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The Ethians

The Ethians

The Ethians

The Ethians

The Ethians

The Ethians

@rnftsdead

@rnftsdead

@rnftsdead

@rnftsdead

@rnftsdead

@rnftsdead

@rnftsdead

The Ethians NFT Collection: From Concept to Creation 

A case study by me [Tiardt du Toit] the Founder & Lead Designer

Project Overview:

I conceptualized and created The Ethians, a revolutionary collection of 5,151 fully animated 3D alien NFTs for the Ethereum blockchain. As the founder and lead designer of this @rnftsdead team project, I identified and filled a crucial gap in the NFT market during the crypto boom, when the space was saturated with generic 2D collections of 10,000 pieces each.

Firstly What is a Randomly Generated NFT?

An NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a unique digital asset stored on the blockchain. A randomly generated NFT collection uses various pre-defined attributes (such as head types, clothing, accessories, etc.) that are algorithmically combined to create unique combinations. Each NFT in the collection has its own distinct combination of these attributes with metadata to direclty communicate with online nft marketplaces to inform the minter the composition of the nft.

Market Research and Initial Vision

During my research phase, I observed:

  • An oversaturation of 2D NFT collections
  • Growing interest in 3D NFTs
  • A complete absence of 3D animated NFT collections
  • An opportunity to prioritize aesthetic appeal over speculation

Design Evolution & Creative Journey

Stage 1: Static Rebel Walkers

My journey began with the Rebel Walkers concept:

  • Created static 3D masked human characters
  • Developed four main attribute categories requiring a minimum of 10 variations each:
    1. Head/Masks (starting with the biker helmet inspired by rebel imagery)
    2. Torso designs like leather jackets, lumberjack shirts etc.
    3. Handheld items like shotguns baseball bats etc.
    4. Backgrounds

Stage 2: Animated Rebel Walkers

After noticing 2D animated NFTs emerging in the market, I pushed to innovate further:

  • Implemented walking animations with the help of Mixamo rigging and 3ds max bone and skin modifiers.
  • Created realistic cloth simulations in Marvelous Designer
  • Started to model rig and texture different handheld items like donuts, weapons, basketballs etc.
  • Generated 120-frame animations for frame blending to kae animation loop able
  • Encountered and solved critical technical challenges:
    • Due to generating the animations in a GIF format it resulted in a 20MB file size (200GB total hosting for 10,000 NFTs) so to use MP4/WebM format was a must that resulted by a total reduction to 2MB per file (20GB total hosting)

Stage 3: The Birth of Ethians

While the Rebel Walkers animations were successful, I felt the project needed more personality, leading to the Ethians concept:

  • Combined "aliens" and "Ethereum" to create the Ethians brand
  • Sculpted unique alien characters in ZBrush (face, body, hands)
  • Textured in Substance Painter
  • Rigged using Mixamo
  • Expanded character variations:
    • Different Ethians characters like mummies, Spartans, boxers, superheroes etc.
    • Ethians wearing glasses, hats, masks, helmets etc.
    • Various weapon-holding poses
    • Adapted and enhanced existing Rebel Walker assets to fit the alien aesthetic
    • Different torsos, like astronaut suits, sci fi suits etc.

Layer Structure for the Ethians: [hover on layers]

Technical Solutions

Animation Loop Innovation

To solve the looping issue with cloth simulations:

  1. Simulated double the required frames
  2. Blended frames 170-180 with frames 80-90
  3. Used frame 180 as frame 90
  4. Created perfect loops by ensuring the final frame matched closely with frame 90, please see the diagram below to further understand how I solved it.

Final Result

NFT Generation Process

I developed a custom solution when Hashlips Art Engine couldn't handle video generation:

  1. Applied image sequence renders as sequence textures on flat planes in Blender
  2. Layered planes with minimal Z-value adjustments
  3. Implemented feathering techniques for seamless attribute blending
  4. Used randomizer scripts for generation
  5. Created proper metadata JSON files for marketplace compatibility

Technical Infrastructure

  • Collection Size: 5,151 unique animated characters
  • Storage: Pinata IPFS hosting (~20GB total collection size)
  • Smart Contract: Deployment via Thirdweb
  • Minting: Free with user-paid gas fees
  • Blockchain: Ethereum

Development Timeline

This project represents 1-2 years of dedicated work, including:

  • Initial research and concept development
  • Multiple character iterations
  • Animation system development
  • Technical challenge resolution
  • Complete NFT generation pipeline creation

Design Process Innovation

To maintain creativity throughout the long development I always believed repetition is the killer of innovation that's why I did not work solely on one attribute at a time, I worked on all attributes simultaneously by doing this it allow me to:

  • Create new attribute inspired by other attributes
  • Maintained flexible development flow between:
    • Head attributes
    • Torso designs
    • Held items
    • Background elements

Testing and Implementation

The development process included:

  • Initial testing with 4 variations of each attribute
  • Careful attention to seamless fitting between attributes
  • Development of precise cutoff points for attribute integration
  • Thorough testing of random generation systems
  • Comprehensive metadata creation and verification

This project showcases my ability to overcome complex technical challenges while maintaining creative vision. Each decision, from file format selection to animation techniques, was carefully calculated to ensure optimal performance and scalability. For detailed information about specific attributes or technical solutions, please contact me.

The creation of the Ethians were only one part of the project, please click the button below to see the development process for the projects website.

Some random imagery of the development process. Due to the enormity of the project, I suggest that you contact me for any specific information, because showcasing everything here would make this page exceptionally long, thank you for reading

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