Los Angeles, CA -- Ad agency Innocean Worldwide recently commissioned motion design & production studio Royale to create the Azera Journey, an interactive microsite showcasing Hyundai's flagship model for the US market.
Featuring CG-animated demos, fun facts and other interactive experiences, the microsite tells the beautiful story behind the Azera's artisan craftsmanship and cutting-edge features. Royale Creative Directors Brien Holman and Jayson Whitmore led the soup-to-nuts production, from web design & development to photo-real renderings of the Azera zooming through dynamic 3D environments.
"This was an ambitious and challenging project, and the client had never done anything like this before," says Jessica Ambrose, CG Producer at Innocean. "We wanted to do the microsite in HTML 5 with an illustrated look to everything, and Royale had the best ideas for bringing the 3D car to life in five different, CG-stylized environments. With more than 1,500 frames, it was a render-intensive job on a tight timeline, but they were always fabulous, making sure we had clear communication and as smooth a process as possible. Everyone worked really well together."
"This was an inspiring project for us because the site's core message leverages the fundamental concepts and ideas behind our own approach to visual storytelling," says Holman. "So many art forms influence our process, whether it's design, painting or music. It's great to see Hyundai embrace these connections as a way to effectively communicate its brand-messaging to its consumers."
To view, please visit: http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicles/2012/azera/experience/full/ [1]
For a behind-the-scenes look, please go to: http://www.weareroyale.com/#/work/all/hyundai_azera [2]
For render tests of the CG car, check out: https://vimeo.com/46912373 [3]
The Azera Journey embarks in a stylishly illustrated city on a charming muted color palette. The intuitive scrolling interface invites users to navigate the sleekly rendered Azera through painterly 3D worlds. En route to each feature display, site navigation in itself becomes a brilliant showcase of the car, unfolding myriad photo-real views and angles, inside and out.
"The scrolling functionality was a unique part of this project," explains Whitmore. "With a simple swipe or scroll, visitors can easily explore the site and quickly access more info about the Azera's features."
A corresponding menu of specs and fun facts, such as "How much coffee did the engineers drink during testing?" supplement each film. The interface also features interactive widgets to illustrate key details that were tested and scrutinized to make the Azera top of its class: a redline engine tester, a hearing examination demonstrating the car's quietness, and a real-time counter showcasing the headlight durability in the harsh conditions of Death Valley, among others.
Source: Royale
Links:
[1] http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicles/2012/azera/experience/full/
[2] http://www.weareroyale.com/#/work/all/hyundai_azera
[3] https://vimeo.com/46912373