The Mill US showcases it VFX prowess in its 2012 showreel. Check out the spectacular reel of work and read about some of The Mill’s projects…
The recently released showreel demonstrates the very best of The Mill US’s work in 2012.
It includes commercial work, animation, television and award-winning VFX from The Mill’s New York and Los Angeles visual effects studios.
Read about some of The Mill’s best projects and watch the reel below.
The Mill’s New York office put its best foot forward in this spot for Johnnie Walker.
Responsible for all of the VFX on the project, the team worked tirelessly to transform Rio’s iconic Sugarloaf Mountain into a giant man. Directed by Peter Thwaites, the 60-second spot follows city residents as they watch the mountain come to life.
The Mill used a wide range of software to achieve the intricate effect, including Softimage, Maya, ZBrush, Mudbox, Realflow, Houdini, mental ray, Arnold and proprietary software
“The R&D department developed in-house software to ‘up-res’ our simulations, going from a couple of thousand particles to millions,” explains lead 3D artist Vincent Baertsoen. ICE in Softimage also proved to be particularly useful.
“We were able to set up the tree system with many layers of interaction in a couple of weeks, a flocking system for the birds in just two days, and a debris set-up for rocks falling in a mere couple of hours,” says Baertsoen.
“It was so much fun to set up in ICE because it had so much flexibility and control.”
The Mill's R&D department developed in-house software to ‘up-res’ simulations, going from a couple of thousand particles to millions
The Mill LA reached for the stars in this short film, which was recently living as an interactive installation in the holiday windows of Barneys on Madison Avenue.
The studio received the brief from the project’s director, Tim Richardson, and Nicola Formichetti, creative director of the entire Gaga Workshop at the store.
The idea was to create a stylised galactic 3D version of Lady Gaga in one of her stage dresses, designed by Formichetti himself.
After receiving a storyboard from Richardson, The Mill went on to supervise the photoshoot before creating the entire two-minute full-CG film.
To achieve the unique piece, the team turned to Maya for modelling, animation and simulations, Houdini to shatter the model, mental ray for rendering and Nuke for composition
The most challenging aspect of the project, however, was not the CG but the continuous two-minute camera move.
The Mill’s shoot and CG supervisor Andre De Souza explains: “To get the camera work exactly the way the director wanted and to animate, simulate and render everything in two and a half weeks was tough. Dividing the sequence into chunks and seamlessly sewing them together was the trick.”
With just 30 seconds or so to grab your attention, be memorable and get their message across, this award is for the team that’s produced the highest-quality, innovative and most eye-catching CG ad work. Check out our CG Awards site and vote for you favourite.
The projects here have previously been published in the Projects section of 3D World
If you would like to see your studio’s work featured in 3D World, email us at the address below, including brief technical details and at least three print-resolution stills. Please note that we can only feature commercial projects released to the public within the last few months.
enquiries@3dworldmag.com
See all the images from The Mill’s projects featured here:
Posted on Monday, July 30th, 2012 at 12:00 pm under Commercial, Showcase. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
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