Social Commentary in 3D: How David Sujono Won 2nd Place in Chasm’s Call with ‘Offside’

Offside © David Sujono

When David Sujono’s “Offside” won 2nd place in Pwnisher’s Chasm’s Call Challenge, it wasn’t just the technical mastery that captivated audiences—it was also the story. Blending stunning 3D visuals with poignant social commentary, the piece masterfully explores themes of wealth disparity. In this exclusive interview with Fox Renderfarm, the industry’s top cloud rendering services provider and render farm, the Sydney-based motion designer pulls back the curtain on his process

Fox Renderfarm: Hi David! We are honored to have you here! Please introduce yourself to our readers.

David: Hello! It’s an absolute honour and privilege getting to chat to you today. My name is David Sujono, and I am a Freelance 3D Motion Designer based in Sydney, Australia. I’ve been in 3D for about 8 years, since I was a young kid playing around with Google SketchUp and After Effects and then jumping into Cinema 4D to create short films and personal projects. I was blessed to have worked at Collider Studio as head of 3D for a few years, and now I am a full-time freelancer. I have a passion for 3D as it enables unparalleled freedom to create new worlds and tell unique stories. My artistic style is heavily influenced by 1950s retro-futurism, 1980s synthwave, and 1920s Art Deco design. Outside of 3D design, I enjoy bodysurfing, playing the drums, and immersing myself in nature - activities that fuel my creativity and keep me inspired.

Fox Renderfarm: Congratulations on winning 2nd place in the Chasm’s Call Challenge. What was the most rewarding part of the experience for you? Can you briefly introduce your project “Offside” to us?

David: Thank you, it still feels unreal! From seeing the challenge announcement video to the judging stream (I woke up at 4:45 am in Sydney), it was an amazing journey, and the payoff has been incredible. The most rewarding part for me was seeing the audience’s reactions and comments about how they resonated with the story and the beauty of the visuals. The inspiration behind “Offside” was to visually portray the wealth discrepancy between the upper and lower classes, whilst subverting expectations and highlighting that true freedom, happiness, and contentment are not found in status or material possessions, but rather the simplicity of enjoying community and sharing with others. I was inspired by USSR architecture, art deco design, and video games such as Atomic Heart and Bioshock. The theme of soccer was always close to my heart, having fond memories of playing with my friends on the school oval during school days, carefree and free.

Atomic Heart © Mundfish

Fox Renderfarm: Can you share with us the creation process of your work? What software did you use, and how long did it take you?

David: I began the creation process with concepting and sketching out initial designs. I used Miro to keep track of all of my reference images and thoughts. I iterated a LOT on the composition and final layout. I found it challenging to land on a composition that maximises the feeling of depth whilst also working with my concept of rich/poor. After this, I then blocked out the scene using basic primitives and rough shapes where I wanted the main elements to be. I iterated a lot on the shelf geometry, the layout of the scene, and especially the garden and fencing elements. I then started the next detail pass, modelling in more of the distinct Art Deco architecture. Before I began animation, I wanted enough complexity in the scene so I could get a better idea of how the final render would look. I used my Rokoko SmartSuit Pro to create all of the animations, refining and animating additional tweaks to the motion capture in iClone 8. For the main character’s base, I used Character Creator 4, Zbrush, and created all of the clothing in Cinema 4D and Substance Painter. The cloth was simulated in Cinema 4D. I utilised Quixel assets for the scatters and added wind deformations to all the vegetation to create a living environment. Final lighting and rendering were done in Cinema 4D and Redshift. I used After Effects for compositing and kept the render passes minimal to avoid the temptation to steer away from the original render too much. The entire process took me about 200 hours. I worked on this challenge during evenings, nights, and weekends.

Process © David Sujono

Process © David Sujono

Process Photos © David Sujono

Fox Renderfarm: Have you tried or heard about Fox Renderfarm’s services before? What is your impression of our cloud rendering services?

David: I have used Fox Renderfarm before, and I can honestly say that it is my favourite render farm and probably the easiest to use. I utilised Fox Renderfarm to render my Infinite Journeys submission, and it allowed me to get the frames out in time. I find it really straightforward to use, and the ability to quickly resubmit failed frames is great.

David’s Social Media:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davesujono/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davesujono/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalDave
• Website: https://www.davidsujono.com.au/