From a spinning cup of coffee to a futuristic sporting arena with fl oating scoreboards, the use of 3D animation is as varied and faceted as the power of imagination. To 3D artists, the limitless possibilities can either be seen as a daunting prospect or a license to innovate and be truly creative. The latter view seems to be taken by the creatives behind the two TVCs and image spots featured in this issue’s Framestore.

FSM dreams ‘Big’ ideas for NRL Re-brand

Sydney post production company, FSM, completed a comprehensive rebranding of the hugely popular National Rugby League (NRL) for sports channel, Fox Sports. Winning the pitch against fi erce competition, FSM’s brief was to create a three-season modular package that would include new In- Game graphics and promos for the NRL season; re-branding for Super Saturday and NRL Sunday; as well as the eagerly anticipated Monday Night Football.

As Fox Sports NRL coverage is one of the highest rated shows on Foxtel, the brief called for a distinctively ‘Big’ look that encompassed show names, team names and logos, sponsorship logos, game times, show times and, most importantly, highlights of the games and players themselves.

The team created a modular system that could be interlinked over the course of three seasons to ensure brand longevity. The look is inspired by a Times Square-style set up that could house the whole family of events that make up the NRL coverage on Fox Sports, while still allowing each to have an independent, slightly different feel.

Budgeted at USD 200,000, the package needed to be both simple and practical to use and able to be easily updated at short notice by the in-house Fox team during game play. FSM’s new design revolves around the “Hub” â€" a gigantic 3D environment representing the spirit of NRL and transforming itself to serve different purposes during the game. The Hub consists of interactive big screens and scrolling super bars that change colour and shape depending on the information presented. For evening games, the colour is adapted to a cooler blue, while Super Saturday, NRL Sunday and one-off games are yellow and green respectively. All screens and scrolling super bars are easily updated with fresh footage, graphics, or textbased information.

In-Game Graphics

For the In-Game graphics, the team had to produce a package that not only was consistent with the initial design but also had to be used for all match game statistics. Once they were provided with a list of deliverables, the animators then replicated each approved design in 3D.

The designs were then sent to an outside sport statistics company that was responsible for recreating them within their own systems for real-time match analysis and display. The same designs were given to Fox Sports to integrate within their own statistics department for back/up.

Opening Title Sequence

The opening title sequence was also the department was the sheer size and volume of animation and rendering required for the rebrand, with over ninety shots completed. Although some of these shots only varied in lighting and texturing, the bulk required animating and different camera moves. This meant FSM had to constantly come up with new, dynamic, meaningful, and compositionally exciting camera moves and animation whilst remaining cohesive as a whole over the entire Fox/ NRL package.

When it came to rendering, most of these shots required at least ten render passes for various compositing needs and control. This ultimately resulted in at least fi ve hundred separate renders, sometimes managing 40-50 renders simultaneously. FSM used a combination of both Maya’s native rendered and Mental-ray to achieve an integrated look and feel throughout the process.

The project required over 90 animated sequences and a total of 386 package sequences. On fi nishing all renders were composited within Flame. A DB tape of all sequences and a soft fi le of all sequences were stored within Aftereffects.

At the work’s end, perhaps the words of a client say it better, and with more persuasion. Tony Sinclair, director of Fox Sports Channels attests: “The FSM team produced a stunning pitch. It was voted number one by every judge in our small, but eclectic panel,”

Michael Neil, executive producer NRL/Swimming at Fox Sports agrees, adding: “NRL is very important to our business and when we decided to rebrand Fox Sports coverage it had to be of a standard befi tting one of our fl agship sports. FSM listened to the brief and came back with a design concept that took the look of our broadcasts in a new direction while displaying a complete understanding of our aims and objectives. The construction phase of the project was hassle-free and enjoyable with all the team at FSM showing incredible attention to detail while maintaining a fl exibility that allowed us to receive a graphics package perfectly tailored to our needs.”

The new Fox Sports NRL re-branding will launch on March 17.

Credits:

Design Producer Nathan Wellington

Design Director Brendan Savage

enior Designer Emile Rademeyer

Designer Sandra Licina

Senior Designer John Valastro

Senior 3D artist Jamie Dower

3D Artist Ferry Taswin

Shake Operator Justin Alvarez

Flame Artist Luke Todd

Technical Developer Russ Maehl

McDonald’s targets ‘Kopi’ Drinkers

To launch a new breakfast experience, as what they are calling it, McDonald’s worked with DDB Singapore to develop a strategic platform and a fresh, invigorating campaign.

It seems that too many Singaporeans â€" the target audience for the new campaign â€" have been skipping breakfast because of the stresses and strains of getting to work or school on time. The good people at McDonald’s decided that Singaporeans ought to start their day well with a sumptuous breakfast, hence an aggressive campaign promoting its coffee and bagels to get things going.

The new range of breakfast offerings includes the introduction of three McCafe coffee types â€" Cappuccino. Latte and Long Black. On top of the all-day servings of McCafe coffee, McDonald’s is also introducing the new Bagel with Omelette. In light of time-strapped Singaporeans, the bagel combo is designed as a ‘grab-and-go’ breakfast item.

At the heart of the campaign’s concept is a host of consumer surveys and observations to study Singaporeans’ breakfast attitudes. “This was always going to be a great challenge for us,” says Richard Bleasdale, DDB Group Managing Director. “It is our fi rst major project with the McDonald’s team since being appointed as their agency partner for Singapore, and I think our deep understanding of what makes the Singaporean consumer tick really helped as we worked through insights and the creative strategy.”

Digging deeper into the consumers’ psyche, the surveys found that most Singaporeans battled with a lack of time on weekday mornings, often resulting in them forsaking the fi rst â€" and to many, the most important â€" meal of the day. Secondly, for many, a good cup of coffee is often considered a good breakfast. And thirdly, they concurred that the day would be better if started with breakfast.

Building on the above premise, DDB developed work to encapsulate and seal McDonald’s position as the place to start a great new day. Reinforced by animated creative visuals and strategic media placements, the campaign’s message “Good Breakfast. Great Morning! Only at McDonald’s” is communicated powerfully across a series of executions to spread infectious of a great new day â€" only with McDonald’s.

Launched on 22 February, the campaign is led by a 3D-animated TVC. For the TVC, McDonald’s and DDB Singapore literally put a spin on the iconic fast food chain’s advertising of its breakfast fare.

The refreshing TVC shows the 3D cartoon-like rendering of the McCafe Cup ‘waking up’ against sunrise over the Singapore skyline. The cup then spins, glides and dips across recognizable Singapore landmarks and buildings, all animated in 3D - and resembling that of a comic book springing to life.

The contemporary 30-second spot is underscored with a specially written upbeat funk-styled music track, with a male lead vocal reminiscent of Roland Gift of the Fine Young Cannibals. As the jingle plays on, the McCafe brew continues its fl ight of fantasy, hovering above a MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) train on the move; then scaling tall buildings festooned with eye-catching McDonald’s billboards and balloons. Alluding to the coffee’s alluring aroma is a trail of animated fl owers and humming birds that follow the fl ying McCafe cup. In the fi nal sequence, the cup circles a giant billboard perched aloft a building and makes its ‘safe landing’ inside the billboard; and places itself strategically beside a sumptuous serving of bagel and omellete.

On the decision to use 3D graphics and animation for the TVC, Francis Ooi, Creative Group Head, says: “. We wanted to deliver something different that would help engage viewers in the McDonald’s brand experience. There were several ways of executing the idea and we felt strongly that 3-D animation would fi t the bill, to bring out the tone and manner we aimed to achieve.”

Says Bleasdale, “We wanted to develop creative work which really stands out from the crowd and clearly positions the breakfast experience at McDonald’s as being truly enjoyable. We focused tightly on bringing to life the idea of great McCafe coffee at McDonald’s since we know it’s ‘kopi’ that really counts in Singapore.”

The TVC took 16 weeks to complete; from concept to fi nal product to post. The longer time frame necessary for animation work obviously weighed in as a major factor. Ooi postulates:

“3D does take a lot longer to produce than a live action shoot, so time does play a deciding factor. But largely it is also about cutting through the clutter and doing something different which 3D animation delivers in most cases.”

It was down to the guys at Infi nite Frameworks to make the visual concepts a reality. Since practically everything was created from scratch, Wendy Liow, EFX supervisor, Infi nite Frameworks marshaled 8 artists and 20 computers to work tirelessly to meet the deadline. Colin Foo, senior fl ame artist/designer added the fi nal touches to bring the TVC to creative fruition, after a long but satisfying gestation process.

The campaign will be driven through several other key media channels, including print, radio, outdoor and point-of-sale, which will roll out in quick succession, along with the TVC.

Credits:

Executive Creative Director: Neil Johnson Creative

Group Head: Francis Ooi

Art Director: Russell Fong, Ginny Chan

Writer: Aiwei Lua Designer: Vivian Chang

Account Management: Yvonne Low, Cindy Poh Junyu Xing, Zach Wong

Producer: Karen Leong, Karen (RX)

Post-production house: Infinite Frameworks Wendy Liow - Efx Supervisor Colin Foo - Senior Flame Artist/ Designer 3D/2D team at Infi nite Frameworks Donny Pereira - Post Producer

Audio House: Songzu Singapore Ben Rosen - Composer Azmi Jaffar - Executive Producer English Vocal â€" Doug Williams Wu Jia Ming - Mandarin Producer Mandarin Vocal â€" Kelvin Soon

Milk of the Future Targeting mothers with children between the ages 1 to 10, the TVC titled as ‘Scanner’ peddles the Pediasure brand of formula milk with a futuristic twist. Commissioned by Abbott laboratories, the ad was conceived by the agency, Brand Ideas, for the Filipino market.

This TVC is set in futuristic times with a humdrum storyline about a robot and a little boy.

The robot is able to scan for the presence of nutrients found inside the human body. Noting a lack of such nutrients in the sickly and listless boy, the scanning robot reports the fi ndings to his mother. The anxious mother traces the problem to the milk her son has been using â€" and lo and behold â€" decides to switch to the Pediasure brand. Presumably following a regular program of imbibing the nutrition-rich Pediasure brand milk, the boy returns for another scan and passes with fl ying colours. The Post-Pediasure boy now looks happy and healthy, evidenced by his dancing with the robot.

The creators of this CG-intensive TVC obviously do not believe in subtle advertising, preferring the direct approach in marketing the Pediasure brand as the ‘Milk of the Future’. Thankfully, although a dodgy-looking robot with blinking strobe lights for eyes could have reinforced this cheesy notion of an ad, it was single-handedly rescued from infamy by impressive CG sets and photo-realistic 3D graphics and animation.

Kudos to post production company Larger Than Life, for assuming the visual effects and other post duties, giving this ad the credible edge it badly needed.

The entire shoot was completed in one day at the Visual Light Studios in the Philippines. Everything was shot on green screen wherein back plates were then added during post production. One of the main obstacles has to do with working with children, according to director Pedring Lopez.

He confesses readily, “Ask any director. It’s never easy working with children. We’re at the mercy of their mood and behavior. Our paramount concern is to always make sure the child is comfortable, in order to bring out the best in his acting.

“If you can imagine how diffi cult it is to get a child to act, imagine how diffi cult it was to get the child to act with a robot that doesn’t exist!”

In order to help the child actor visualize the robot, a life size cardboard version of the robot had been prepared during pre-production. “He really enjoyed playing with the cut out, and it really helped with his acting.”

Besides having to work with a child, the project was decidedly post heavy, therefore it also helped that it was shot on HD â€" using a Sony Cine Alta camera, fi tted with Carl Zeiss HD prime lens.

“Since I was working with a Cine Alta camera, I made sure I worked with a director of photography that was highly adept at working with HD. Odie Flores and I have worked numerous times with HD, and I feel he did an excellent job in this project.”

Completely framed against green screen, Lopez found the acquired images held up to close scrutiny, to the extent that even strands of hair were visible. The self-confessed HD proponent was further convinced that the image clarity made the keying process much easier.

The sheer challenges of having to combine CG and heavy compositing work with shots acquired in an actual environment meant careful planning was in order. Due to the complexities involved in timing and framing the shots so that the virtual sets were in sync, the team had to follow the storyboard religiously.

generated as reference for lighting for the actual shoot and to assist in blocking or positioning of the cast. After the shoot, the team began compositing the live materials from the generated back plate using After Effects. The composited images were then transferred to the CG department to match the 3D animation of the robot, which was generated using Autodesk Maya.

Building the CG robot from scratch involved extensive modeling and texturing work. In order for the robot to interact with the kid, the artist uses a method called character rigging to introduce movements to the robot by way of manipulating the ‘virtual splines’ that act as its skeletal parts. Manoeuvring the robot required exacting knowledge about the virtual space it occupies on the live set, and how it interplays with the live character, in this case the boy. Thereafter, details like shadows and refl ections were added to attain a more realistic look. The entire TVC was offand on-lined on Final Cut Pro.

Gunning for a sleek, futuristic look, Lopez said he was happy with the result, especially the clean and simplistic set designs that matched his visual style. Looking at the fi nal output, bearing in mind that the post budget was USD 15,000 and frantic deadline to complete the project within four weeks, the client should have little to complain about.

Credits:

Agency: BRAND IDEAS

Executive Creative Director: Kiko Gargantiel

Creative Directors: Jun Quinton Arleen delos Santos

Account Director: Roberto del Rosario

Account Manager: Iten del Rosario Accounts: Zannie Sylva Erin Davadilla

Producer: Jane Pe Aguirre

Production House: EXCLAIM

Director: Pedring Lopez Director of Photography: Odie Florez

Production Manager: Marissa Datugan

Post Production & CG: LARGER THAN LIFE

Post Producer: Maia Yambao

Offline/Online Editor: James Salaya

Lead Compositor: Mel Quimosing

2D Artist: Philip Ricafort

3D Artist: Adrian Handog Stephen Lenihan Mon Chanco George Tapao

Rate This Article

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Quite Good
Poor

  Rate This Article

Related Stories

No related articles at the moment.