A completely new 3D showreel has now been edited and uploaded to YouTube, showing off of the best and the latest work of our 3D graphics artist Ashley Taylor
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Here's the story on one of my latest projects, a 3D map of a city centre showing an existing tramline and a proposed new line, using Maxon's Cinema 4D. Mile after mile of busy, built-up cityscape with the tram route clear at the centre of it.
It was quite a challenge, so much so that the finished map is just too big for this blog! But fear not, you can see the extent of my hard work with an animation, a helicopter style fly-through of the map. Please click play to watch the animation, and then read about the key challenges of creating a 3D illustration of this size that needs to be highly accurate yet visually clear and simple.
So how did I create this 3D city scape?
My source material was printed plans of the proposed route: five sheets of A4 I stitched together using a highly technical process… sticky tape.
I combined the printed map with screen grabs from Google Maps, about 25 of them in total, which I imported into my Cinema 4D software so I could overlay the 3D onto the Google map as I created it, to make sure it was accurate geographically, and in scale, throughout.
I also constantly referred to Google Streetview to ensure that landmark buildings were visually accurate from a human perspective. Key buildings were shown with a glassy finish. Curved walls were seen as curved, even when from the aerial view those curves were hidden by straight roofs.
Key buildings with glassy surfaces and curved walls to reflect what could be seen from street level
One of the biggest challenges was what to leave out. A busy city centre is full of details but for this map it would be confusing to record every post box and parking space. It had to be simple enough to be easily understood, but complex enough to be recognisable to residents and visitors.
The map’s initial use was for internal consultation in the public sector, so it needed to work at a meeting room, to enable people to discuss the project. In the future it may be used by the public as a guide to the tram route.
For the animation I set up several effects to actually reduce the pristine perfection of the 3D and simulate a real camera lens with all its impurities.
These effects include chromatic aberration, which gives a subtle colour shift in the corners, vignette to darken the corner of each frame, ‘noise’ which essentially makes the image more grainy and distortion of each frame to make it look slightly rounded. Although subtle it does have the effect of making it look more realistic feel.
A challenge I really enjoyed, and I’m very pleased with the result.
If you’ve any questions or thoughts about this 3D project, please use the form below to post your comment.
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"If you're a brand wondering what can be achieved with Instagram and the tiny lens of an iPhone, search #bo2011 and prepare to be amazed..."
Instagram, FREE in The App Store
We're delighted to report that Push Creativity's copywriter, Angela Montague, was the originator of the the internet meme #bo2011, as used on social media's latest phenomenon, Instagram.
Instagram is a free iPhone app (soon to be available on Android) that lets you share photographs taken on your phone. Photographs can only be uploaded by phone, but you can look at people’s photo steams through the web. Instagram is a little like Twitter in that you can follow people from anywhere in the world, people can follow you, and there are hashtags to search. But whilst Twitter is all about words, Instagram is all about photos. And it's been a phenomenal success. Ten million users in 355 days, from a company with only 10 employees.
Crucially, Instagram offers several filters to apply to your photos before uploading, giving them an instant retro or artistic look. This, coupled with the many photo-editing apps out there, makes it very easy to turn a phone snap shot into something that catches the eye. A lot of brands are getting pretty excited about the potential of this new app, especially brands that sell on image, like fashion, food, interior design and tourism. As a copywriter specialising in these 'eye candy' industries, and active Instagrammer for almost a year, Angela is in a very good position to help companies harness this new social media colossus.
And harness it she has already, because the amazing 'Best 2011 of Grids' posted on Instagram under the hashtag #bo2011 started with her.
Here's her first grid, posted on December 28th, and how the meme took off in her own words:
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I made up the tag #bestofAnglo2011, wandered back through my stream and tagged my favourite shots with it. I stopped tagging when I had made an IG-friendly square of images. Turns out that you need 16 shots to do make a square, 4x4, who'd have thought? I shared the grid and invited people to explore my personal 'best of' tag, like wrapping paper the blur was designed to add an element of surprise when people clicked the tag to see my 16 images in their own mini stream.
An End of Year Review is an obvious thing to do, but I also did this because I had a few images from early on in the year that I was really proud of and wanted to parade again. Equally, I knew I had missed lots of other people's best shots from the year (because I just can't be on IG that much), so I threw out the invite for others to make a grid. I did not include instructions, thinking it was obvious how to make the grid (I need to remember not everyone is a geek like me!).
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Then one of my followers ForwardTumble suggested using #bo2011 for the grid shots only, so they could be browsed all in one place.
Then a few friends, with many more followers than me, did one:
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And things started to pick up speed. When it got to about 50 grids, I lobbed some proper instructions into the #bo2011 tag, because many people were asking 'what app did you use' (you don't need an app!), because some people were putting individual shots in with the grids (grrrr) and because the part ForwardTumble and I had played in creating the meme was getting lost in the stampede.
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And in a few days a little idea I expected to be taken up by me and a handful of followers went from 50 grids by the end of day one, to 750 by the start of New Year's Eve to 1400 by the end of New Year's Day.
So a huge thank you to everyone for doing it! I started off liking every image but there are now too many to do that, but in my heart I have.
The #Bo2011 tag is the ultimate box of chocolates. It's the best of the best of Instagram. It shows just how stunning iPhone photography can be. It's also demonstrates the huge difference in creativity that people can achieve with the same tool. I've seen girds full of bright coloured skies, macro insects, soft sepia Earlybirds, hard black and white architecture, the same puppy getting bigger and just balloons. It's a fascinating gallery I'll keep coming back to.
If you're a brand wondering what can be achieved with Instagram and the tiny lens of an iPhone, search #bo2011 and prepare to be amazed...
And - hey presto - you can browse the tag right here: #bo2011
And if your brand wants to harness the power of Instagram, you'd better talk to Angela. Just click through to our website for full contact details and an email form.
Here are some screen shots of the many, many grids out there. We're sure you'll agree they look glorious all together.
Our latest 3D graphic animation, a perfect example of how CGI can be used to explain complicated and hidden processes perfectly, in this case acting as a very effective sales tool for our client. This animation shows the operation of a environmentally beneficial hot water cylinder system from UK company Eco Equipped, where heat sources add energy to the thermal store and the energy can be used for heating and hot water on demand. The animation was created from 2D drawings of the product, we made the house up ourselves! Click to play...
Our new promotional postcard on the many wonders of commercial 3D
The team at Push Creativity certainly embrace the new. We think 3D graphics not photography. We think active blog not stale website. We think Facetime not time lost travelling to a minor meeting. But that does not mean we can't get retro in our marketing when it's right to do so, like this natty little postcard. Printed, posted and pushed through letterboxes. Radical, I know.
There's still a lot to be said for print. It will not get stuck in the spam folder. If it's well designed, well written and relevant it will get also results - the hallowed phone call and start of a new business relationship or a place on your target customer's notice board, because they like what they see and know they will want you in the future.
Here's the reverse of the card. Click the image to enlarge.
All our print work now includes QR Codes
We're also including QR Codes in all our print now so anyone with a smart phone can read the code and go straight on-line for more information - in this case straight to our 3D portfolio.
So for us this little postcard perfectly illustrates how the best of old and new marketing can work together.
And because print's not being used so much, it's incredibly affordable. And because it's not being used so much, it now stands out in the mail - if done well. Time for a print renaissance?
From stylish and sophisticated to funny and jolly, our cards are designed for business to business use and made to be customised so companies can send a bespoke Christmas eCard without the high price of an original 3D animation.
They're also a lot better for the planet. There would be a lot less paper going to landfill in January if every organisation used eCards not card cards!
We can render the animations to include a logo and use corporate colours so they look custom-made, and of course the message at the end can be whatever words our customers want. More details on how to send these cards at the end of the post, including the starting price, but for now, on with the show...
Rococo Tree: Twirls create a stylish Christmas tree to fly through!
Winter Wonderland - Following a snowflake through a Christmas landscape, with cute giggling soundtrack and a snowman at the end.
Christmas on Ice: your logo frozen in an ice cube, with a surprise ending too!
Up Close Christmas Tree: your logo & message on the baubles
A Christmas Cracker: explodes to reveal your corporate message inside
Frosty Says: our jolly snowman gets on his skis to deliver a special Christmas message
Ribbons and Lights: Festive streamers create a vibrant Christmas tree image
How it works...
You send the cards to your usual Christmas card list by email, not post. The email includes a link to a web page where the card can be viewed online. We can place your card on a blank page of our website, or supply it to you to upload onto your homepage for the December period. Of course you can put it on YouTube too.
Prices start at £89+VAT, this includes:
Adding your personal Christmas message and company logo to the final shot of the animation
Uploading the animation to your website (if we have created your site) or supplying it to your web design company, or hosting it on a blank page of the Push Creativity site. Alternatively you can add it to your YouTube channel.
More customised eCards (where you logo appears as part of the animation itself) will costs more because of the increase in render time required, but do please ask for a price - you could be pleasantly surprised.
To find out more...
... please send us an email using Push Creativity Contact Page and we'll get right back to you. If you have a card you like and want to know how it could be customised, and what it will costs, just let us know. Or if you have a design in mind you'd like to commission, we can do that too. We'd be delighted to help.
And even if you have no need of a corporate eCard, we'd still love to know which card you prefer too, leave us a comment. Thank you very much if you do!
