I'm Niclas von Steen, a Freelance Art Director and Motion Designer based in Berlin. I've been working in moving images for a long time — starting out on film sets as a camera assistant, making my way through post-production, and eventually landing exactly where I wanted to be: somewhere between animation, 3D, and the kind of work that keeps you up at night because you're genuinely into it.

I'm a 3D generalist and enjoy working in all areas of 3D production. Apart from that, I create non-commercial work to learn new techniques and expand my visual language.

Over the years I've worked with companies like Porsche, Bosch, Siemens, Roche, MAN, Kia, Nissan, Bose, Subway, Hornbach, and Saatchi & Saatchi — across trade fair productions, advertising, and image films. Since 2021 I've been fully freelance, which suits me just fine.

What I enjoy most is that the job has two sides to it: the craft of building things technically, and the creative decisions that make them actually interesting. I care about both equally. Whether it's a fluid simulation that has to feel physically right, or a character that needs a specific kind of weight and personality — I want it to work on both levels.

My main tools are Cinema 4D, After Effects, Octane, Redshift, and Substance Painter. I'm also deepening my work in Unreal Engine 5, ZBrush, and Blender. Increasingly, I'm integrating AI into my workflow — experimenting with it as a render engine and exploring what it opens up creatively.

When I'm not in front of a screen, I'm probably drawing, reading, or losing at table tennis.