RMG Networks (RMG), a travel media company, recently tapped international creative studio Transparent House (TH) to produce a CG-heavy brand film visualizing RMG’s high-tech virtual world. RMG operates digital media networks for the air travel industry. The company also provides technology and professional services for companies looking to enter the digital signage market.
The project faced many constraints, including time, as well as potentially costly production involving filming in an airplane and an airport lounge.
“We wanted something that would allow us to really customize our sales presentation, and really give people a sense of what these exciting environments are all about,” said Chuck Strottman, RMG’s VP of marketing.
“Our goal is making 3D the spectacular core of a brand’s marketing campaigns,” said TH principal and co-founder Denis Krylov. “This project was a very exciting opportunity for us to show RMG and its partners a lot of these capabilities in a very short amount of time.”
The standard TH project workflow involves storyboarding, creating animatics and handling final rendering. Using its main tools Autodesk 3ds Max, and Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, artists in TH’s San Francisco studio created quick mockups for the storyboard, then began modeling full industrial environments in 3ds Max. As part of its hyper-real style, TH also uses live-action photographic elements within its projects to heighten realism.
For this project, TH arranged a one-day greenscreen photo shoot within its affiliated, full-service video and photo studio, Transparent Space. Using the Canon 5D Mark III, TH’s principals photographed male and female models in business attire and in various poses and lighting setups. These images were then placed and composited into the CG environments of the animatics and the final content.
“We are especially proud of finding creative solutions for special projects like this,” said TH principal and strategist Krista Mollion. “For example, our senior motion designer came up with the logo animation for RMG Networks which has gotten a lot of great feedback from our clients. It was his own artistic interpretation, and we feel it adds a lot of value to the presentation.”
“We had never really considered computer graphics before as a solution, but working with Transparent House was great, and this video is now among the most valuable marketing pieces we have,” said Strottman. “It’s extremely versatile, the quality is excellent, and it does an amazing job showcasing our media assets.”
Transparent House (TH) operates facilities in San Francisco, Moscow and Berlin.
