Cinematic Car Scene With Sound-Reactive Visuals

This project brings together all three elements: lighting, animation, and sound to create a dynamic car exhibition scene that feels alive and immersive.

Desktop

Internet

Software used:

1. Touchdesigner 2023.12230
2. Kdenlive
3. Blender 4.4
4. Twinmotion 2025.1.1 (Needs Epic Installer)

Step 1: Inspiration

Every creative project starts with inspiration, and for this one, that meant gathering as many references as possible. I found that the more I explored creative software (mostly through video tutorials), the more ideas began to take shape.

For the "Make It Glow" theme, my first thought was to create audio-reactive visualizations. While visually striking, I found that these types of effects can be quite abstract on their own. To give the visuals more context and impact, I decided to incorporate them into a more grounded scene.

That’s when the idea of a car exhibition came to mind, a visually rich environment where glowing elements and sound-reactive visuals could shine in the background while still being anchored by a recognizable setting.

Choosing Software

The goal was to realize the vision in the shortest amount of time. That meant minimizing modeling, setup, and complexity, prioritizing user-friendliness and accessibility. While this approach compromises some level of control, time is an important factor, especially for a student participating in competitions. As you'll see, the software I chose are not only free and easy to use, but also help save time while still delivering on the creative vision.

TouchDesigner is a visual programming software used to create audiovisual visualizations. For this project, I followed a video tutorial—though most available resources were in Chinese, which made the process a bit challenging. Despite that, I managed to complete the setup successfully. I’ve included the project file so you can try it out yourself.

To change the music, click on the "audiofilein1" node, then click the plus (+) icon in the top-right corner (as shown in the image) to browse and load your own audio file.

Once you're happy with your setup, click the "moviefileout1" node and toggle the Record button on. The video will be exported to the same folder as the setup file. Don’t forget to press Play (at the bottom of the screen) before recording!

We will use the video file later.

Note: The music used is copyright-free and sourced from YouTube. The butterfly image featured in the scene is included with the default TouchDesigner installation.

Support files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sCeO0L5iItj9-lVVz3UhyRb1axT1w__r?usp=sharing

The scene features one unique character, while the rest are sourced from Twinmotion’s extensive asset library. For the main character, I started with a model of The Iron Giant and replaced its head with the signature yellow Instructables robot head using Blender. After customizing the model, I used Mixamo’s auto-rigging and animation tools to bring the character to life with realistic movement.

Credits: "The Iron Giant" (https://skfb.ly/6x8Gs) by Gildur is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

For the car featured in the scene, I chose a vintage BMW E30 model, which serves as the central visual attraction. The E30’s iconic boxy design and strong nostalgic appeal make it an ideal focal point that draws attention and adds personality to the environment. Its classic look not only enhances the scene’s realism but also gives viewers something familiar and visually striking to connect with.

After downloading the car model (see credits below), open Twinmotion and search for the "White Studio" template. Once it's downloaded and opened, simply replace the default car in the scene with your chosen model. This template provides clean lighting and a minimal background, helping the car stand out as the main feature.

Credits: "[FREE] BMW M3 E30" (https://skfb.ly/oH7rM) by Martin Trafas is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

At this stage, we can begin putting everything together to bring the final scene to life. Start by applying materials and lighting to the car model to enhance its realism and visual impact. Next, import the rigged character created earlier with Mixamo and position it appropriately within the scene.

To integrate the visuals created in TouchDesigner, place flat planes in the background or around the environment and use them as projection surfaces for the video file. Keep in mind that Twinmotion does not support audio playback, so the visuals will run silently within the scene.

You can also enhance the atmosphere by adding Twinmotion’s built-in animated characters for background activity, and using the ground fog effect to create a moody, cinematic vibe. These elements help tie the composition together and give the final render a more immersive and dynamic feel.

To complete the scene, I added camera motion to make the final render more engaging. For this, I used the circular arc camera path—a new feature available in the latest version of Twinmotion. This allows the camera to smoothly orbit around a central point, giving a cinematic feel to the animation. You can see a quick demonstration of how to set this up in the video clip provided.

Twinmotion offers endless creative possibilities when it comes to lighting, props, animations, and environmental effects. From dramatic lighting setups to subtle ambient details, the sky really is the limit—it all comes down to your imagination.

I know—it feels a bit silly. We started by creating visuals that react to audio, rendered a silent animation, and now we’re adding the audio back in! But that’s just part of the workflow.

I used Kdenlive to add the audio track to the final video. Syncing the beats with the audio-reactive visuals was mostly a trial-and-error process. I manually adjusted the timing until it felt like the visuals were hitting in sync with the rhythm. It’s not a perfect science, but it gets the job done!

Also, a quick note, the audio track used in the final video is different from the one I started with. I found this one on TikTok, and it just worked better for the mood of the scene:

https://www.tiktok.com/@newage.edition/video/7417826412599545094

Enjoy