Jamie xx - In Colour Visual Album Rework
Built entirely in Cinema 4D, the project explores how sound can drive structure rather than decoration. I focused on minimal, graphic forms, primarily rectangles and angular geometry, allowing subtle changes in scale, rotation, fragmentation, and color to carry the narrative of each song. The visuals respond directly to stems and dynamics in the music, creating moments that feel synchronized without becoming literal or overly illustrative.
This project also documents my process of teaching myself 3D animation from the ground up. Across the album, I progressively experimented with MoGraph systems, cloners, effectors, fields, materials, and camera motion, refining my workflow with each track. What began as a study in audio-reactive motion evolved into a complete visual language designed to respect the restraint, clarity, and emotional precision that define In Colour.
Challenge
In Colour is already a landmark album in electronic music, defined by texture, restraint, and emotional pacing. While the music is highly visual, it has never existed as a cohesive, album-length visual experience. Most fan-made visuals lean either too literal or too chaotic, missing the album’s balance between structure and feeling.
My challenge was to create a full visual album rework that:
Treats each track as its own visual system while still feeling part of a unified whole
Translates sound into motion without relying on obvious or cliché audio visualizers
Respects Jamie xx’s minimal, architectural visual language rather than overpowering it
Serves as a personal learning project to teach myself Cinema 4D and 3D motion design from the ground up
The goal was not to redesign the album, but to listen closely and build visuals that feel like they could quietly live alongside the music.
Results
A complete 42-minute visual album.
Produced a full-length visual rework spanning all tracks on In Colour, totaling 153,915 frames and 42:45 of animation, with each song receiving its own distinct but connected visual chapter.
Track-specific visual identities.
Each song was assigned a constrained color palette, motion logic, and geometry language. Elements like rectangles, fractured planes, waves, and modular forms recur across the album, evolving rather than repeating.
Cohesive system, not isolated clips.
Despite being built song by song, the project functions as a single visual system. Shapes, camera behavior, and pacing subtly reference earlier tracks, creating continuity across the album’s runtime.
Demonstrated growth in 3D and motion design.
The project documents a clear progression from simple MoGraph setups to more complex uses of fracture, fields, camera animation, material systems, and audio-reactive motion.
42
Minutes
Frames
11
Tracks
Process
Listening before designing.
Each track began with repeated listening sessions before opening Cinema 4D. I mapped out energy changes, structural shifts, and emotional cues to determine how motion should behave over time.
Establishing a visual grammar.
I limited myself to a small set of recurring forms, primarily rectangles, planes, and triangles, to maintain visual restraint. This forced exploration of variation through motion, scale, timing, and color rather than introducing new shapes for novelty.
Song-by-song exploration.
Each track became a focused experiment:
Gosh explored slow reveals, tension, and architectural mass
Sleep Sound leaned into fluid motion and internal rhythm
SeeSaw played with balance, offset motion, and perspective shifts
Obvs focused on fragmentation and reassembly
Just Saying emphasized minimal, percussive movement
Stranger in a Room explored disappearance, isolation, and negative space
Later tracks expanded on these ideas with greater control and confidence.
Learning Cinema 4D through iteration.
I taught myself Cinema 4D entirely through this project, learning by building, breaking, and rebuilding scenes. Core tools included MoGraph Cloners, Effectors, Fields, Fracture, Camera animation, and material workflows. Many scenes were rebuilt multiple times as my understanding improved.
Audio-reactive motion without literal visualization.
Rather than direct waveform or spectrum visualizers, sound was translated into parameters like scale, rotation, visibility, and timing, allowing motion to feel musical without becoming illustrative.
Conclusion
This visual album rework became more than a personal tribute to In Colour, it became a record of learning. By committing to a long-form project, I was able to move past surface-level experimentation and develop a deeper understanding of motion systems, pacing, and restraint in 3D design.
The project reflects how I approach design more broadly: listening first, limiting tools intentionally, and building systems that prioritize clarity and feeling over spectacle. It represents my transition from static design into motion and 3D, and it continues to shape how I think about interaction, rhythm, and visual storytelling.