The tubes were the focus of the device’s close-ups, and I wanted to reproduce their internal structure as closely as possible. The official datasheet offers limited dimensions, mainly the overall outline, character size, and pin positions. It provides too little information to reconstruct the electrodes, mesh, and supports directly.

Drawing source is page 3 of the iNixie Lab DGM01 datasheet.

I asked the agent to compare photographs of the actual tube and consult material on other tubes, including the IN-18, to understand the structure. My own observations supplied further corrections. The digits occupy different planes, so viewing angle changes how the electrodes, mesh, and supports occlude one another. The ten digit shapes, their depth order, and their mounting gradually approached the present result through repeated adjustments.

Some details have little impact at a distance but matter in close-up. The main vertical stroke of 1 is thicker than the other strokes, and 5 has distinctive bends and openings. A generic font struggled to reproduce that character. I eventually had the curves fitted to photographs, then refined the metal clips, insulating supports, mesh cage, and internal leads.

The glass needed separate attention. Alongside the cylindrical outline, I added inner and outer walls, a curved top, and the narrowed base so that its edges could reflect and refract light. At close range, those details and the internal metalwork together determine the tube’s sense of thickness.

Glow and glass highlights had to be judged together. Excessively bright reflections obscured digits and mesh. A very dark image lost the glass curvature. Soft lighting from the side and rear outlined the tube while keeping the orange-red digits prominent.

The board outlines and component positions were available already, but materials required several iterations. Plastic packages, metal leads, connectors, and the board surface each needed different reflectivity and roughness for convincing close-up detail.

The PCB surface also needed more than a flat black plane. Using the actual design files, I had the agent reproduce subtle relief from traces and copper areas, add silkscreen, and refine the surface appearance of the solder mask and copper regions. Changes in lighting and camera angle then made that relief visible.

The initial models lacked solder joints, making the components look as if they had simply been placed on the boards. I separated the pads and solder, added joint shapes around SMD leads and through-hole connections, and adjusted the silver-gray reflections. Joining the components visually to the board made the assembly much more convincing.

I refined other parts similarly, adding a matte grain to the enclosure, knurling and chamfers to the knob, and separate appearances for the LCD’s dark reflective surface and active display. Materials continued to evolve with the lighting in individual scenes.

Before creating music, I had a rough set of shots in mind, including the glowing tubes, PCB close-ups, and an exploded assembly. I compared four soundtrack styles, chose one, and continued refining the shots around it.

The agent wrote scripts to generate audio waveforms directly. Sound can be represented as a waveform over time, and simple electronic timbres can be constructed programmatically. Frequency controls pitch, envelopes shape how a sound starts and fades, and noise, filters, and multiple voices can be combined into a rhythmic track.

I settled on a mechanical electronic style at 150 BPM. The script generated drums, bass, short plucked tones, and metallic percussion, then mixed them on a common timeline. As the animation developed, I adjusted their placement. A digit lighting up gets a short cue. The exploded view reduces rhythmic density. Reassembly builds momentum, with a brief pause before the final accent as the complete device lights up.

The storyboard turns the overall rhythm into individual shots, deciding cuts, slower movements, holds, and actions that coincide with musical accents. I then worked out the content of each scene.

Landscape and portrait versions needed separate camera arrangements. A landscape exploded view can spread parts sideways, while a portrait composition needs more vertical layers. Close-ups also require repositioning the subject because cropping can remove the very detail the shot is meant to show.

An exploded view reveals structure normally hidden by the enclosure. Shells, boards, the front screen, and fasteners need enough separation to be readable while retaining a clear relationship to their assembled positions. I kept the complete assembly as the starting point and chose expansion directions and distances around the camera.

A spacious static layout still needs a feasible animation path. The upper shell’s two tube openings require it to rise along the tube axes before moving sideways. Screws behind the front board need to travel along their mounting directions, with timing offset slightly from the board’s return. Reflections and shadows can obscure those relationships in a final render, making an untextured preview easier to inspect.

I used those previews to check for obvious intersections, whether the upper shell stayed in frame, and whether each part remained legible at full expansion. Once the motion worked, I restored the finished materials. The sequence expands continuously, pauses briefly, and reassembles, giving the viewer time to understand the structure.

The closing shot returns to the complete device. Both tubes, the front screen, and the right-hand knob need to be visible, and the black enclosure needs separation from its surroundings. I wanted a dark image in which outlines and surface changes describe the form, with the brightest areas reserved for the glowing digits and screen.

The enclosure uses the matte grain of black PA12S, and the knob has knurling and beveled edges. The screen retains a reflective black surface while off and shows the quota interface when the assembled device lights up. Those material differences give the lights distinct surfaces to reveal.

Lighting changes with expansion and reassembly. At full expansion, the foreground lights reach their set brightness so the interior is visible. Background lightboxes then fade, followed by the wall and floor during reassembly, leaving the finished device against black. Local tube lighting follows the tubes as they move, keeping the glass within its illumination.

The black device needs a clear outline while the glow retains its color. Increasing the brightness of the entire scene makes glass and metal compete for attention. I focused on where light fell and whether reassembly, illumination, and the fading background formed a coherent sequence.