Murderbot Diaries Fan Animation Project

(Part 3 of 3) (Jump to part [1] [2])

They may be the literal background of the finished product, but the backgrounds done for the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project deserve their time in the spotlight!

Part of what makes the Fanimation stand out as much as it does is the love, care, and attention to detail that the artists poured into the backgrounds. The team stuck closely to the source texts when designing the spaces, producing some beautiful pieces of art that deserve appreciation on their own.

You can watch the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project here.

In this final part, we look at some of the backgrounds that we animated to give them that extra wow factor. Some of the shots in the Murderbot Fanimation have backgrounds completely made in 3D - the opening shot and the post-credits scene, for example. But the shots in this post are mostly 2D imagery, with some 3D components and clever editing that bring them to life.

Deltfall Habitat - Background art and motion editing by @broken-risk-assessment-module , habitat model created by TechnicalToad and rendered by @theash0

"I climbed the ladder up to the roof hatch and popped it. The armor’s boots have magnetized climbing clamps, and I used them to cross over the curving roofs to the third habitat and then around to the second."

Milu Storm - 3D model of the corridor by TechnicalToad, storm effect created by @theash0 using, among many other elements, an effect created by @chimaerakitten

"Swirling, towering clouds, filled with electrical discharges, obscured any view of the surface. [...] It was immense, and wrong, and terrible and beautiful all at the same time. I stood there for what I later clocked as twenty-two seconds, just staring."

Docking Bay Door - Background, foreground, and door textures illustrated by Vanessa. 3D door composited and animated by @theash0

"Gurathin knelt beside an open maintenance floor panel next to the gate, tools scattered around, and Ratthi held a light for him. The panel was painted with an emergency feed marker label that in a selection of different languages read 'Manual Release.'"

Docking Bay Corridor - Illustrated by @nirelaz , motion editing by @theash0

"Our shuttle slot was six locks down, glowing emergency lighting showing me Mensah standing beside it holding a small energy weapon."

Bonus higher-quality stills of those last two to appreciate the detail:

(Docking Bay Door by Vanessa)

Murderbot Fanimation Project Backgrounds!

(Part 2 of 3) (Jump to part [1] [3])

They may be the literal background of the finished product, but the backgrounds done for the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project deserve their time in the spotlight!

Part of what makes the Fanimation stand out as much as it does is the love, care, and attention to detail that the artists poured into the backgrounds. The team stuck closely to the source texts when designing the spaces, producing some beautiful pieces of art that deserve appreciation on their own.

You can watch the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project here.

In this part, we show off some of the backgrounds from the CombatSecUnit fight from Exit Strategy - by far the most complex and difficult scene we executed.

“The gate was a bulkhead that arched down from the domed ceiling, with pylons forming multiple doorways, each wide and high enough for big hauler bots. As we ran toward it, an air wall shimmered into place between the pylons… We were four meters away when hard barriers flowed up from the deck and smoothly closed the gates as I slid to a halt.”

(IDs are in alt text)

Docking Bay Wideshot - by @chimaerakitten

Stairs (top) - by @groovyleviathan

Docking Bay Doors (Interior) - by @chimaerakitten . Peep the behind-the-scenes version without the lighting.

Stairs (wide) - by @groovyleviathan

Murderbot Fanimation Project Backgrounds!

(Part 1 of 3) (Jump to parts [2] [3])

They may be the literal background of the finished product, but the backgrounds done for the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project deserve their time in the spotlight!

Part of what makes the Fanimation stand out as much as it does is the love, care, and attention to detail that the artists poured into the backgrounds. The team stuck closely to the source texts when designing the spaces, producing some beautiful pieces of art that deserve appreciation on their own.

You can watch the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project here.

(IDs are in alt text)

Scanners - Initial sketch and layout by Jude, finalised and coloured by @chimaerakitten

"I had to hack an ID-screening system and some weapon-scanning drones on the level above..."

ASR Pit - by Lue

"This assessment zone was a barren stretch of coastal island, with low, flat hills rising and falling and thick greenish-black grass up to my ankles [...] The coast was dotted with big bare craters, one of which Bharadwaj and Volescu were taking samples in. The planet had a ring, which from our current position dominated the horizon when you looked out to sea."

AC Food Court - by Vanessa

"The location for the meeting was a food service place in the main mall area. [...] There were multiple open levels inside, with tables and chairs, and it was 40 percent full of humans and augmented humans."

Deltfall - by @chimaerakitten with bodies by @theash0

"There were eleven messily dead humans in the hub, sprawled on the floor, in chairs, the monitoring stations and projection surfaces behind them showing impact damage from projectile and energy weapon fire."

ASR Hopper - by @broken-risk-assessment-module

"It was a series of rocky hills in a thick tropical jungle, heavily occupied by a large range of fauna."

PresAux Hub - by Cephei

"There were mugs and empty meal packets on some of the consoles. I’m not cleaning that up unless I’m given a direct order."

AC Hotel - Layout and lineart by Vanessa, colour by Cephei

"The lobby was built on various platforms overlooking a holo sculpture of an open chasm filled with a giant crystalline structure growing out of the walls. [...] My clients were on the same platform as the check-in area, near the railing around the sculpture’s artificial chasm, sitting on a round backless couch thing that looked more like a decorative object than furniture."

Medbay - by @sometimesihaveideas

(Part 3 of 3) (Jump to part [1] [2])

They may be the literal background of the finished product, but the backgrounds done for the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project deserve their time in the spotlight!

Part of what makes the Fanimation stand out as much as it does is the love, care, and attention to detail that the artists poured into the backgrounds. The team stuck closely to the source texts when designing the spaces, producing some beautiful pieces of art that deserve appreciation on their own.

You can watch the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project here.

In this final part, we look at some of the backgrounds that we animated to give them that extra wow factor. Some of the shots in the Murderbot Fanimation have backgrounds completely made in 3D - the opening shot and the post-credits scene, for example. But the shots in this post are mostly 2D imagery, with some 3D components and clever editing that bring them to life.

Deltfall Habitat - Background art and motion editing by @broken-risk-assessment-module , habitat model created by TechnicalToad and rendered by @theash0

"I climbed the ladder up to the roof hatch and popped it. The armor’s boots have magnetized climbing clamps, and I used them to cross over the curving roofs to the third habitat and then around to the second."

Milu Storm - 3D model of the corridor by TechnicalToad, storm effect created by @theash0 using, among many other elements, an effect created by @chimaerakitten

"Swirling, towering clouds, filled with electrical discharges, obscured any view of the surface. [...] It was immense, and wrong, and terrible and beautiful all at the same time. I stood there for what I later clocked as twenty-two seconds, just staring."

Docking Bay Door - Background, foreground, and door textures illustrated by Vanessa. 3D door composited and animated by @theash0

"Gurathin knelt beside an open maintenance floor panel next to the gate, tools scattered around, and Ratthi held a light for him. The panel was painted with an emergency feed marker label that in a selection of different languages read 'Manual Release.'"

Docking Bay Corridor - Illustrated by @nirelaz , motion editing by @theash0

"Our shuttle slot was six locks down, glowing emergency lighting showing me Mensah standing beside it holding a small energy weapon."

Bonus higher-quality stills of those last two to appreciate the detail:

(Docking Bay Door by Vanessa)

Murderbot Fanimation Project Backgrounds!

(Part 2 of 3) (Jump to part [1])

They may be the literal background of the finished product, but the backgrounds done for the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project deserve their time in the spotlight!

Part of what makes the Fanimation stand out as much as it does is the love, care, and attention to detail that the artists poured into the backgrounds. The team stuck closely to the source texts when designing the spaces, producing some beautiful pieces of art that deserve appreciation on their own.

You can watch the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project here.

In this part, we show off some of the backgrounds from the CombatSecUnit fight from Exit Strategy - by far the most complex and difficult scene we executed.

“The gate was a bulkhead that arched down from the domed ceiling, with pylons forming multiple doorways, each wide and high enough for big hauler bots. As we ran toward it, an air wall shimmered into place between the pylons… We were four meters away when hard barriers flowed up from the deck and smoothly closed the gates as I slid to a halt.”

(IDs are in alt text)

Docking Bay Wideshot - by @chimaerakitten

Stairs (top) - by @groovyleviathan

Docking Bay Doors (Interior) - by @chimaerakitten . Peep the behind-the-scenes version without the lighting.

Stairs (wide) - by @groovyleviathan

Murderbot Fanimation Project Backgrounds!

(Part 1 of 3)

They may be the literal background of the finished product, but the backgrounds done for the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project deserve their time in the spotlight!

Part of what makes the Fanimation stand out as much as it does is the love, care, and attention to detail that the artists poured into the backgrounds. The team stuck closely to the source texts when designing the spaces, producing some beautiful pieces of art that deserve appreciation on their own.

You can watch the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project here.

(IDs are in alt text)

Scanners - Initial sketch and layout by Jude, finalised and coloured by @chimaerakitten

"I had to hack an ID-screening system and some weapon-scanning drones on the level above..."

ASR Pit - by Lue

"This assessment zone was a barren stretch of coastal island, with low, flat hills rising and falling and thick greenish-black grass up to my ankles [...] The coast was dotted with big bare craters, one of which Bharadwaj and Volescu were taking samples in. The planet had a ring, which from our current position dominated the horizon when you looked out to sea."

AC Food Court - by Vanessa

"The location for the meeting was a food service place in the main mall area. [...] There were multiple open levels inside, with tables and chairs, and it was 40 percent full of humans and augmented humans."

Deltfall - by @chimaerakitten with bodies by @theash0

"There were eleven messily dead humans in the hub, sprawled on the floor, in chairs, the monitoring stations and projection surfaces behind them showing impact damage from projectile and energy weapon fire."

ASR Hopper - by @broken-risk-assessment-module

"It was a series of rocky hills in a thick tropical jungle, heavily occupied by a large range of fauna."

PresAux Hub - by Cephei

"There were mugs and empty meal packets on some of the consoles. I’m not cleaning that up unless I’m given a direct order."

AC Hotel - Layout and lineart by Vanessa, colour by Cephei

"The lobby was built on various platforms overlooking a holo sculpture of an open chasm filled with a giant crystalline structure growing out of the walls. [...] My clients were on the same platform as the check-in area, near the railing around the sculpture’s artificial chasm, sitting on a round backless couch thing that looked more like a decorative object than furniture."

Medbay - by @sometimesihaveideas

Murderbot Fanimation Project Backgrounds!

(Part 1 of 3)

They may be the literal background of the finished product, but the backgrounds done for the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project deserve their time in the spotlight!

Part of what makes the Fanimation stand out as much as it does is the love, care, and attention to detail that the artists poured into the backgrounds. The team stuck closely to the source texts when designing the spaces, producing some beautiful pieces of art that deserve appreciation on their own.

You can watch the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project here.

(IDs are in alt text)

Scanners - Initial sketch and layout by Jude, finalised and coloured by @chimaerakitten

"I had to hack an ID-screening system and some weapon-scanning drones on the level above..."

ASR Pit - by Lue

"This assessment zone was a barren stretch of coastal island, with low, flat hills rising and falling and thick greenish-black grass up to my ankles [...] The coast was dotted with big bare craters, one of which Bharadwaj and Volescu were taking samples in. The planet had a ring, which from our current position dominated the horizon when you looked out to sea."

AC Food Court - by Vanessa

"The location for the meeting was a food service place in the main mall area. [...] There were multiple open levels inside, with tables and chairs, and it was 40 percent full of humans and augmented humans."

Deltfall - by @chimaerakitten with bodies by @theash0

"There were eleven messily dead humans in the hub, sprawled on the floor, in chairs, the monitoring stations and projection surfaces behind them showing impact damage from projectile and energy weapon fire."

ASR Hopper - by @broken-risk-assessment-module

"It was a series of rocky hills in a thick tropical jungle, heavily occupied by a large range of fauna."

PresAux Hub - by Cephei

"There were mugs and empty meal packets on some of the consoles. I’m not cleaning that up unless I’m given a direct order."

AC Hotel - Layout and lineart by Vanessa, colour by Cephei

"The lobby was built on various platforms overlooking a holo sculpture of an open chasm filled with a giant crystalline structure growing out of the walls. [...] My clients were on the same platform as the check-in area, near the railing around the sculpture’s artificial chasm, sitting on a round backless couch thing that looked more like a decorative object than furniture."

Medbay - by @sometimesihaveideas

Here's the animation I did for the @murderbot-fanimation-project!

The scene is from the All Systems Red, when Murderbot is choking Gurathin in the medbay and Mensah deescalates. I did this by recording two videos of myself, one from behind holding a cosplay against a door and one as I held on to a chin-up bar. I didn't rotoscope them, but I did look closely to them as reference as I worked.

Credit for the background goes to @chimaerakitten! Credit to the characters' designs goes to @broken-risk-assessment-modulen

The scene this is from is behind the cut.

I had an awesome time working with the @murderbot-fanimation-project , and I'm finally putting together some of the stuff I made for it to show off! I learned a ton and had a lot fun, 10/10 would do it again someday.

Subtitles in English, Spanish, French, and German.

In early 2021, as talk of a Murderbot Diaries adaptation was underway, fans of the series started asking each other questions like, "What would we want to see from an adaptation of our favorite book series?" and "Wouldn't it be cool if this or that scene was animated?" and "Hey, don't YOU know some things about animation?" and "What if a bunch of fans got together to make a Murderbot fan animation?"

Two years of teamwork later, the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project presents our labor of love: a fully realized animation adapting scenes from the first four novellas into a trailer, dedicated to showcasing everything we love about the story of our favorite rogue SecUnit.

Make sure to leave a like and share the video if you enjoyed our animation! And tell us what you liked about the video on our social media:

Ask the team on Tumblr | Instagram | YouTube

With as many as 15 team members contributing to Art & Animation, how in the world did the Murderbot Fanimation Project manage all the pieces over the course of two years? In the first of three videos, @broken-risk-assessment-module talks about the editing process that brought everyone's contributions together.

Find the finished animation here. Leave a like and share if you enjoyed!

Subtitles in English, Spanish, French, and German.

In early 2021, as talk of a Murderbot Diaries adaptation was underway, fans of the series started asking each other questions like, "What would we want to see from an adaptation of our favorite book series?" and "Wouldn't it be cool if this or that scene was animated?" and "Hey, don't YOU know some things about animation?" and "What if a bunch of fans got together to make a Murderbot fan animation?"

Two years of teamwork later, the Murderbot Diaries Fanimation Project presents our labor of love: a fully realized animation adapting scenes from the first four novellas into a trailer, dedicated to showcasing everything we love about the story of our favorite rogue SecUnit.

Make sure to leave a like and share the video if you enjoyed our animation! And tell us what you liked about the video on our social media:

Ask the team on Tumblr | Instagram | YouTube