Computer Graphics World

February 2009 36 n n n n Broadcast which Morton served as CG supervisor, the Fit crew used various surface shaders developed for the film that emulated the layers of car paint—undercoat, base color, clear coat on top—and how they behave in certain lighting environments. At times, some additional "bodywork" was needed for close-up shots of the models. In those instances, the crew used physical objects and photos of the actual vehicle for reference while re-creating the parts in CG. For one shot, the modelers received an ac- tual headlamp cluster from Honda, which they then rebuilt in NewTek's LightWave. As a matter of fact, the project was most- ly done in LightWave, from modeling, to lighting, to rendering. "Richard Morton is strongest in lighting hard-surface objects in LightWave, and built a team around him with those capabilities," notes Parker. A number of the developments for Speed Racer were indeed used for this project, in- cluding Digital Domain's fairly new linear lighting pipeline, which offered the artists more control over the imagery. "Here, the challenge was more artistic than technical," he adds. e Digital Domain team used a vary- ing color palette among the Fit spots. For instance, "Defense Mechanism" was slightly more saturated, with a futuristic style of the painters from the 1930s—"the Gothic images of cities that were very dra- matic and had a lot of atmosphere and false color," explains Parker. "We tried to take that look and push it further. It's not one that we've seen exploited to any extent in automotive commercials." Compara- tively, in the "Mecha-Mosquitoes" spot, David Rosenbaum, creative director, was inspired by 1950s creature movies—"e Mosquito that Ate Manhattan, that type of thing," describes Parker. Stepping into different territory felt great, Parker contends. "Instead of going for a motion-graphics style, we chose to use all the horsepower of Digital Domain but harness that into this stylized look, which I personally found interesting and unique, and hope it's something we will see more of here," he adds. And it proved to be a good "fit" for the campaign, as well. n Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of Computer Graphics World. Conceptualizing The Fit campaign was more about visual style and art direction than anything else. "We went through a fairly involved process of working with some great conceptual artists and developing what the vehicles and the world would look like," says co-director Brad Parker. During the project, Parker and the team had the chance to work with what the co-director calls "the new school of concept artist," meaning those who now work in 3D as opposed to 2D. "And we find that very helpful to the overall process," Parker adds. In the past, an artist would sketch or paint scenes in Adobe Photoshop, and then the 3D artists would re-create the imagery in 3D. "We would find out pretty early on that what you can paint or draw in 2D doesn't necessarily translate into three dimensions easily," explains Parker. Now, when these conceptual artists work directly in 3D, they give the project artists a starting point because their work is directly applicable to the next step in the process. "We can directly load in their models and use them in previs, and you have a good-looking spot within the first week or so of development," says Parker. "That has really streamlined the overall process." Digital Domain's Brad Parker and Eric Barba created a uniquely stylized Honda Fit universe for an ad campaign that includes the spot "Mecha-Mosquitoes," featuring giant insects with chrome wings and bodies resembling gas-guzzling cars. The stylized look, striking colors, unusual charac- ters, and dramatic action are a big departure from the studio's well-known realistic film work.

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