Starbucks Holiday Campaign

Houdini · Vellum Cloth · Particle Simulation

Role

FX / CG Artist

Platform

Commercial

Software

Houdini · Arnold

A Starbucks holiday commercial featuring a cozy winter aesthetic. I was responsible for two FX systems, a Vellum cloth simulation of a scarf wrapping and flowing around the Starbucks coffee cup, and a snow particle system creating the atmospheric winter environment around the scene.

Contributions

Scarf Vellum Cloth Simulation

Built a Houdini Vellum cloth simulation of a scarf wrapping and flowing naturally around the Starbucks coffee cup
Developed cloth constraints, stiffness, and damping parameters to achieve the soft, natural fabric behavior of a knitted scarf
Controlled the wrapping motion and flow of the scarf to match the art direction and cinematic timing of the shot
Balanced simulation accuracy with production performance, iterating quickly to meet art direction feedback under tight deadlines

Snow Particle System

Developed a snow particle system to create the atmospheric winter environment surrounding the scene
Controlled snowflake emission rate, size variation, velocity, and drift to create a natural and visually pleasing snowfall effect
Integrated snow particles with the scene lighting and compositing to enhance the cozy holiday atmosphere

Technical Approach

Used Houdini Vellum for the cloth simulation, enabling fast iteration and stable cloth behavior with artist-friendly controls
Combined cloth and particle systems within a unified Houdini setup for efficient production workflow
Collaborated with the compositing team to ensure both FX elements integrated naturally with the live-action and CG elements

Technical Focus

Houdini • ProceduralFX • SimulationSnow • FXParticleSystems • Cloth Simulation • Vellum Cloth