Client: Big Shot Pictures
Contracting Agency: ADi
Title: Bowflex SelecTech Dumbbell
Genre: Commercial
Length: 16 sec.
Software: Maya, PolyTrans, and After Effects
Production Process:
This shot required a match move from real life to 3D and back again.
The Bowflex SelecTech Dumbbell model was supplied by Bowflex in stl format. The dumbbell was then exported from PolyTrans and optimized in Maya. I did the initial reduction of polygons in the object to make it easier to manipulate in 3D. Mark Orme made further reductions and did the initial surfacing of the objects.
Jamie Elmer, Chris Stover and I went to the set where Big Shot Pictures shot the live action footage, taking measurements and getting the initial idea of the shooting environment with Jamie and Chris helping the director make decisions on the best way to shoot the dumbbell.
I matched the 3D scene to the footage in Maya and created a "CSI-styled" animation where the camera zooms into the object and shows the varying parts and features that makes this dumbbell unique from others. I then tweaked the surfaces and added new ones to the model's weights for a stylized transparency effect.
The animation was then composited in Adobe After Effects over a supplied background connecting the in and out points of the live action footage with a crash zoom blur which helped ease the transition into 3D and made it more "CSI-like."
Anecdotes:
1. The STL file delivered was direct from the cad object used to manufacture the dumbbell. This means the object had all the information in it to enable its manufacture using machines and what not. Usually objects are not created with this level of detail for use in commercials and film. The model ended up being 150 megabytes which is far too heavy for such a prop and makes it difficult to manipulate in any 3D program. The bulk of time spent on this project was in making the dumbbell usable in Maya 5, but it was still faster to use the STL file than to do the actual modeling.
2. There was an error in the geometry where one of the polygon's normals refused to smooth along with the rest of the geometry. This turned up at the last minute in the final rendering stage. The solution was to render the model once, rotate it 180 degrees then re-render it. I then composited the two image sequences together masking off one over the other and viola, problem solved!
Agencies: ADi, Big Shot Pictures
Producer: Kate Ertmann (ADi)
Art Director: Jamie Elmer (ADi)
Animation Director: Chris Stover (Wand Productions)
Lighting, Animation, and Compositing: Zach Wilson
Texture/Surfacing: Mark Orm, Zach Wilson
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