Maya

A Royal Rumble Carved from Stone. Well Sort Of.

The video below took a year to complete. Hyperrealistic statuettes of wrestling talent were hand sculpted in Maya and later shaded to look like marble. if you count the number of figures and then combine it with the environment they are placed in you’ll understand why. This is an enormous project for any team to tackle, but the end result is one solid promotion for Royal Rumble.

The Royal Rumble spot is a reimagined and rebranded rethink, conceptualized from the ground up to showcase one of the big four events that WWE produces throughout the year. It is a retelling of the storied past and grand moments from events past and those yet to be written. Perfectly paced, with a solid script and voice over the visuals hook you and pull you into the spot.

“Labored on over the course of a year, hyperrealistic statuettes of wrestling talent were hand sculpted and then later shaded to look like marble in Maya. An enormous and detailed tableau provides the backdrop for the reimagining, referencing structures from ancient kings on the left and progressing to more modern structures that nod towards the robber barons of the industrial revolution. A leitmotif of ornamental detailing weaves itself throughout the piece creating a cohesion that culminates with the apex, a ring that all the competitors aspire to conquer.”

VP Production & Graphics | Chris Siciliano
Senior Managing Director | Kevin Callahan

Art Director | Jacques Broquard

Set Supervisor & Designer | Gib Patterson
Modeler | Jeff Lee

Lead Character Sculptor | Hossein Diba
Character Sculptor | Ebrahim Diba
Character Sculptor | Daniel Peteuil
Character Supervisor | Sean Thorpe

Animation TD | Matthew Thurber
Character Animator | Cilian Tung
Motion Graphics Animator | David Durand
Rigger | Hayden McGowan

Lighting TD | Matthew Gleason
Lighter & Compositor | Paul Wei
Lighter & Compositor | Jason Garrison

 

 

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Dog Vision. Psyop’s New Spot for Coke.

In a new spot for Coca-Cola, Psyop and Directors Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick have created an animated spot with an old school cell animation look.

The spot looks att he world through the eyes of a dog and his bored owner as they stroll through a park on a spring day. The concept is really nice comparing what the dog sees to what the owner sees, taking a humorous approach for the entire piece.

Using Maya and Nuke to animate and composite the final rendering the short spot has a genuinely hand drawn feel to it that is reminiscent of classic animations from the 1960’s and 70’s. It is classic 2D animation but with a really nice sense of depth to it. I recommend watching this full screen on a nice HD monitor to get the full effect.

Throughout the spot the focus and story line shift between the dog and the mans perspective, with each view being slightly different stylistically between each other. To get this right the Psyop team used unique camera moves, and a differing look and sound of the action in the shot. Dog vision is brighter, whimsical and more fanciful showing how the dogs mind sees the world differently.

From a technical perspective the environments were built using digital matte paintings that were first rendered in Photoshop as layers. Those layers were  exported as individual files that were projected across 3D geometry, using both Maya and Nuke to build the depth of each scene. The hybrid look was used heavily to create the 2 and half D look that establishes the dogs point of view through out the spot. What the dog sees in his perspective needed to be built in 3D space including not only the environment, but all of the additional charecters and objects the dog encounters on his journey.

Lois van Baarle developed all of the character studies based on actual owners and their pets. working from dozens of sketches the character designs were handed off to Duncan Studio to take the final charecter designs from rough sketches to inked and cell painted frames.

In addition to the characters being hand-drawn, colors, shadows, and highlights were also added in the final hand-drawn animation phase. Animators at both Duncan Studios and Psyop added effects, color trails, smoke, dust, and more, all in the 2D environment.

Really nice work for Coke, Weiden + Kennedy from the folks at Psyop.