Phoenix - 3D Voxel Animation Learning Example

This guide walks you through how to generate a looping 3D voxel animation of a phoenix using SpatialStudio. The script creates a majestic phoenix with fiery wings, a glowing body, and trailing flames inside a cubic 3D space, then saves the animation to a .splv file.

What this script does

Creates a 3D scene of size 128×128×128
Spawns 1 phoenix with:
- A bird-shaped body with gradient colors
- Animated wings that flap realistically
- Trailing fire particles behind it
- A glowing aura effect
Animates the phoenix soaring in a circular flight pattern for 8 seconds at 30 FPS
Outputs the file phoenix.splv that you can play in your viewer

How it works (simplified)

Voxel volume Each frame is a 3D grid filled with RGBA values (SIZE × SIZE × SIZE × 4).
Phoenix body The phoenix is built from multiple parts: head, neck, body, and tail using ellipsoid shapes with fire-colored gradients.
Wing animation Wings are drawn as curved surfaces that rotate up and down with sine wave functions to create realistic flapping motion.
Fire trail Particles spawn behind the phoenix and fade over time, creating a trailing flame effect with orange-to-red gradients.
Flight path The phoenix follows a circular path while gently rising and falling, using trigonometric functions for smooth motion.
Encoding Frames are passed into splv.Encoder, which writes them into the .splv video file.

Try it yourself

Install requirements first:

pip install spatialstudio numpy tqdm

Then copy this script into phoenix.py and run:

python phoenix.py

Full Script

import numpy as np
from spatialstudio import splv
from tqdm import tqdm

# Scene setup
SIZE, FPS, SECONDS = 128, 30, 8
FRAMES = FPS * SECONDS
CENTER_X = CENTER_Y = CENTER_Z = SIZE // 2
OUT_PATH = "../outputs/phoenix.splv"

# Phoenix settings
PHOENIX_SIZE = 12
WING_SPAN = 20
FLIGHT_RADIUS = 30

def add_voxel(volume, x, y, z, color):
    if 0 <= x < SIZE and 0 <= y < SIZE and 0 <= z < SIZE:
        volume[x, y, z, :3] = color
        volume[x, y, z, 3] = 255

def get_fire_color(intensity):
    """Generate fire colors from white-hot to deep red"""
    if intensity > 0.8:
        return (255, 255, int(200 + intensity * 55))  # White-yellow
    elif intensity > 0.6:
        return (255, int(150 + intensity * 105), 0)   # Orange-yellow
    elif intensity > 0.3:
        return (255, int(intensity * 150), 0)         # Orange-red
    else:
        return (int(100 + intensity * 155), 0, 0)     # Deep red

def generate_phoenix_body(volume, cx, cy, cz, t):
    # Head
    for dx in range(-3, 4):
        for dy in range(-3, 4):
            for dz in range(-3, 4):
                if dx*dx + dy*dy + dz*dz <= 9:
                    intensity = 0.9 + 0.1 * np.sin(t * 3)
                    add_voxel(volume, cx+dx, cy+dy-8, cz+dz, get_fire_color(intensity))
    
    # Neck
    for i in range(8):
        thickness = 2 + int(i * 0.3)
        y_offset = -8 + i
        for dx in range(-thickness, thickness+1):
            for dz in range(-thickness, thickness+1):
                if dx*dx + dz*dz <= thickness*thickness:
                    intensity = 0.8 + 0.2 * np.sin(t * 2 + i * 0.3)
                    add_voxel(volume, cx+dx, cy+y_offset, cz+dz, get_fire_color(intensity))
    
    # Main body
    for dx in range(-6, 7):
        for dy in range(-4, 5):
            for dz in range(-8, 9):
                if (dx*dx/36 + dy*dy/16 + dz*dz/64) <= 1:
                    intensity = 0.7 + 0.3 * np.sin(t * 1.5 + dx * 0.1 + dz * 0.1)
                    add_voxel(volume, cx+dx, cy+dy, cz+dz, get_fire_color(intensity))
    
    # Tail feathers
    tail_length = 15
    for i in range(tail_length):
        p = i / tail_length
        tail_sway = np.sin(t * 2 + i * 0.2) * 3
        tail_width = int((1 - p) * 4)
        for dx in range(-tail_width, tail_width+1):
            for dy in range(-1, 2):
                tail_x = cx + dx + int(tail_sway)
                tail_y = cy + dy
                tail_z = cz + 8 + i
                intensity = 0.8 - p * 0.5 + 0.2 * np.sin(t * 3 + i * 0.1)
                add_voxel(volume, tail_x, tail_y, tail_z, get_fire_color(intensity))

def generate_wings(volume, cx, cy, cz, t):
    wing_beat = np.sin(t * 8) * 0.5  # Fast wing flapping
    
    for side in [-1, 1]:  # Left and right wings
        for i in range(WING_SPAN):
            wing_curve = np.sin(i * 0.2) * 6
            wing_height = wing_beat * (WING_SPAN - i) * 0.3
            
            for j in range(8):  # Wing depth
                p = j / 8
                feather_intensity = 0.6 + 0.4 * (1 - p) + 0.2 * np.sin(t * 4 + i * 0.1)
                
                wing_x = cx + side * (5 + i)
                wing_y = cy + int(wing_height + wing_curve)
                wing_z = cz - 4 + j
                
                # Wing thickness
                for dy in range(-2, 3):
                    add_voxel(volume, wing_x, wing_y + dy, wing_z, get_fire_color(feather_intensity))

def generate_fire_trail(volume, cx, cy, cz, t, trail_particles):
    # Add new particle
    trail_particles.append({
        'x': cx + np.random.randint(-2, 3),
        'y': cy + np.random.randint(-2, 3),
        'z': cz + np.random.randint(8, 12),
        'life': 1.0,
        'vx': np.random.uniform(-0.5, 0.5),
        'vy': np.random.uniform(-0.5, 0.5),
        'vz': np.random.uniform(0.5, 1.5)
    })
    
    # Update and render existing particles
    for particle in trail_particles[:]:
        if particle['life'] <= 0:
            trail_particles.remove(particle)
            continue
            
        particle['x'] += particle['vx']
        particle['y'] += particle['vy']
        particle['z'] += particle['vz']
        particle['life'] -= 0.05
        
        intensity = particle['life'] * 0.8
        px, py, pz = int(particle['x']), int(particle['y']), int(particle['z'])
        
        # Draw particle with some spread
        for dx in range(-1, 2):
            for dy in range(-1, 2):
                for dz in range(-1, 2):
                    if np.random.random() < intensity:
                        add_voxel(volume, px+dx, py+dy, pz+dz, get_fire_color(intensity))

def generate_aura(volume, cx, cy, cz, t):
    aura_radius = 15 + int(3 * np.sin(t * 2))
    for dx in range(-aura_radius, aura_radius+1):
        for dy in range(-aura_radius, aura_radius+1):
            for dz in range(-aura_radius, aura_radius+1):
                distance = np.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy + dz*dz)
                if aura_radius - 3 < distance < aura_radius:
                    if np.random.random() < 0.1:  # Sparse glow effect
                        intensity = 0.3 + 0.2 * np.sin(t * 4 + distance * 0.1)
                        add_voxel(volume, cx+dx, cy+dy, cz+dz, get_fire_color(intensity))

def generate_phoenix(volume, t, trail_particles):
    # Phoenix flight path
    flight_angle = t * 0.5
    phoenix_x = CENTER_X + int(FLIGHT_RADIUS * np.cos(flight_angle))
    phoenix_y = CENTER_Y + int(8 * np.sin(t * 0.8))  # Gentle up-down motion
    phoenix_z = CENTER_Z + int(FLIGHT_RADIUS * np.sin(flight_angle))
    
    generate_aura(volume, phoenix_x, phoenix_y, phoenix_z, t)
    generate_phoenix_body(volume, phoenix_x, phoenix_y, phoenix_z, t)
    generate_wings(volume, phoenix_x, phoenix_y, phoenix_z, t)
    generate_fire_trail(volume, phoenix_x, phoenix_y, phoenix_z, t, trail_particles)

# Initialize encoder and trail particles
enc = splv.Encoder(SIZE, SIZE, SIZE, framerate=FPS, outputPath=OUT_PATH, motionVectors="off")
trail_particles = []

for frame in tqdm(range(FRAMES), desc="Generating phoenix"):
    volume = np.zeros((SIZE, SIZE, SIZE, 4), dtype=np.uint8)
    t = (frame / FRAMES) * 2*np.pi
    generate_phoenix(volume, t, trail_particles)
    enc.encode(splv.Frame(volume, lrAxis="x", udAxis="y", fbAxis="z"))

enc.finish()
print(f"Created {OUT_PATH}")

Next steps

Adjust WING_SPAN to make the phoenix larger or smaller.
Modify FLIGHT_RADIUS to change the flight path size.
Experiment with get_fire_color() function for different flame colors (blue phoenix, ice phoenix, etc.).
Add multiple phoenixes by calling generate_phoenix() with different positions.
Increase PHOENIX_SIZE for a more detailed bird model.

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