pre-production / Setup
Reference came from teardown photos rather than beauty shots, so the model carries the seams, vents and moulded radii a real case has. The interface was rebuilt separately as flat art so it could be re-projected onto the screen at any stage of the simulation.
Modelling & Screen Art
- Blender
- Photoshop
Approach
The case is modelled as a shell with real wall thickness, because a melting object that is hollow reads wrong the moment its edge collapses. Screen content is authored as a bitmap at the original low resolution and upscaled with nearest-neighbour, which keeps the pixel edges honest.
Key technical decisions
- Real wall thickness on every shell so the melt behaves like plastic, not clay.
- Screen art authored at low resolution and re-projected, never re-drawn at render size.
- Surface wear baked once and shared between the still and the animation.
Simulation & Rendering
- Blender
Approach
The deformation is driven by a heat field rather than a global shrink, so the thin edges, the floppy slot and the vent louvres give up first and the mass of the case follows later. Rendering kept the same soft studio light as the still, so the two deliverables read as one moment in time.
Visual Evidence & Process
The still and the animation, framed the same way on purpose.
