by tompainter | Sep 15, 2015 |
DBG – The power of data Paper craft puppet animation Christmas animation London branding agency, Monk, turned to us to help them deliver DBG’s Christmas message visually through animation. A magical journey As DBG own several of the world’s largest stock markets we thought it would be fitting if our story was based around the journey of typical stock market data from DBG’s head quarters to a cosy living room environment, where it fills the home with Christmas magic. Let there be light We knew that lighting would play a vital role in the success of this project and so we decided rather than simply doing line art to storyboard this project we would create fully shaded drawings that would use the interplay of light and shadow to tell the story. The hero of our story, the data, would light up everything on its journey. Paper-cut shadow puppets We worked with Monk to develop an original style for the animation. Taking inspiration from ‘Wayang Kulit’ Indonesian shadow puppets, we chose to light everything in silhouette but gave it a modern twist by making it more 3D, as if it were actually made from cut, folded and glued paper. Everyone loved the idea early on, so we knew we were onto a winner. A film noir influence Film noir classics, such as The Third Man, inspired our shot design with a restrained colour palette, maximum contrast and clearly defined silhouettes. Model development We could have modelled everything digitally straight away but knew that if we actually made the paper models we would be able to create more informed work, with the charming design details that would give a warm and authentic...
by tompainter | Jul 12, 2015 |
MGM Advantage Creative character design Quirky marketing campaign Bigman were contacted by the Brighton based advertisement and design agency, Killer Creative. They were working with MGM Advantage on an idea for a space themed marketing campaign and needed our help to add a touch of playfulness to the project. Artistic inspiration In order to achieve the fun look MGM Advantage wanted in the image series we were producing, we explored a number of different creative styles that could be used. It was decided that the perfect style for our work would be a charming plasticine look, which would give our characters a unique appearance and form the basis of a great lighthearted campaign. Paper planning We knew that before beginning the hard task of rendering 3D plasticine images we would need to have a thorough plan. The best way for us to do this was by creating very detailed pencil drawings of each plasticine element. This allowed us to explore and develop a variety of different ideas that we would then transform into a digital image. Charming organic CGI We chose to make the plasticine figures very organic, incorporating all the bumps and finger prints that would have been there if they had actually been modeled, which meant our work had a human touch. Our finished work was a great success, injecting some soul into what could have been another cold computer generated image and creating a completely unique style that will stand out from others. Similar Projects Circle Health September 13, 2022 TMPW AAbot Augmented Reality December 3, 2019 BBC Doodlebugs July 2, 2018 Sony Eyepet Augmented Reality May 30, 2017 Puppy May 26, 2017 Talk...
by tompainter | Jun 29, 2015 |
Bertie’s Blanket Watercolour children’s animation Paints at the ready Children’s author Debbie Friend put us to the task of bringing her illustrated book, Bertie’s Blanket, to life for a project for Nickelodeon. Retaining the charm It was important to us that we preserved the charm and integrity of Debbie’s artwork so we studied her original drawings in great detail. When we converted Bertie into 3D we were able replicate her hand drawn style, incorporating the watercolouring and pencil lines. This created a completely unique style of animation, blending the best of traditional media with all the benefits that CGI offers. Technically challenging Fabric is notoriously hard to create digitally but was central to the story line in this project. We needed the blanket to be natural so rather than painstakingly animating it we used a cloth simulator. This takes scientific information and applies it to a CGI object to accurately recreate the look and movement of fabric meaning that our blanket would behave like a blanket really would. Artistic animation styles Although CGI can create incredible photo real objects we are passionate about stretching the boundaries and using it more creatively. This is one of our unique offerings here at Bigman and we have even developed our own artistic renderer Pollock. Similar Projects Circle Health September 13, 2022 TMPW AAbot Augmented Reality December 3, 2019 BBC Doodlebugs July 2, 2018 NSS Faith Schools May 25, 2018 Sony Eyepet Augmented Reality May 30, 2017 Puppy May 26, 2017 The World in Your Hands May 6, 2016 mCommerce May 5, 2016 TIPPS Ear Plugs April 20, 2016 Brugal Rum April 6, 2016 Talk to a Doctor April 5, 2016 Aqua Card March 14, 2016 Duracell Professional February 4, 2016...
by tompainter | Jun 10, 2015 |
Bigman R&D – Pollock Artistic rendering software A consistent style CGI is an incredible tool that we use everyday to produce very high detailed, graphic imagery. However the classic style of CGI is very accurate and rigid. This means images can often be expressionless and almost cold. Express yourself As diverse artists we wanted the freedom to be as creative as possible with CGI. We thought it would be great if we could incorporate traditional styles into our work to give our images more depth and soul. Why not do it in Photoshop? The art filters already available to us, in programs such as Photoshop, are extremely restrictive and create very flat images as they know nothing about their subject matter, working almost blind. Meet Pollock We were so passionate about this idea we focused some time on R&D in order to develop our own artistic rendering program; Pollock. Pollock can covert basic CGI into a range of artistic styles, from traditional pencil or painterly ones to very abstract ones. Human perception As humans we perceive the world with our 5 senses and so we can instinctively depict 3D objects. We needed to replicate these senses in our program so that it would be able to create natural looking work. Intelligent technology Pollock is extremely intuitive and can see information about 3D images in very high detail. This information then allows Pollock to create artwork just like a real artist, because it knows the boundaries and depth of the object it is able orientate strokes to flow across the surface area and create dimension through the use of shading. Similar Projects Circle Health September 13, 2022 NSS Faith...
by tompainter | May 8, 2015 |
South Downs Quirky paper craft illustration Non-corporate illustration The South Downs National Park Authority came to us with a brief for some warm, non-corporate illustrations for their spring campaign. We got straight to work thinking of a unique idea that would give the impression they were looking for. An eco–friendly material The focus of the campaign was to encourage more visitors to travel the National Park by public transport, and so we wanted to incorporate the green message into the production of our work. After considering a few different styles we settled on using paper to sculpt our scenes as we felt it’s natural credentials perfectly reflected the message of the campaign. Getting crafty Having chosen our medium we decided that we would create a little world in a papercraft style. We contacted our good friend, Lisa, to help us to actually craft the 3D elements before we modelled them digitally. Distinctive designs As our work needed to be non-corporate we wanted our characters and scenes to have a unique and fun appearance that would allow the campaign to stand out. We developed this quirky, boxy style that worked perfectly in 3D and was a great embodiment of the South Downs message. Similar Projects Circle Health September 13, 2022 TMPW AAbot Augmented Reality December 3, 2019 BBC Doodlebugs July 2, 2018 Sony Eyepet Augmented Reality May 30, 2017 Puppy May 26, 2017 Talk to a Doctor April 5, 2016 Duracell Professional February 4, 2016 MONK DBG September 15, 2015 Truchet August 11, 2015 Smart For Two August 6, 2015 MGM Advantage July 12, 2015 NCP Animated Customer Journey July 3, 2015 Prudential July 1, 2015 Scottish Government June 30, 2015...
