Find out how Belgian post-production studio Mikros Image used Autodesk Maya and Golaem crowd simulation software in the new Nissan Juke spot. Watch the commercial here too
The Nissan Juke performs death defying stunts in the car manufacturers latest spot ‘Built to Thrill’ with the help of 3D modelling, animation and crowd simulation software. Belgian-based post-production studio Mikros Images was responsible for creating both visible and invisible visual effects for the 60-second commercial.
VFX Producer Christophe Huchet explains, “Even if the situation was not realistic, our job at Mikros image was to give the impression that everything was possible and make it look like it had been shot without wires etc.”
In the spot, the car is assembled by a team of super-technicians while in the air and sea and then finally ends up exiting a tunnel and travelling into the town. The sequence in air was created mainly using live-action footage, with the car and technicians shot on a blue screen and integrated in to the CG environment.
The commercial was divided into 86 shots, 52 of which Mikros Image worked on, including creating CG parachutes, crowds and stadium as well as hiding and cleaning wires. To fully achieve the intricate effects, the team chose Maya for all of the CG elements, Golaem crowd for simulating the people in the stadium, Flame for rotoscoping and other effects such as adding camera shake and finally rendered the images using Arnold.
“The stadium was done entirely in CG and populated using Golaem Crowd geometry instancing,” says Huchet. “Depending on shots, we had to generate between 5,000 and 12,000 characters, all of them standing with their arms above the head and cheering on. We had to respect the Nissan Juke colour theme, that is to say have a predominance of red and white, for the crowd clothes.
“All in all, there was 22 shots including crowds. The shots were very short, with a blurry background (because of motion blur, or just to put more emphasis on the Nissan Juke), so we had to make the stadium population process very simple and straightforward.”
Like this spot? Check out our other awesome commercials on our showcase page
Posted on Wednesday, March 28th, 2012 at 1:19 pm under Commercial, Showcase. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: 3D software, Autodesk Maya, crowd simulation, Golaem crowd, Mikros Image
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