Santa Monica, CA -- Brickyard VFX[1] delivered animation for Adobe spot "Animals," a tongue-in-cheek reflection on huge Super Bowl ad spends that premiered exclusively online. Conceived by ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners and directed by Tom Routson of Tool of North America, the spot features a pair of whip-smart talking animals.The Brickyard team, led by VFX Supervisor Mandy Sorenson and Head of CG David Blumenfeld, animated the animal stars of Super Bowls past discussing the value of online advertising. The live action was shot using a real horse and an actor in a chimpanzee suit. Brickyard digitally captured the heads of the chimpanzee and horse to extract geometric and textural data of the practical animals. The team of modelers, character animators and compositors completed precise 3D animated face replacements to synchronize the animals’ mouths with the dialogue. Using a 3-camera setup, Blumenfeld captured synchronized dialogue for visual references of the mouth and facial movements, and rigged each animal for full control of mouth movements and facial expressions. Sorenson color corrected the spot in Autodesk Lustre, and seamlessly composited the 3D facial components into the live action using Autodesk Flame, with a photorealistic result. The Brickyard team used Autodesk Maya for all 3D animation, and completed match moving in The Pixel Farm’s PFTrack.
"I'm very proud of what our team accomplished with this spot," said Blumenfeld. "We only had about a week to complete two full facial rigs from start-to-finish, and when you see the commercial, it looks like you’re watching real animals having an actual conversation."
"This is a clever spot that’s very topical and will resonate with viewers," added Brickyard Executive Producer Jeff Blodgett. "This project really added a lot of fun to the fan response to the advertising game."
