Automobile spots are no longer simple, garden-variety sheetmetal jobs. Now, car commercials have taken the high road into the world of complex visual effects. Cars featured in ads are not necessarily the ones rolling off the assembly line in Detroit; instead, they may be 3-D auto models coming out of digital body shops such as Viewpoint Digital, Orem, Utah.
Recently, Viewpoint contributed computer-generated (CG) vehicles to GMC Yukon’s "Morph," directed by Paul Street of A Band Apart Commercials, Los Angeles, out of Lowe Lintas & Partners, New York; and Ford Focus’ "Camera," directed by John-Mark Austin of Rhythm & Hues Studios (R&H), Los Angeles via Dailey & Associates, Los Angeles. Viewpoint credits also include work on commercials for Dodge, Toyota, Cadillac and Volvo. "In the automotive industry, car commercials have to break through the clutter to capture the attention of car buyers," explains Walter Noot, VP of production for Viewpoint Digital.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of publicly traded Computer Associates International, Islandia, N.Y. (NYSE: CA), Viewpoint publishes a library of 3-D digital content and provides creative 3-D services to the advertising, entertainment, visual simulation, computer-based training and corporate communications industries. It also provides computer graphic imaging solutions to create visual effects for commercials, TV shows, feature films, video games and multimedia titles.
Viewpoint was originally called Animation Engineering. "[In the beginning] we were doing accident reconstructions," relates Noot. "Instead of just doing animation, we decided to become a modeling company. Things certainly have changed over the years. When we did our first commercial, I couldn’t believe we were actually doing something that somebody could see on TV. Now, we do a lot of cars and character animation. Our business has broadened quite a bit. But the car work is still very steady, and a big part of our business."
Viewpoint is equipped with scanning and digitizing facilities, and uses proprietary modeling techniques to create its cars. The process of creating 3-D models begins in its Los Angeles office or Utah headquarters. "After the cars are dropped off, we’ll digitize them," Noot explains. "There are different ways of taking data. One is to digitize the surface with digitizing arms: We mark the car up with tape, then digitize the car point by point. The other is to actually scan the car with a high-end scanner, like the kind that car designers use.
"Once we have whatever kind of raw data we capture, we go through the modeling stage, which is the most complex," he continues. "Digitizing gets you the outline. You get a good start, but you have to go through and really make it flow. First, it has to be organized and grouped in the proper way so that you have the right lighting, and can map and animate it correctly. What you’re doing is visualizing to make a car look perfect. If it’s not perfect, people can tell. Cars are identifiable, like faces. When our artists render it, they actually look down the surface of the car just like a body shop would, and tweak it until it’s right."
ToolBox
Viewpoint has technology partnerships and bundle agreements with 3-D hardware and software companies including Microsoft, Silicon Graphics Inc., Alias|Wavefront, Softimage, Discreet, Newtek, Digimation, Nichimen Graphics, Corel and MetaCreations. "We have a number of developers in-house that build proprietary tools which help streamline the process," Noot says. "We also use software packages because they’re great at doing certain things, which we always take advantage of."
Additionally, agencies and production companies use Viewpoint’s team of modelers as an integrated part of the production process. Noot says this process allows producers to manage tight turnaround cycles and budgets while maintaining creative control. "Every project is different, but we often work with the agency directly, because they subcontract out to quite a few production companies," he explains. "We see the storyboards, especially if it’s a bigger spot. Sometimes they are just background cars, which is pretty straightforward. If the car gets complicated, we read the boards to see how it’s all going to fit together. We go through all the details with the creatives so that we can understand what they want. The art director is king and will decide how it animates and looks. We have the technical expertise, and if someone gives us the art direction, we will build our geometry."
The spots
Lowe Lintas & Partners used Viewpoint for the aforementioned "Morph" for GMC, which debuted during this past Super Bowl. The spot was for the GMC Yukon XL, which replaced the GMC Suburban. To launch the new vehicle, Lowe Lintas & Partners envisioned the "old" Suburban transforming into the new GMC Yukon XL. A Viewpoint catalog model of the ’99 Suburban’s exterior was already available, so Viewpoint completed the CG vehicle by digitizing and modeling the underside and interior. The Yukon XL, however, needed to be built from the ground up. The Viewpoint team consisted of project leader Rich Agren, and modelers Wayne Hammer, Jeff Bott, Tom Guthrie, Elic Agler, Takao Miyazawa, Kent Ringger, Bryan Allen, John Griffin and Sean Curtis. The group used Nichimen Graphics N-World, Alias|Wavefront and proprietary tools to build 3-D models of the SUV’s exterior, underside and interior. The resultant spot featured the Suburban winding its way down a mountain road as various parts of the SUV morph into the Yukon. Along the roadside, people hold up parts of the new Yukon as it passes them.
Ford Focus’ "Camera," for the Southern California Ford Dealers, features a car which, viewed from above, turns into a camera that opens its lens. The spot had a tight budget and a short production schedule, so R&H went to Viewpoint to create a 3-D model of the Focus. Guthrie, who acted as project leader and modeler for the spot, used the same type of software the "Morph" team used to custom-model the exterior of the car to R&H’s specifications.
Noot says that as CGI talent, tools and technology have matured, so has the use of CG cars in commercials. "CG cars used to be only in the background, and only when there was a radical effect, would anyone use a CG car" he relates. "Now, whole spots are CG, [in part because] it’s more streamlined and the rendering technologies are better, computers are more affordable, and the talent is better."
