For animator and motion graphics designer Xiaobo “Daniel” Ma, scale is not simply a technical consideration; it is part of the storytelling itself. Whether designing cinematic screen graphics for feature films or creating immersive animation for the world’s largest media surfaces, Daniel approaches motion as an experience that audiences can physically feel as much as they see. Among his most technically demanding recent projects were two productions connected to MSG Sphere in Las Vegas: Lenovo Tech World at CES 2026 and the Paddy Pimblett/Under Armour Sphere Exosphere campaign. Though both involved the same landmark venue, they required dramatically different creative approaches, revealing Daniel’s versatility as both an animator and animation lead.
Designing for the Inside of Sphere
When Lenovo Tech World took place at the Sphere during CES 2026, the venue itself became part of the presentation. Its massive wraparound interior display system surrounds audiences completely, transforming motion graphics into immersive architecture rather than conventional screen-based media. Daniel served as Animation Lead on the project through LOGAN, overseeing animation work connected to Lenovo’s FIFA partnership presentation. He spent more than a quarter of a year alone on this project preceding its January 6th presentation. “The Sphere changes the entire way I think about animation,” Daniel explained. “The viewer is not simply looking at a screen; they are inside an environment.” That distinction fundamentally altered his creative process. Traditional motion graphics often assume a fixed rectangular frame and a centralized viewer perspective. The Sphere eliminates those assumptions. Audiences can look in multiple directions at once, while the immense scale magnifies every transition, movement, and design decision.
Daniel described his process on this as being closer to designing spatial architecture than standard animation. Every movement must guide the audience’s attention carefully across the curved dome environment without overwhelming viewers physically or visually. “A transition that feels normal on a laptop may feel too aggressive when it wraps around a huge interior dome,” he stipulates. For Lenovo’s FIFA segment, Daniel led animation work for an approximately 30-second opening sequence displayed across the interior Sphere screen. The fully 3D animated presentation featured football players performing skill movements inside an immersive environment designed to celebrate Lenovo’s partnership with FIFA. The production required both Maya character animation and Unreal Engine workflows. Daniel guided animation direction, timing, layout, and performance while helping the team solve technical challenges related to Sphere’s extreme resolution requirements. “The process was very different from a normal rectangular video,” he explained. “We had to think about scale, field of view, readability, player movement, and how the audience would experience the action across a curved and extremely large display surface.”
In addition to the opening sequence, Daniel helped lead the animation of supporting presentation visuals connected to football technology demonstrations. These included offside-related visualizations, replay-style animated graphics, intelligent detection systems, and technology-driven background content displayed behind Lenovo executives during the presentation. One of the project’s greatest difficulties involved the technical pipeline itself. The display system of the Sphere requires unusually high-resolution production methods beyond traditional rendering workflows. Daniel and the team were forced to adapt internal tools and workflows to make the animation possible at the required scale and format. Some of those production details remain confidential, but Daniel emphasized that problem-solving became just as important as artistic execution. “Sphere is one of those venues where normal solutions are not enough,” he notes. “It asks more from the artist: more planning, more restraint, more sensitivity to space and movement, and more technical problem-solving.”
The project also reinforced one of Daniel’s core philosophies about immersive design: more visual information does not necessarily create a better experience. Daniel informs, “Immersive design is not about filling every inch of the screen. “It’s about controlling attention.” This philosophy shaped everything from transition timing to textural density. Fast cuts that might feel exciting on a phone or television screen had to be softened and restructured for Sphere’s immersive environment. Likewise, dense technology graphics filled with grids, particles, and interface detail had to be simplified into clear visual hierarchies that could remain readable across the massive dome. Daniel asserts that the reward for him came not only from contributing to a global technology event, but also from pushing his own creative instincts into unfamiliar territory.“ It forced me to rethink my own habits as a designer and animation lead,” he reflects. “The Sphere is one of those places where you cannot rely on normal creative instincts alone.”
Transforming a City Landmark
While Lenovo Tech World focused on the immersive interior of the Sphere, Daniel’s next project shifted attention to the venue’s exterior Exosphere display — a giant public-facing media surface visible across Las Vegas. For the Paddy Pimblett/Under Armour campaign displayed during UFC 324 fight week in January 2026, Daniel once again served as Animation Lead. However, this time he was the project’s sole animator.
The concept was to transform the entire Exosphere into the giant animated head of UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett. Known for his distinctive hairstyle and personality, Pimblett became the centerpiece of a large-scale animated transformation designed to function simultaneously as sports marketing, public spectacle, and viral social media content. The animation showed Paddy lowering his head as his hair gradually gathered itself into his signature braided style before he lifted his head again to reveal the Under Armour logo.
Daniel personally animated the head movement, hair dynamics, eye performance, and overall character timing. He explains, “The hair could not simply snap into place, it needed to feel like it was being pulled, gathered, and formed step by step into Paddy’s recognizable braided look.” Although technically simpler than some cinematic animation projects, the challenge came from clarity and scale. Exosphere content must work from enormous viewing distances while also remaining visually effective in short phone-recorded clips shared online. “The performance had to be broad enough to read at city scale,” Daniel said. “At the same time, because people would film it on phones and share it on social media, the animation also had to hold up as a short video clip.” This balancing act required precision. The movement needed to remain simple, iconic, and immediately recognizable while still preserving enough personality to feel authentic to Pimblett himself. Daniel also emphasized the importance of the eye animation in giving life to the giant public-facing character. “With the right eye movement, the character felt present and connected to the audience,” he explained. For Daniel, the project represented one of the most exciting aspects of large-format public animation: unpredictability. “In many projects, animation is viewed in a controlled context,” he said. “On the Exosphere, my work becomes part of the public environment of Las Vegas.”
Embracing a Mammoth Canvas with an Open Creative Mind
Unlike traditional screen-based work, Sphere animation exists within the city itself. Audiences encounter it unexpectedly while walking down the street, driving through traffic, or discovering clips online. That public quality gives the work a different cultural presence than conventional advertising or cinematic motion graphics. “It is commercial work,” Daniel professes, “but it also has the feeling of public media art.” Across both Sphere projects, Daniel Ma demonstrated an ability to merge artistic restraint with technological ambition. Whether guiding immersive FIFA-themed animation inside Sphere’s massive interior or animating a giant UFC fighter’s face across the Las Vegas skyline, his work reflects a broader evolution happening within contemporary motion design itself — one where animation is no longer confined to screens, but increasingly becomes part of architecture, live experience, and public space. For Daniel, these projects are not simply examples of technical achievement. They represent new ways of thinking about motion, scale, and audience experience in the future of visual storytelling.
Writer : Basil Thomson
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