Santa Maria-based Computer Cafe has created the computer animation for a new spot for Radio Shack. "Topiary" is part of Radio Shack's ongoing campaign featuring Hall of Fame American football player Howie Long and actress Teri Hatcher. Computer Cafe formed the massive garden maze in which Long and Hatcher appear. The celebrities were shot on stage with several green covered set pieces, which were replaced with photorealistic computer animated greenery. Computer Cafe created the 3D hedges using Lightwave 3D software and used Digital Fusion to do the compositing. "We rendered the hedges as still images, rather than as sequences and that saved a lot of time," explained Computer Cafe digital effects supervisor David Ebner. "We also color corrected the animation to make it look natural and to match the real hedges." The spot was produced for Ft. Worth, Texas-based ad agency The Circle R Group.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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