Visual Effects and Animation Focus Areas

3D Animation
Creating life and motion from pixels in 3D space. From fierce creatures to dancing dinner plates and photo-realistic buildings you wouldn't know aren't real, 3D Animation has impacted how we display and view products services and our movie and television entertainment.

Broadcast Packages
Networks have "ID" segments, glass logo spins with water effects spiraling off etc. Television shows have intro sequences, news programs have intro, closing and commercial break animations and motion graphics sequences. These are all examples of Broadcast Packages. Almost every skill and technology can be applied in creating these.

Product Visualization
Manufacturors spend a great deal of time and money making a new product and they want to see what it will look like before the first one is made. Product Visualization allows them to see a finished product with labels, details and often simulating functionality without committing to manufacturing. This gives them the opportunity to do market studies for packaging, test design and make changes more cost effectively.

Character Animation
The lamppost bends to follow a woman walking down the street. A monster creeps from behind a tree. A bingo ball begins singing and dancing. "Character" can be given to any object by animating large motions and the most detailed motions like a twitch at the corner of the mouth in order to convey personality and motion associated with "life".

Using 3D animation software and artistic skill an animator will create a skeleton like structure and give it the range of motion, flexibility and articulation of the real thing. Then using keyframes, motion capture and a strong sense of motion, the animator will move limbs, hair and objects painstakingly to create fluid motion.

2D Animation
2D Animation is comprised of good old hand drawn cel animation (done most often digitally via Flash or dedicated animation paint applications these days). But also comprises a hybrid use of 3D animation and compositing tools to create "Motion Graphics" and other unique animation styles.

Rotoscoping
Pulling something out of a shot, or tracing elements of a shot, isolating an area of a shot for color or other treatment. These are all areas where rotoscoping can be plied. Rotoscoping is used in the production of nearly every movie and tv commercial you see.

Green/Blue Screen Extraction
Removing a specific color from a shot the place the remaining elements into a new shot with other elements. Sounds relatively easy but if you want it done correctly, it takes some serious skill.

Compositing


Motion tracking


Camera Tracking


Match Moving


Color Correction


Element/Rig Removal

Image Gallery

Walgreens Penny Promotion 3D animated Television Commercial

Motion Tracking, 2D Animation and
Composite – Television Commercial

Parrot Head Animated and Composited – Wisconsin Lottery Television Commercial

Thickness of Delerium Visual Enhancement, Color Correction and Element Removal - Feature Film

Jensen Audio 3D Animated Speaker Product - Television Commercial

3D Animated ESPN Latin Futbol Weekly - Television Show Open

Creature of Darkness – Feature Film Character Animation

Milwaukee Tool New Product Simulation Showing Stress In Use vs. Competitor Product. 3D Animation, Editing, Physics Simulation of Breakage - Industrial Sales Video

Milwaukee Tool New Product Simulation Showing Product In Use vs. Competitor Product. 3D Animation, Editing, Physics Simulation of Breakage - Industrial Sales Video

3D Track, 3D Animation and Compositing of a Magazine Cover Replacement – Television Commercial

2D Logo Animation and Compositing – Television Commercial

Miller Beer Can Label Change - Visualization using 3D Animation

Green Screen Extraction and Compositing Studio Shot

Poster Content Element Removal with Rotoscoping and Motion Tracking – Feature Film The Thickness of Delerium

Creature of Darkness – Feature Film Character Animation

ESPN Virtual Set 3D - Animation Television Program

3D Animation and Rotoscoping -Manpower International Television Commercial

3D Animated Character With Lip Sync For Casino - Television Commercial

Creature of Darkness - Feature Film 3D Character Animation

Creature of Darkness - Feature Film 3D Character Animation

3D Animated Planet Surface and Moon – Educational Video

Chicago Bulls - Arena Jumbotron 3D Animation

3D Animated Logo – Corporate Client

Digital Set Extension of Live Video Plate

Contact LightboxFX

I am always interested in hearing from other digital artists, productions and producers.

I can be contacted by e-mail at: info [AT] lightboxfx [DOT] com

LightboxFX Demo Reel

This is a reel showing some of my 3D Animation, 2D Animation, Compositing, Rotoscoping and other Visual Effects work over the years.

Wisconsin Film Bill In Jeopardy Again?

Boy that party was great! (see prior post) But if Wisconsin Governor Doyle has his way the party is over as soon as it began. What? The ink on the Wisconsin Film Incentive Bill is still drying!

That's right. Gov Doyle has proposed the elimination of the 25% Tax Credit in order to reduce the state's 5 billion deficit. His proposal is to then create a grant program that allows up to $500,000 to start a Film, TV, Game business that creates permanent jobs in Wisconsin. That in itself would be pretty cool. My concern is that without incentives no "big budget" productions will come to our state to use the services the new companies provide and they (the companies) will fail before they get out of the gate.

Despite bringing over $10,000,000 in NEW production revenue to the state in the short time since it was signed, Gov. Doyle can't see clear to let the tax incentives breathe so that those service providing businesses both existing and new that will naturally open out of industry need can foster the permanent jobs that the state so badly needs.

I have written to my representatives voicing my concern and I hope that Gov. Doyle rethinks his position. Realistically, I do not have high hopes.

Third Coast Rising?

Last night was the grand opening of RDI Stages, Wisconsin's largest Motion Picture sound stage complex to date. This venture arose from the confuence of several things. A local company RD Image who's owners are into photography and have roots in motion picture production and a third financial partner. This group was able to take advantage of the 2008 25% tax Wisconsin Film Incentive Bill to invest $6 million to transform a World War II manufacturing complex into a motion picture studio with three stage, dressing and office space for productions as well as several business spaces available for complimentary businesses such as a Third Ward Records recording studio who occupies one of the spaces already.

For those of us who have chosen not to chase off after big city Film jobs to stay in the Midwest,work and raise families are hopeful that this is additional validation of our choices.

The turn out for the event was fantastic. State and local Government officials, press, film makers and curious onlookers. Really nice to see. One of the major complaints about the Wisconsin film making community is that there is not enough interaction within it. One of the goals of Film Wisconsin, the quasi public/private group responsible for championing the Film Bill through under the direction of Scott Robbe is to bring the community together by coordinating vendors, events, publishing upcoming production schedules etc. to make opportunities for involvement more visible.

The highlight of the evening for me was meeting one of my favorite actors Tony Shalub, the star of the TV series Monk and one of my favorite movies of all time Galaxy Quest ("tech seargant Chen...") among many others. Tony, himself a (Green Bay) Wisconsin native is very generous with his time promoting film making in Wisconsin. He was also patient when the light on my mobile phone would not come on to take a picture and I finally came back later for a second attempt.

So I did a bit of networking, talking to the great folks from Independent Edit and Aurum Design both nationally credited, award winning creative studios based in Milwaukee. I ate and drank too little and took in the atmoshphere for a few hours. All in all it was a great establishing night for us as a comunity - I hope for succes at RDI Stages and hope to participate further as the Film industry takes root right here at home.

Traditional Marketing In A Digital Ad World?

As I completed work on animation for Creature Of Darkness I have started ramping up on an animated :30 TV and :10 Internet spot for a new client. My initial meeting is always to hear the client out and engage them in some discovery about their needs. In this case the client was brought to me by an advertising agency who had prepped me that the client had "their own ideas" about how the spot was to go.

After hearing them out I thought they had a really cool and dynamic concept. Visually it was intriguing and the storyline would work both on TV and Internet at both lengths. This was ideal!

Maybe not...

WhenI asked "how does the concept appeal to your target consumer?" The answers were broad and unfocused which told me that they had developed the concept on substance, not knowledge.

We talked for about an hour covering their historic client profile, product history, metrics on buying cycles and demographics et cetera. Knowing they were on a timeline but concerned that moving ahead with their concept without pulling back the covers on it a bit first would be a waste of their money I told them (and the agency) that I would like to create some User Personas to explore who their target consumers are, how they use the product and how they experience new products.

I did some research (love the Net) and put together two Personas including personal and family profiles, employment, age, technology they use, job... Everything that defines a consumer. Then I printed and cut out pictures to glue on a display board exhibiting each persona and their world.

What I found and presented to the client was that while the target audience of their product was dead on, HOW that consumer learns about and ingests the knowledge of their product was way off base from the messaging they were after. In fact I would go so far as to say that their target consumer would switch channels on their commercial before they saw what the product was just because of the misdirected approach.

In the end we came up with a moderate version of their concept, targeted with appropriate messaging and visuals and they were very happy (happy with the Ad Ageny that is, since I was working on their behalf for this project). I think they will be just as pleased with the spots as well. We will deliver a week later but much better for the wear.

I guess the message is that cool is cool but if the message doesn't stick you've wasted your time and money. Old school techniques apply more now than ever.