Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/27779
n n n n Broadcast While the insects, like the two mantis above, are CG, the environments in the commercial are mostly organic, re-created in the studio and shot as live action. used, which gave them the ability to change things up late into the project with little fuss for the animators, rendering group, or lighters, and enabled them to spend more time on the creative aspects of the 3D. Before the model was approved, the rigging team, led by Luis San Juan, began building a stable pipeline that would automate the rigs to the numerous legs of these insects. Te centi- pede rig was designed so that once the anima- tor started working on the body, the legs would subsequently move in the anatomically correct way. Nevertheless, the animators could override this movement with timed keyframes. “Although our brief was to create an insect that behaves like a car, we felt it was impor- tant to stay anatomically correct in order for the animation to be believable,” explains Bus- sell. To this end, the artists studied various BBC documentaries of insects, gathered slow- motion footage, and built the digital insects with this action in mind. “I know way too much about insects now!” says Bussell with a laugh. In a complete 180 turn, though, the group also studied iconic car-chase scenes, with the reference ranging from Starsky and Hutch and Te Fast and the Furious, to non-chase refer- ence such as Te Matrix bullet-time effect. “Each shot in the commercial, from the fram- ing of the shot to the animation of the beetle, is based around similar concepts to those icon- ic film moments,” notes Bussell. While design and animation took some time to develop, the music track was set from day one, which was a tremendous help, says Bussell, because it meant that the editor had a track to cut to, and the artists had something to base their animation on. “Tis helped with the buildup to the end crescendo in which the beetle jumps off the log and flies through the air ‘Starsky and Hutch style,’ landing on the rock and skidding to a halt,” he adds. Insects in Detail Although the artists found a plethora of useful textures online, they took things a step further, 28 March 2011 contacting an expert at the Natural History Museum, who helped the team find the spe- cific insects they were looking for. Tey then took high-res photos of the bugs and, using Adobe’s Photoshop, applied those surfaces, along with some hand-painted textures, onto the CG models. “Te trick was to just keep adding more and more detail,” says Bussell. “Once the base model was created and the UVs unwrapped, we started applying the high- res textures.” A final level of detail (pores and imperfections) was then added in ZBrush. Te insects were rendered in Softimage and Mental Images’ Mental Ray. A Spheron cam- era was used on set to capture HDRIs from both a chrome (for reflections and high spots) and gray ball (for shading and color tempera- ture) at the same angle and with the same camera. Also for every shot, the crew photo- graphed plastic insect models on set. “We got funny looks from the crew, but it was a useful lighting guide,” Bussell points out. In addition to the beetle, the group focused on the animation occurring around the main insect. All these collective movements were achieved in Autodesk’s Maya by a small team led by Johannes Richter, which added particle atmosphere to all the shots—from the pollen to the small flying insects—to help bring the shots to life. According to Bussell, the dust trails and debris elements provided the biggest challenge here, with the group using references of various elements—from radio-controlled cars skidding through dusty terrain, to a car driving through the desert. It all boiled down, though, to artistic license, since a bug the size of the CG beetle wouldn’t ever kick up as much dust as it did in the spot. “Tat aside, we felt it was an important final touch that referenced back to the idea that this was a car chase,” explains Bissell. All these elements were then composited into the final shots using Autodesk’s Flame and Te Foundry’s Nuke. Te comp team also used Nuke to enhance the undergrowth and vegetation of the live-action backgrounds. Te environment in one of the final shots, in which the beetle is flying through the air, was put together entirely in Nuke using still pho- tos from the set. So, what made this project so successful? Bissell says it boils down to a good idea from the very start. “I had the luxury of working on some of the really great iconic work in ad- vertising over the years, and this one is right up there,” he says. “Every artist at Te Mill wanted to work on it. It’s just one of those projects that has all the right ingredients from the start.” Kia Optima: One Epic Ride In contrast to the Volkswagen commercial, in Kia Optima’s “One Epic Ride,” the focus is on the vehicle throughout this wide-ranging adventure—which takes the audience from land, to sea, to a distant planet, and beyond. Te action starts off with all the suspense of a James Bond film, as a police officer im- personator makes off with a couple’s Optima, leaving them handcuffed to his parked mo- torcycle. As the person drives along a coastal highway, a villain in a helicopter fires a high- tech magnet, lifts the car, and carries it out to sea to an awaiting yacht, where a handsome fellow surrounded by beautiful women eagerly awaits its arrival. Suddenly, in a nod to fantasy, Poseidon emerges from the water and grabs the vehicle—but only momentarily, as a green light from a hovering spaceship beams the car aboard. Te scene cuts to a sparse, dusty land- scape, where an alien takes the wheel. A time- warp portal opens, and the Optima is sucked through to the other side, where a Mayan chief receives this bounty from atop a pyramid, as tens of thousands of warriors cheer in appre- ciation of their new gift. Sound a bit over the top? Tat’s the inten- tion, says executive producer Melanie Wick- ham from Animal Logic. “Te purpose was for everyone to go to extraordinary lengths to get this car, with the antics getting more ridic- ulous as [the spot] moves along,” she says. While the assets for the 60-second commer- cial were built at Animal Logic’s Sydney head- quarters, the live action was shot in California at various locales, including a soundstage, with some members of the Australia team attending those shoots. Because of the short production schedule for the spot, accurate previsualization (created in Autodesk’s Maya) was especially crucial to the spot’s overall success, notes Matt Gidney, CG supervisor. Detailed concept work was equally important, as it gave the di- rector, agency, and client a clear understand- ing of this design-intensive, multi-sequence, multi-location spot. “Concept work is used to pitch something beautiful, but for us, it was important to estab- lishing direction as quickly as possible,” says Gidney. Extreme Elements Te spot incorporates many different sets and infuses many different genres, each with its own distinctive look. All the backgrounds