New York-based Rhinoceros Visual Effects and Design has completed the digital imagery work for three new Alka Seltzer spots. In the 30-second "This Cold Season" and two 15-second spots, "Just Picked" and "Dew Drop," legions unite as a single cold sufferer in one digital mosaic transition. The spots also contain a multitude of CG bubbles and a photo-real CG Alka Seltzer package. "The recent Alka Seltzer spots had a lot of challenging aspects that made them call for more CG than originally anticipated," noted Arman Matin, Rhinoceros' CG project leader. "They needed bubbles, particle effects and photo-real lighting of the product, among other things. While many of these things had already been captured in live-action, we were confident that we could enhance the images in a digital environment through careful coordination between CG and digital post. Our team knew that one of our strong points is our different software backgrounds. Instead of sticking to just one program, we used a combination of Alias|Wavefront's Maya and Softimage, composited on Inferno, as well as tapping an advanced system called Movetools that allows us to translate seamlessly between everything. Going back and forth between camera information and animation was a snap that way, and let us take full advantage of the strengths of the people and tools here at Rhinoceros." Rhinoceros' Inferno artist Vico said, "It was very rewarding to see the development of ideas between the agency creatives and our 3D artists. The collaborative atmosphere that surrounded these spots helped not only achieve what the client had expected from the boards, but to improve on everything along the way." Yfat Neev produced the spot for advertising agency BBDO of New York. Live-action production company was Green Dot Films, with Brent Thomas directing live-action and Garry Sato directing tabletop.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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