Press Release from Artistic Image:

ATLANTA, GA -- Artistic Image (AI) was tapped by Dudnyk, a full-service healthcare marketing agency in Horsham, PA, to create imagery for a series of live-action/CGI-driven videos and print images for Cavitron, maker of dental hygiene tools, that transports hygienists out of the dentist’s office into a serene, dental-inspired outdoor landscape where a series of al fresco vignettes showcase their product’s new, exclusive features. The project tapped into the full range of the hybrid live-action, 3D, design, animation, compositing, editorial, and finishing company’s services and talent, as well as it’s seamless approach to executing complex multi-faceted concepts – from start to finish.

AI created imagery for "Tap-On Tech," "Waterfall" and "Rock Climber," a trio of videos set in a surreal panoramic landscape where gleaming molars top towering cliffs, and dental hygienists take on the roles of hikers and rock climbers to illustrate the difficulty and level of skill their jobs require - and just how instrumental Cavitron products are to providing patients with a peak caliber dental care.

“Tap-On Tech” opens with a couple hiking through the dental landscape and coming upon a foreboding looking rushing river. They meet the challenge by jumping on a series of bobbing Tap-On Foot Pedals, which formed a line of “stones” that enables them to cross safely to the other side. In “Rock Climber” a hygienist in a climbing harness rappels down a tooth-topped cliff, and “Waterfall,” set on a mountaintop overlooking a magnificent cascading waterfall, features a pair of adventurers presented with – and meeting - yet another challenge while on a hiking expedition.

Artistic Image director/co-owner Ken Soons shot the talent against greenscreen, to provide AI’s compositors with footage of the hikers and rock climber that could easily be composited into the dental landscapes.  AI’s team of multi-discipline artists search through archives of stock video clips and found just the right footage of the river and waterfall to create look and perspective they needed. 

 Andy Sapp, Owen Chikazawa and Jim Roberson composited the live-action footage of the talent into the environments using Adobe After Effects. The sky backgrounds were created as digital matte paintings and the molar-topped cliffs were modeled and animated in Autodesk Maya. Soons edited the videos, following through on his vision as director. 

“The biggest challenge,” says Martin, “was making the dental landscapes look natural and appealing. Dudnyk’s concept was fresh and innovative, so we wanted to deliver a look of outdoor serenity where the hikers and rock climber achieve their goals.”“The video, ‘Tap-On Tech,’ required painstaking manipulation to create the authentic and organic look of the foot pedal ‘stones’ that span the water with splashes going onto the pedals to make it look authentic.”

Artistic Image created all the product vignettes in CG. Working as a collaborative team, AI’s Jeff Ling modeled and textured the devices with assistance from Daniel Wiggins, who animated all the 3D. Lee Kordel both modeled and textured the teeth landscapes. AI’s compositors created the organic wipes and transitions in After Effects. Daniel Wiggins, Jeffrey Ling and Lee Kordel modeled and animated each of the dental devices, created organic wipes and transitions. They also crafted animated bar-like windows for typography that highlights the products’ special features, such as exclusive Tap-On Technology with greater comfort and control of the foot pedal for the Cavitron Plus and Jet Plus; the slim tip, triple bend design and beveled edge of the new Focused Spray Slimline 1000; and the many user-friendly attributes of the Cavitron Plus and Jet Plus with SPS Technology.