Project Review: Virtual Set Illustrations or Virtual Photography PART II

This Virtual Set Image was done for Beyond X-mas DVD release for Creative Director Cheryl Savala at The Cimarron Group in 2003.

A Rooftop for the main Superhero to stand on above the school for Superhero Movie. Previous Work Here, here, and here.

A Large Metal Bank Vault Door Image I made for "Jumper" One Sheet Ideas while at The Cimarron Group.

A low angle on the street in a generic big city done for a one sheet for Yes Man back in 2008. My prior post for 3D Illustrations on Yes Man is here.

An up angle on a Virtual Photoshoot I did for the Home Entertainment group at Cimarron for Art Director Darren Keller.

I did this Virtual Set for Art Director Chris A. Hawkins for a Poster Idea for "Banana Shpeel" for The Cimarron Group. Logos I also did are here.

Behind the Art
Virtual Set Illustration or Virtual Photography
PART II

Client(s):20th Century FOX Home Entertainment via The Cimarron Group[Beyond X-mas]
20th Century FOX via The Cimarron Group[ Jumper]
Warner Bros. Pictures via The Cimarron Group[ Yes Man]
My Network TV via The Cimarron Group [Sinners and Saints 2007]
Dimension Films via The Cimarron Group[ Superhero Movie]
Cirque Du Soleil via The Cimarron Group[ Banana Shpeel]
Art Director(s): Calvin Sumler,Chris A. Hawkins, Joseph Stamper, Charyl Savala, and Darren Keller.
Project Date(s): 2003-2009.

This is my second posting on the Virtual Photo shoots I do for my Advertising clients. About half my work consists in this type of deliverable, a Smart 3D asset, where some think that 3D Logos is all I do.

I have posted a few examples from various projects where I needed to create anything from a full vignette of a big city, as I did for YES MAN, and a small building top ledge for Superhero Movie.

Sometimes I can re-use the model from a prior project and adjust the proportions as I did with the big Bank Vault Door I did for the HEAT DVD TV spots, I modified it to fit a Theatrical One Sheet for Jumper comp ideas.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Virtual Set Illustrations or Virtual Photography PART I

This 80's styled classroom Virtual Photoshoot was done for Superhero Movie.

I did this dramatic door shot for the remake of The Fog a few years back with the evil light coming thru the cracks as the young child has taped the door shot trying to keep the FOG out!

I did this Virtual Set for Art Director Chris A. Hawkins for a Poster Idea for Table for Three back in 2009 while at The Cimarron Group.

For It's Complicated they had a bathtub shot and needed a new room to drop the photo into so I did this for The Cimarron Group back in 09' as well.

I did this Virtual Set for Art Director Chris A. Hawkins for a Poster Idea for "All Good Things" Starring Ryan Gosling, back in 2009 while at The Cimarron Group.

Behind the Art
Virtual Set Illustration or Virtual Photography
PART I

Client(s):Magnolia Pictures via The Cimarron Group[All Good Things]
Anchor Bay Entertainment via The Cimarron Group[ Table for Three]
Universal Pictures via The Cimarron Group[ It's Complicated]
Columbia Pictures via The Cimarron Group [The Fog 2008]
Dimension Films via The Cimarron Group[ Superhero Movie]
Art Director(s): Calvin Sumler,Chris A. Hawkins, and Joseph Stamper.
Project Date(s): 2006-2009.

About half my work is doing 3D Logos for films and various clients in Advertising, Video games, DVD's etc., but the second half is sometimes missed and that has to do with virtual sets. Clients have a few choices so they often miss the advantages to the Virtual shoot.

Stock Photography is a HUGE business, and it has been a staple resource for advertisers for years. Hiring a Photographer and a Set Design firm is also a way to go and shoot what you need.

The Virtual photo shoot however gives the client full control over everything in the shoot on a level that traditional ways cannot. 3D Illustration is different in that the 3D Designer is doing all the artwork in 3D, and delivering a finished piece. A Virtual shoot provides an asset to a Art Director to use in a comp or idea they have where they may already have a masked actor ready to go but need something like the room they stand in, or prop they are holding.

As to cost, 3D beats stock photography every time just in the royalties and usage because the client owns the 3D image outright. Enlargements are just a render away, and because it is 3D, a different angle, or lighting version alt is fast to add to the mix.

I have posted a few examples from various projects where I needed to create a wall or backdrop of some sort for a Movie Poster comp as seen.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: DOOM the Film 2005

 The simple straight on shot of the 3D Doom Logo for the 2005 film, done in December 2004 while at The Cimarron Group.

 Here is the top logo with a lowered camera and a small 2% lens curve[ fish-eye] added using Final Render.

 A severely rusted out[ bottom of the Sea] look to this DOOM logo I did.

 First of these three Orange HOT glowing glass variations on the Doom Logo for the film from 2004.

 I used procedural cracks in this version of the glass using the Simbiont Plug-In.

 A glass logo with a brushed metal plate top face was standard fare for Motion Graphics Jobs during my time there so we hit that here to in warm tones[ gold aluminum on orange glass base.

Also this has 25% curve used to distort the lens, a great feature built-into Final Render.

 Here you can see the simple two part model I built as geometry, that I curved the back of the extrusion so the edges would drop back farther and lower than the center for all final views.

DOOM the Film 2005

Client: Universal Pictures via The Cimarron Group.
Art Direction: Chad Robertson
Project Date: December 2004

I had a one day gig working on a 3D title treatment for the film adaption of the famous video game Doom, back in 2004 while I was still and in-house department at The Cimarron Group out of Hollywood , CA. 

I worked with Chad Robertson on this job, and Chad and I have done work both prior to Cimarron, at BLT, and after Cimarron through Ignition Print, I always enjoy working with painters like Chad, they inspire me.

The logo design itself, was locked from the game era products, and they wanted to see a few 3D versions as a test, so I provided about a dozen examples to the Print Department there at Cimarron. Orange Glass was a big theme and aged metals, so most were in this family of textures as delivered.

A fun project that did not finish however for us, but as always as a Concept Designer, most of what we do is conceptual and not finished anyhow, but we learn though the process we do in creating these things and get faster and better as designers.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: The Cimarron Group-3D-Department Promotional Screens 2008

I did the animated splash screen for the Portrait-Promotional in-house HD monitors, that was re-purposed to the AV department for all our outgoing AV work.

 From selling generic 3D Models online, to iconic architecture for film, I also did 3D Architectural Visualizations, here Countrywide was highlighted.

 As a Graduate from Art Centers Transportation Design program, building 3D cars is a large part of what I did at The Cimarron Group.

 As an avid VW fan, building a 3D Herbie was a dream job. This asset was used in print and AV for the film Advertising campaign.

 3D-Logos are my 'bread-n-butter', so I created a screen to showcase some then current Images.

 I did a lot of 3D-Illustration work for the Film, Night at the Museum, this was a Project Specific Image I made for In-House Promotion.

 For our in-house Home-Entertainment Division, I did 3D-Illustration work for packaging various Star Wars Properties.

 A Project Specific Poster highlighting some of the 3D Design work I did for Superman Returns[ 2007].

Here is a Project Specific Promotional Image for the X-Men 3 Work I did.

Project Review
The Cimarron Group
3D-Department Promotional Screens 2008

Client: The Cimarron Group.
Art Direction: Thom Schillinger.
Project Date:Summer 2008.

In November 2003,I set up the 3D Design Department, in-house at The Cimarron Group, and provided 3D -Design, 3D-Illustration, and 3D-Animation services to the existing other 11 departments in-house at the Agency, and each department was asked to create some promotional images for the various HD monitors located throughout the company.

Each department was tasked with providing a set of images to display on the HD monitors that were rotated to portrait format, to emulate one of our main products,One-Sheets. My 3D Department was asked to provide specific work that the Owner wanted to showcase.

These Images provided our guests with a quick 'sketch' of what we offered via the 3D Design Department at The Cimarron Group.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review The Cimarron Group Furniture Design Traffic Agency- Custom Desk Designs 2008

The first design had a series of arched legs that were stacked up at an angle with a solid metal foot on each side.

I did an alternate in a darker wood, and doubled up on the drawers. 

This is the second design which used metal edging like on old diner tables from the 40's with bent wood leg posts on polished aluminum feet.

I did an alternate with darker wood here too. This was my favorite

For this design I did full bentwood box shelves on each side with a small center drawer, all sitting on black-Chrome feet.

An alternate in dark wood for the last design I submitted

Project Review

The Cimarron Group Furniture Design

Traffic Agency- Custom Desk Designs 2008

Client: The Traffic Agency via The Cimarron Group.
Art Direction: n/a
Project Date: Late Summer 2008

As a full  time employee at The Cimarron Group I often helped out with 3D visualizations of the various construction projects that the owner Bob Farina had at the company. I had worked on a restaurant and been an Imagineer so I was very familiar with these type of projects.

Also, I have worked as a professional cabinet builder and as a woodworker, so as an industrial designer, furniture design is a natural skill we build on over our whole career.

I had a chance to design some quick ideas in 3D for a big custom desk for the owner of the company, as he would have a satellite office at the Traffic Agency away from Cimarron, and wanted a nice big custom desk, so I was off and designing.

I had some samples of other pieces he liked, and was approved on the theme as a hybrid of a modern to an older retro-modern look, so I did these quick 3D Design ideas to be built out by his custom cabinet maker.

This is the second in a series of architectural and furniture design work I do along side the higher concept design work as well, look for future posts, and you can see the Art Table I did here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: BATTLESHIP- PART I

 For this first Battleship Log I built out in 3D for Calvin Sumler at Cimarron, I put a plated metal hull in front, with a polished edge with water behind it.

 Here we still see water behind the logo a bit more green now, with some framing in the foreground.

 I tried a version with horizontal metal elements that break up the plate around the logo cut thru.

 A concave surface with the logo curved around to match the bend.

 A convex variation now with some 'tech-circuits' cut outs on the metal hull.

 A volumetric light coming from the BATTLESHIP logo with blue light beams.

 A nice dark metal with highly polished edge again,with some blue glowing light from behind the cut-out from down below.

 A brighter version with a double plate foreground element.

 A slightly curved back logo with a variation on the tech-web textures outside the font.

 Here is another version of the logo using the same lighting and materials from my X-Men logos I have done.

Project Review

BATTLESHIP

3D Logo designs PART I

Client: Universal Pictures via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director: Calvin Sumler.
Project Date:  December 2009.

Today the film, Battleship finally came out, so I am pleased to start off with this my first part in a series on the work I did for the advertising pitches around town here in Hollywood. I worked for four different vendors over the last three years on this film, and today I start of with some very early work done back in 2009 for The Cimarron Group on the 3D Logo design.

I worked with the Art Director Calvin Sumler there, and for today  I cover my concepts explored for the logo as seen above. You will notice that all ten designs above,are all based on a single illustrator file. Just one design with multiple 3D interpretations.

As a 3D designer when I get a 2D file it can be interpreted in many ways and this post above shows a little of that. The basics I had to follow were that the logo was a hole in the ship itself, or some other alien surface and I was given the font to use.

At the time we had no photos from the film so I worked on heavy metals as rusted aged military green-blue steel was the general fell Calvin wanted to show.

I will have at least three more posts from The Cimarron Group on this as well as the work I did for three other vendors in the weeks to come. Enjoy!

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: 21: Blue-Ray and DVD Menus-3D Animation + Illustrations

 A frame from the final HD Animation I did for the Blue-Ray DVD menus for Art Director Hesham Morsy at The Cimarron Group back in 08'

 Here is a 'Hero' shot of the Virtual Blackjack table I built for the project

 A Player POV[ Point of View] shot for a menu. I was ready to animate cards etc.

 The overhead move down to the table felt is seen here in the opening frame of a proposed Style Frame.

 A Dealer POV shot for the Blackjack game done for the presentation for, 21 the film back in 2008.

 Here is a shot if the blackjack table built fast and dirty with only the padded rail done in quads.

Project Review

21

Blue-Ray DVD Menus

Client: via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director: Hesham Morsy.
Project Date: April 2008.

Back in the fall of 2008, I was still in-house at The Cimarron group, and got to work with Hesham Morsy, on the Blue-Ray DVD menus with him as I did on, "So I Married an Axe Murderer" the prior year. I have worked on a a couple dozen projects with the AE[ After Effects] team on Home Entertainment over the years, always a pleasure.

For this project, I provided two parts; First a 3D animation sequence in HD of flying poker chips, cards, and Playing Card Icons of Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades, and Second a Blackjack table interface for the menu itself.

I built out a fast and quick model of the Blackjack table game, as the budget was smaller, as they had been each year so 3D got squeezed out of production over time, but it was sure FUN while it lasted. I reused some stools from the Felini's Model I built for the owner of Cimarron, and the chip was a reuse as well, but the piece was scrapped, though the 3D animation transition I did, was rendered and put in the final.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review:The Adjustment Bureau 2009: 3D Conceptual Illustrations

 The first pass at the Mobius strip inside Matt Damons head, and on this first pass I aligned it close to the 2D sketch.

 Here is a shot showing the basic set up and distortion to the strip when viewed from the side. Whenever you match 2D to 3D exactly since 2D is always a fake, and usually discounts real perspective rules, I need to bent the 3D world to conform back to the 2D.

 The final delivery for the Mobius Strip was this much more even and symmetrical version that was used.

 I built the model flat and used a twist modifier to create the base object.

 This screen grab show the camera and simple scene with the Final Render Rectangular Box Light to the side for the reflection.

 The final render I delivered to Cimarron of the tile wall in little metal plates.

 

  A Polygon view of the tiles wall shot, basic built with chamfer cylinders

Project Review

The Adjustment Bureau 2009

3D Conceptual Illustrations

Client:Universal Picture via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director: Joseph Stamper.
Project Date: November-December 2009

This was my first project for The Cimarron Group in Hollywood California post my departure as a full time employee for six years from 2003 to back in October of 2009. 

I was originally hired to establish a small 3D Department to deliver "The Goods" to the various departments at Cimarron covering, Theatrical Print, Theatrical AV, Home Entertainment, DVD and Blue Ray Packaging etc, and the Corporate Advertising Division, with clients like Universal Studios Hollywood, Mitsubishi, Lotus Automotive Group, Coke, and Countrywide, etc., and the work I did for these divisions back then helped establish what I do for my clients to this day, so I was able to secure a bit more work after I left.

This project was a fun one,and I got to work with the very talented Joseph Stamper, a great Art Director again on this one, with a few fun concepts to be done in 3D for the posters he designed and presented.

The first 3D Illustration I built was the Mobius Strip that needed to wind around inside the photo of Matt Damons head so they could superimpose some footage from the film on the stairway in his head. I refined and delivered this first design above. It required a rework, so I simplified it down and delivered the final for presentation.

Next, I also did a quick take on following the look of some of the trailers with the flipping tiles look so I did a sheet that could be used on a one sheet with photography so I rendered out a few shots at 5000 pixels wide for that use as well. 

A quick one day gig, and fun.

Cheers, THOM