Role: Houdini Artist - Rose and Vine SYSTEMS
Breakdown of my contributions: rose blooms, vine growth systems, asset variation, and animation development for the arena opener
I joined a team led by Neil Hilken working with the Portland Trail Blazers creative team to create the "Roses" opener for the Blazers’ 2025–2026 season.
The piece follows the players through a dark, overgrown world of thorny vines, with roses gradually blooming across the environment as the world and team come to life.
I came in as a Houdini artist to develop procedural rose and vine systems for the piece, creating controllable bloom animations, vine growth setups, and art-directed vine asset variations that were passed into Cinema4D.
The final opener played across the main board and side/ribbon boards inside Moda Center as part of the arena’s new LED system. Since the finished master is not publicly shareable, this page focuses on my Houdini contribution, arena documentation, and selected final elements from the broader production.
Full Arena Playback
Rose and Vine Development
Renders by David Mellor and Neil Hilken
Full Credits
Creative Development and Story Support
Billie Olson
Tristan Brillanceau-Lewis
Koji Matsumoto
Neil Hilken
Devin Gustafson
3D Design, Animation, Lighting, Rendering, Compositing, and Editing
Neil Hilken
Procedural Rose and Vine Development
Andy Camou
Editorial and Footage Support
Dane Sawyer
Player Green Screen Direction
Jacob Strain
Player Green Screen Videography
Devin Boss
2D Player FX, Footage Treatment, & Compositing
David Sawchak
Supplemental Arena Motion Design & Animation Elements
Corey Strandberg
Matthew Kreizenbeck
Greg Madrigal
Wyatt Germer
Media Grabbers
David Mellor
Dashiell Robb