Filamentary RRAM, explained in 41 seconds

Overview

Intrinsic makes RRAM memory chips. Their slide explaining how the memory works had the atoms and the graph drifting out of sync. I turned it into a 3D film where they stay in step.

My role

Motion design, 3D, sound

Team

Solo, with feedback from the Intrinsic team

Timeline

October 2026

Impact overview

In sync

Atoms and graph share one clock, so they never drift.

Measured

Timing matched to the original slide, frame by frame.

Ready to use

A 41 sec film with sound, made for talks and the website.

The Brief

An RRAM cell stores a bit by growing and breaking a tiny conductive path, a filament, inside a layer of oxide. Intrinsic explained this with a slide: atoms on the left, a current voltage graph on the right.

They wanted it as a proper film in their new colours, something they could play in talks and on the website.

The Problem

On the slide, the atoms and the graph were two separate animations. A few seconds in, they drifted apart: the graph said one thing and the atoms showed another. For engineers, that is worse than no animation at all.

The original Intrinsic slide, Filamentary RRAM How it Works: a flat 2D grid of grey, white and red atoms on the left and the I-V curve on the right — The original slide.

How I Kept It in Sync

First I studied the slide frame by frame, so I knew exactly when the filament grows, breaks and grows back. Then I built the graph, because that is what engineers check first, and got it approved before any 3D existed.

The original graph (left) and my version (right), moving together.

The atoms then run on the same clock as the graph pointer. One timeline drives both, so they cannot drift apart.

The first 3D test. Rough, but already in time with the graph.

Cream to White

My first draft sat on the brand's cream. The team asked for white so it fits on any slide or web page, and for a small legend. I used the same three labels as their original slide, so it feels familiar to their audience.

First draft

The final film on white at 11 seconds: the orange filament is complete and the legend shows the three labels — Final

Motion Decisions

Decision 01

Keep the true timing

The filament creeps for six seconds, then suddenly snaps to the top. Smoothing it would look nicer but teach the wrong thing, so I kept the snap.

Final film at 4 seconds: a few white ions above their orange vacancies, the pointer still low on branch I

Decision 02

One colour tells the story

Orange is used only for the part that conducts. Your eye follows the orange, and the story follows with it.

Final film at 23 seconds during erase: blue oxygen plugs the top of the orange filament while the pointer drops on branch IV

Decision 03

Pause on each state

After each change the cell holds still for a moment. It shows the state clearly and gives a speaker time to talk over it.

Checked Against the Original

Last step: I played the new film next to the old slide. Every phase lines up.

New film (left) and the original slide (right).

What I Learned

In a technical film, being accurate is the design.
Lock the part people will check first, then make it pretty.

Made in Blender with Python, written with AI coding agents, so a change like "slow down the erase" is one number and a re-render.

BlenderPythonAI coding agents

The second Intrinsic film

I also made the hero loop for Intrinsic's website: a lifelike chip, with the logo etched into the silicon.

Motion case study A website hero loop that looks like an actual chip From an AI looking stock loop to a 15 second seamless 3D wafer on white. Read the case study