Texas based technology company TMGcoreapproached Pixeldust looking for a high impact promo piece for their OTTO line of super efficient data-center platforms. The promo video needed to match the grand potential of their cutting edge technology being utilized by U.S. defense branches, such as the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force. Pixeldust was faced with a tight deadline, needing to get the project concept conceived and the final product delivered within a week’s time frame. Pixeldust ultimately designed a 3D animated promo that was more akin to an action movie trailer than a typical advertisement.
Creative Director: Ricardo Andrade CG Supervisor: Samar Shool Lead Senior Animator: Andy Hencken Editor: Mark Andrade
MOTION DESIGN
With such a tight turnaround time, Pixeldust embraced the ever-so efficient Unreal Engine pipeline to rapidly progress multiple shots from rudimentary stage to final CGI with all bells and whistles. Pixeldust derived inspiration from some of the cinematic Marvel superhero camera moves and various superhero landings. They utilized complex camera moves, photographic lens effects, motion, and visual lighting effects all in real-time by using the power of the Unreal sequencer.
ARCHITECTURE
The other challenge was creating 3D projections of buildings from photos without using live-action shots. Pixeldust achieved this by using Maya to break the photo planar geometry into 3D dimensional blocks and pipe it back into Unreal Engine for final compositing. This technique proved formidable in making the building shots more dynamic and realistic. Pixeldust experimented with varying camera lenses and angles at the human and macro level, to create more distinguished shots thus keeping the action engaging and interesting.
FINAL CONCEPT
Pixeldust introduced OTTO with an epic drop from space that would make even Iron Man proud. The video then progresses into a world-wide perspective that shows OTTO’s ability to connect devices around the world that culminates with their network connecting to inner-space and then to outer space ending with the phrase, “The Evolution is here, the sky is no longer the limit.”