In this :30 for Mercedes, rhinofx Creative Director Arman Matin developed a unique animation showcasing the in-and-outs of a diesel engine.
Spot Descriptor:
In Tinker, a speeding SUV freezes in time as the engine lifts out from the hood, rotating and transforming in all directions, showcasing each element that produces the superior technology synonymous with the Mercedes brand.
From rhinofx’s Arman Matin:
This year long, 10 spot campaign continues to evolve...this being the first time Mercedes has revealed the inner-workings. The brand is looking to market the diesel in America aggressively, so it was important to show how clean the engines burn. We needed to come up with a way to re-arrange all the intricate components, as every element of the engine is photo-realistic CG animation behaving abnormally. We created the hood in CG, and all the other components were delivered as CAD data directly from the client in Germany. Our proprietary pipeline of data management/versioning software written by John Alex was critical for the success of this project. We had the animators working on a proxy version of the engine as the files were just too huge to work with the hi-res version…we then swapped that at the end. All the artists involved are researching and working on the same thing at the same time. Any animator or texture artist knows what the other is doing, and has the latest version of any piece to the puzzle. With frames that have 8-10 hour render times, it would have been impossible to come in on time without it.
Creds:
Client: Mercedes
Spot Title: Tinker
Air Date: May 2007
Agency: Merkley & Partners/NY
Creative Director: Chris Landi, Steve Pearson, Tom Miller
Agency Producer: Chris Ott
Prod Company: Crossroads
Director: Nico Beyer
Producer: Naia Hall
Post/Effects: rhinofx/NY
VFX Supervisor: Arman Matin
CG Supervisor: Tom Allen
Animator: Rob Dollase, Ian Brauner
Programmer: John Alex
Matchmove: Bogdan Mihajlovic
Lighter(s): Natasha Saenko, Sung Kim
Compositor(s): Chris Difore, Nitant Karnik, Rodrigo de la Parra
Effects TD: Ivan Guerrero
Roto Artist(s): Ali Kocar, Amy Paskow
Inferno Support: Dan Kelly, Susanne Scharping, John Budion
Systems Engineer: Paul Tsung
Managing Director/Partner: Rick Wagonheim
Sr. VP Production: Camille Geier
Producer: Jill Hughes
Editorial: The Whitehouse
Editor: Richard Learoyd
Assistant Editor: Adam Robinson
Producer: Melanie Klein Tech Toolbox:
PC-based Linux
HDRI Image Based Lighting
Maya Man
Air (rendering)
Digital Fusion (compositing)
Sillouette (roto)
Houdinni (particle)
Proprietary Management Software
About rhinofx:
Since its launch in 2000, rhinofx has created award-winning visual effects, design, and animation for commercials, VFX for feature films, episodic television, webisodic mini-series, and videogame cinematics. The company’s principals and artists have also led the industry’s exploration into the boundless potential of branded digital content. By cultivating extensive relationships with key brands, advertising agencies, and film/TV studios, rhinofx utilizes its creative directors and artists to develop and execute powerful branded entertainment to build both identity and awareness. The company’s principals include: Partner/CD/Director: Vico Sharabani, CD/Director: Harry Dorrington, CD/Director: Arman Matin, CD/Director: Natasha Saenko, SVP/EP: Camille Geier, and Partner/Managing Director: Rick Wagonheim.
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