“The Interoperability of Autodesk’s solutions enabled a seamless workflow to deliver a high quality TVC in a very tight timeframe. It gave us the confidence to focus more on the creative process”, Eugene Richards, Online Editor, Digital Pictures.
Introduction
Digital Pictures, an Omnilab Media company, is a leading digital design, effects, animation and post production company based in Melbourne, Australia. Digital Pictures works across a range of disciplines, including film and TV, interactive digital sites, and advertising TV commercials (TVCs).
To deliver 3D animated projects, Digital Pictures partners with sister companies within the Omnilab Media group such as Iloura which is a 3D animation and high-end visual effects specialist facility. Producing outstanding results for over 30 years, Digital Pictures has won a number of awards for work across a diverse range of clients, both in Australia and overseas.
Digital Pictures was engaged by advertising agency Clemenger BBDO on behalf of Foster’s Pure Blonde beer to manage the post production elements for its latest ‘Dove Love’ TVC. The TVC follows an injured dove that is nursed back to health, is released, and then flies into a brick wall that features a Pure Blonde advertisement.
Hitting the brick wall
The production team shot footage of the dove for the commercial, but they also needed to create a digital dove that is featured towards the end of the TVC. “Obviously we couldn’t have a live dove flying into a brick wall and this presented the team with a challenge as the digital dove had to be as realistic as the live one that existed in the other footage,” says Eugene Richards, Online Editor at Digital Pictures.
The team had to consolidate stock film footage, footage filmed specifically for the TVC and also digitally created footage and ensure they were similar in look and feel. The transition between the shots needed to be seamless, and the team needed to work closely across the footage to ensure the grading was consistent.
Since the story evolved as it progressed through various technical stages, the Digital Pictures team had to be flexible and quick to respond to any changes that the director wanted at the post production stage.
The major challenge Digital Pictures faced was a very tight timeline of one week to complete the entire TVC, which included integrating the footage, creating animations, colour grading and editing. “A one week schedule is a very tight turnaround time for a project of this size and scale. It would make a lot of post production houses nervous, but we didn’t want to miss on this great opportunity,” explains Richards.
Even with such a tight timeline, it was crucial that there was no compromise on quality. It was important that the technology systems provided them the confidence to focus on the creative process and delivered speed to make quick decisions.
Autodesk delivers the right solution
Digital Pictures has a rich history of working with Autodesk and relies on its technology to ensure the facility has the best systems and software available to deliver outstanding results for clients. For creating this TVC, Digital Pictures and its partner Iloura used a range of Autodesk Digital Entertainment Creation solutions.
All the 3D elements of the Dove were created, animated, and rendered within Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010. The modelling tools and ease of use of Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010 combined with camera mapping, made creating the Dove from supplied photos a simple task.
Digital Pictures used Autodesk® Smoke® to edit and finish the production, and took advantage of the software’s auto stabilisation features to complete the integration of footage. Autodesk® Flame® was used for its 3D tracking capabilities.
Autodesk® Lustre® was used for high performance grading, providing Digital Pictures with control over the colour and lighting effects for all of the footage used in the project.
Interoperability of solutions enables high quality outcome
One of the key benefits that helped Digital Pictures to deliver this project at the highest standard of quality and on time was the interoperability of the Autodesk software employed. The seamless interoperability of Autodesk® Flame®, Smoke® and Lustre® helped Digital Pictures speed up its execution and not worry about integrating different file formats.
“Whilst some of the team were grading in Lustre, others were able to work on the same media at the same time using Smoke and Flame. This helped us speed up production and keep the project flexible,” said Richards.
This flexibility also allowed Digital Pictures to make quick decisions and adjustments to edits. Due to the complexity of integrating shots from a range of sources and with no clear idea of how much digital footage would be required, Digital Pictures was able to reassure the client that the team would be able to quickly create and integrate additional shots.
The ability to edit whilst the project was being graded allowed the director more time to focus on the creative elements of the production.
The technology was not an inhibitor to the creative workflow as the team did not have to wait for the grading to be finished.
“Without the interoperability of Autodesk’s software, we believe this project would have taken at least two more days to complete. With high client expectations and such a tight timeline, we had to deliver a high quality product on time. The client was very pleased with the end result and the industry took notice of what we could do in such a short time”, said Richards.
Spreading its wings
Apart from producing TVCs, Digital Pictures has also expanded to work on large scale post production ventures such as films. The company has secured the post production work on Sanctum, a 3D film being shot in Queensland with James Cameron as its Executive Producer.
“3D film making will have a significant impact on the industry and Digital Pictures is really gearing up to embrace the technology. We have a successful history of delivering outstanding results with Autodesk’s solutions and we are excited to work with them to embrace the new film making technologies and disciplines that are really starting to take off,” said Richards.
