FORD EXPLORER
Challenge
Our Automotive Team was given the opportunity to collaborate with Imagination London and Ford Europe to create the key vehicle reveal animations for the launch of the all-new, all-electric Ford Explorer. We teamed up with Director Nick Piper and would be handling the important task of revealing the vehicle off to the world for the very first time. The idea for the reveal was to show the vehicle building up around world explorer, Lexie Alford.
The reveal animations were part of a much longer keynote presentation (also directed by Nick Piper and developed by Imagination) and our task was to use some of the same elements of the rest of the film within our work to deliver high-quality animations which integrated into the wider narrative and aesthetics. This included using the same Unreal Environment, working with Nick on capturing live action, and collaborating with Nick, Imagination, and Ford on the design of the vehicle build up.
PRE-PRODUCTION | STYLE FRAME
PRODUCTION | PREVIZ
The project required several distinct aspects which each required their own pre-production approach. We began with prepping the vehicle and working to decide which components of the vehicle should be shown in the build-up. We also simultaneously began refining the Unreal environment to be suitable for use in 4k animation outputs as the original environment was developed for a pixel-streaming application and required numerous levels of refinement for the animation outputs. Working in tandem with the environment, we worked with the Director and Agency to refine storyboards and placement of cameras throughout the virtual environment. Last, but not, least we also began setting our sights on the live-action shoot and understanding how we could help guide it to capture the necessary elements to make our work more efficient.
PRODUCTION | CGI DEVELOPMENT
We developed a unique approach for the creation of our Full CGI running footage by combining multiple pipelines. Our innovative approach involved using artists in different physical locations with skills in different software packages. This means we could deliver high-quality visuals while maintaining creative flexibility. The “simple” explanation is that Unreal Engine was used to create the environment, refine the lighting, and set camera paths while 3DsMax was used to render the vehicle. The actual work required intense attention to detail and scrutiny of all production aspects to maintain the consistency required across pipelines.
SHOOT PRODUCTION
There was a slate of shoot days lined up for the overall vehicle launch keynote and within that timeframe there was about a day allocated to capturing Lexie on a green screen for our portion of the film. Our team provided on-set VFX Supervision during the shoot and worked in pre-production to advise on what touch points we needed to capture for Lexi. We, ultimately, ended with her sitting in a physical seat and reaching out to touch a propped up steering wheel as our base footage to work from. We then took the raw footage and camera data from the shoot day and began the next steps of the process to integrate with CGI.
PRODUCTION | REAL-TIME | environment development
As we moved into the post-production and CGI phases of the project, we again split the work into several different pipelines. The post team off roto-ing out Lexie, beginning to build the timeline with a boardamatic, and starting to clean-up live action in Flame. While we had the CG lighting and environment teams further refining the scene based upon what was captured on-set and our Creative Director and CG Leads were working with the Director and agency to refine camera movements and vehicle build-up sequences.
There were many rounds of review and a ton of collaboration required to get all these elements to their final state. With a tight timeline, and budget, the collaborative work with Director Nick Pipe, Imagination, and our teams spread across Europe and the Americas allowed this project to come together on schedule for the vehicle reveal.
CINEMATIC ENVIRONMENT
Once the project had been launched we also created an environmental cinematic showcasing some of the beauty that can be made from this vast landscape. This is to help clients engage in a different way with the assets they have created. We are demonstrating that we can create moods, vignettes, even environmental b-roll use their existing assets. These types of clips can be cut into the main film as that little extra flourish to finish off the project.
Solutions
To complete the challenge that was presented, our team followed a unique and meticulous creative and technical process. Collaborating with the Director, agency, and client we were able to create a visually pleasing animation showing the vehicle being built around Lexie. Utilizing Unreal Engine to develop our environment, lighting, and cameras allowed the creative flexibility to rapidly develop and modify the environment as well as to truly have collaborative, real-time discussions with the Director.
Using our unique approach to developing the assets allowed for a truly transformative approach which allowed us to deliver a high-quality within a very tight timeline. Being able to pivot quickly and rapidly address changes, all without sacrificing quality, meant the client, Director, and agency also did not need to sacrifice on their wants and needs for their extremely important launch film. This is the key benefit of our unique approach to creating the launch film for the all-new, all-electric Ford Explorer which seamlessly integrated live-action and CGI.