Project Summary

I was given the task of bringing four static photographs to life with some 3D animation. Common Venture’s vision was to see a few energy cables move organically through the different scenes and into the distance. The concept, artwork and images were provided to me by the aces at Common Ventures and Filmtime expertly managed the project.

Project Notes

Matching the lighting conditions in each scene was critical to having the cables look realistic and integrate seamlessly into the scenes in a believable way. This was achieved using HDRI sky images for the lighting. I found HDRI skies with similar weather conditions that also matched the time of day.

The organic movement of the cables was also a challenge. The cables needed to interact with each other slightly but remain relatively stiff, whilst also having a flowing nature to them. I achieved this by first creating a rig that ran 3 nulls in a spiral pattern down a predetermined path. I traced the path the nulls took using a tracer object. I then turned those paths into dynamic ropes which I put into a sweep object. I tweaked the simulation and rope settings to achieve the desired look.