Monday, November 22, 2010
Emcor Is Here
Of all the many logos I have done over the years, this one is my favorite. Designed in collaboration with illustrator Tom White, this animation for Emcor was created for one of their annual management conferences. Emcor is a global leader in mechanical and electrical construction, energy infrastructure, LEED construction, design/build, life safety, and facilities services. The design and animation had to evoke the work they do and deliver the specific message that builds to the climax.
Sound Design by Dana Edelman.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
3D Printing
We have begun to experiment with 3D printing, a natural extension of 3D modeling back into the real world. The first print out of the gate is the Polynesian Paramecium lamp. It was modeled in Maya and uploaded to Shapeways, and came in the mail 2 weeks later.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Lavazza Coffee Calendar
Lavazza, the Italian coffee company, releases an annual calendar for which they commission well-known photographers to shoot coffee-related fantasies. This is one of the images that Mark Seliger shot for this years' calendar. He contacted us to create a swarm of fireflies rising from the coffee and forming a demitasse in the air, a job too complicated for a traditional photo retoucher to do realistically. We used Maya particles to generate the swarms of fireflies and position them. We also took smoke elements shot by the photographers and treated them to create the steam rising from the cups.
Disney XD "Phineas and Ferb" Flex IDs
Disney XD "Glass Bottom Boat" FlexID.
Disney XD "Shadow Puppets" FlexID .
Our friends at Loyal Kaspar tapped us once again to create Flex IDs for the Disney XD channel. The theme of these four IDs is summer vacation, and they feature 2D characters from the show "Phineas and Ferb". The interesting challenge was that all the 2D character animation was pulled from existing show footage, so we had to come up with storylines and environments to work with the retrofitted characters. We also devised shading techniques to integrate the 2D clips into the 3D lighting. The technique is particularly effective in the "Shadow Puppets" ID. We also got to flex our visual effects chops, with sand, cloth simulations, explosions, bubbles, blowing leaves, and more.
Galaxy 61 Crew:
Fola Akinola- modeling and effects animation
Amy Hay- Modeling and effects animation
Doug Johnson, previz, animation, lighting, and compositing
Superbowl XLIV Halftime Show Logo
This is definitely our most-seen piece of work. The team at Loyal Kaspar was responsible for all the visual aspects of The Who's halftime show performance, including the groundbreaking circular LED stage. G61 was invited to choreograph the animation and produce the Bridgestone logo that heralds the band's arrival. The animation combines elements from the stage show- the banks of LEDs and the chevron patterns, with Bridgestone tires and the Superbowl XLIV logo. Thanks to LK for the tremendous opportunity!
Disney XD "Hockey" Flex ID
This was the first Disney XD Flex ID we produced for Loyal Kaspar. Director David Herbruck is an avid hockey player, so he had very specific ideas about the look and action. We also had to tell a story in 10 seconds using only skates, sticks, and a puck. One of the innovative ways around this was the under-the-ice shots, looking up at the blurry shadows of the players as they fight for control of the puck. We're proud of how good this piece looks- one of the most photo-real we have done.
Galaxy 61 Crew:
Kyle Anderson: Modeling, texturing, effects animation.
Doug Johnson: Previz, animation, lighting, compositing.
Miguel Zavala: Modeling
Insight Communications
A true collaboration between Galaxy 61 and Loyal Kaspar, we pitched and concepted the campaign for Insight, a Kentucky-based cable TV provider. We then produced 5 of the 10 30-second 100 % CG spots in just over 4 months. All of the spots feature various objects and environments constructed entirely of constantly changing bundles of fiber optic cables.
We wrote custom software to generate the cables, extrude them along curves and animate them. As each spot was effectively one continuous camera move from the intro to the Insight logo conclusion, we often had to devise hidden transitions to move seamlessly from one vignette to the next. Here are some of the style frames we designed to pitch the project and define the look and feel of the cables:
Demonstrating how our scalable approach to production allows us to take on larger projects, we had a full house for the Insight spots:
Seon Crawford: Modeling and animation.
Akira Thompson: Previz, modeling, and animation.
Bobby Roe: Software development, animation.
Eugen Sasu: Software development, animation.
Roger An: Modeling.
Doug Johnson: Previz, animation, lighting, compositing, director.
Galaxy 61 2010 Animation Show Reel
This is our new show reel for 2010. We have done a lot of cool work over the last two years- broadcast design, commercials, music videos, and original content. For a full breakdown of the work and clients represented, see the list on our website at www.galaxy61.com.
As for that introduction, I had an idea based on the General Motors "Motorama" Exhibits from the 50's and early 60's, a traveling auto show where new GM models and concept cars were introduced. I had interns Jaime Ekkens and Yang Lee build the Motorama environment, complete with a model of a vintage Ford Galaxy. My good friend Allen Enlow provided the voice over in earnest mid-century style, and the soundtrack came from "Music for Biscuits", a selection of lost advertising and rare film sounds by the Mike Sammes singers. I then treated the piece to look and sound like it has been sitting in a basement for 50 years. Visual Effects circa 1961!
Spectrocast 961 Logo
This logo is one of many collaborations between myself and illustrator Tom White of 9 Surf Studios.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
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