Viral Star Wars fan animation puts recent official movies to shame

With the Stars Wars sequels more than a little underwhelming, perhaps it would be better to leave things to the fans? That's the conclusion many are making based on a stunning short fan animation that's gone viral on social media.

Dayton Busse's 'Boba Fett Uses Seismic Charge on Star Destroyer' shows the famed bounty hunter bolting through laser beams in his Slave I. Made using Houdini (see our Houdini 20 review), it's clocked up thousands of likes across X (the former Twitter), Instagram and YouTube, where users reckon Disney needs to hire him ASAP. (See these Star Wars fonts if you’ve got your own project in mind.)

It may be a fan animation, but Busse is no amateur. He's a professional FX Artist who undertook the project for his portfolio. That shows in the movie-level quality.

Busse has shared some of his process on X. He used Industrial Light & Magic's Boba Fett model and cockpit shots from The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Episode II, but he made everything else himself in spaceships in Houdini, rendered it with Karma and compiled it in Nuke.

And here's a little mini breakdown of the destruction shot :) https://t.co/wgMTHuzke6 pic.twitter.com/wL6EnBcWLnSeptember 19, 2024

Some wonder if a seismic charge could really destroy a Star Destroyer, but fans are impressed by the piece. "More exciting and better story then entire Acolyte," one person wrote on YouTube. "Better than much of what Lucasfilm has produced recently!" someone wrote on X.

For more VFX news, see Unity 6 launch.

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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.