3D Character Factory Blog

3D Animation Delivering Value and Enhancing Results to your Production Pipeline

Seth Fair — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:03:46 +0000

The production studios that we know are focused on commercials, marketing, corporate videos and independent film. They use green screen, animation and visual effects. So we recently asked ourselves (and them), “what place does 3D animation have with your business?”

There are many cases where the use of 3D animation is necessary to meet the objectives of a project. Some shots cannot be achieved through live action filming alone. It helps you deliver a superior and imaginative result to your client affordably.

Other times, the story calls for actions or situations that are too expensive to set up in real life and therefore a digital set with characters in 3D is a much more economical option.

As a method for circumventing the impossible or impractical, 3D animation has helped the studios we know achieve their project objectives. Part of our job is to make sure that you have the best possible understanding of how 3D animation fits into your project pipeline and to ensure that you are able to communicate the benefits of using 3D animation to your clients. We can help with planning, creative, production and post to integrate animated elements seamlessly into any project.

Happy Holidays from 3D Character Factory

Seth Fair — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:04:33 +0000

3D Character Factory wishes everyone a Happy Holiday and New Year!

5 Ideas for Marketing in Today’s 3D World

Seth Fair — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:18:55 +0000

Download Here: 5 Ideas for Marketing in Today’s 3D World

These days, you can’t turn on the TV without seeing commercials or programming that have some component of 3D animation. You can’t watch a movie without visual effects that make use of 3D animation. Companies that are serious about improving customer experience to sell their products leverage 3D animation and graphics through multiple mediums. At 3D Character Factory, we are experienced with broadcast, web and even have done a little work with mobile.

The most common question we hear from our customers is "how can I use 3D animation to help my clients’ bottom line and my own?" We can help you design and implement cost-effective projects that boost your business.

Download Here: 5 Ideas for Marketing in Today’s 3D World

Bibendum Cares About Us

Doug Ries — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:13:30 +0000

Bibendum. That is the name of the mascot commonly known as the Michelin Man. Yeah, I didn’t know that either. He is actually one of the world’s oldest trademarks at 117 years old. I also didn’t know that before 1912 tires were white, or beige, in color because they had not yet begun adding carbon as a strengthener and preservative. I should read more.

But I digress. The purpose of this message is not to talk about tires, but to talk about characters and brand stewards and what makes them appealing.

The Michelin Man for example, is cute and baby-like in appearance, he is jovial in spirit, and his mission is to protect you. His name, in French, means 'drink.' What is not to like about that? This is also an example of how to use 3D animation in interactive marketing. While the character itself is unique, he does follow some standard guidelines for creating a character that appeals to the physical and emotional senses of the masses.

Visual Effects for Advertisement: Improve your advertising impact and increase word of mouth

Seth Fair — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:23:18 +0000

As someone working in advertising or marketing, your job is to get your advertisements seen by as many people as possible, to create buzz and to motivate prospects to buy. As such, you get down to work. You design an ad and recruit a film crew and actors, commission art to be done, and shoot some footage and hopefully broadcast it to the masses. But what makes your commercial so special that people should take time out of their day to watch it? Why should they think about it afterwards? Why should they tell their friends about it? In other words, is your ad strong enough that it will generate word of mouth advertisement?

To get your audience talking about your ad, it needs to break the mold of a run of the mill advertisement by showing them something they have never seen or something they were not expecting. There are a number of ways to achieve uniqueness in your ads. Clever writing, star spokespeople and good music are all common elements used. You can also add special effects and characters that increase audience appeal.

3D animation can free restrictions by opening up shots that are impossible or impractical to pull off with live action because the location does not exist, it is unavailable to get an actor or film crew to, it would cost too much to work with, is unsafe for actors and crew, etc., etc. Using 3D you can get the shot you need and also add some much needed eye candy.

Anything is possible. There are no restrictions when it comes to planning a TV commercial or film if you’ve got 3D animation behind you. Between technology and creative resources, what you can achieve is limitless.

Backgrounds can be done using computers and projected onto a 3D camera. This allows you to create massive landscapes and environments with cost savings from not having to create detailed models for everything in the shot.
Simulation of fire balls, smoke or water can be rendered with incredible realism.
3D characterization can add add fantasy creatures and crowds of thousands without the makeup and effects team or the management of huge groups of people.

Be limited only by your creativity. Create something that your audience has never seen before. Get the “oh wow!” effect. Get word of mouth!

3D Animation Is Being Used Heavily by In-House Marketing Departments

Seth Fair — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:31:45 +0000

3D animation, with all its uses, is experiencing a groundswell in popularity. It has improved video games and is key to Pixar type blockbusters. It is also applied so much in marketing that you can hardly turn on the TV without seeing a commercial that incorporates 3D animation in some way. The commercial may be entirely animated, have animated characters or product, or use special effects. 3D animation is the best, most effective method for enhancing television commercials.

But there is another use that has corporate marketing heads excited: product demonstration videos.

This medium applies to such a wide array of companies whether they sell machinery, tools, medical devices, processors or food. A few searches such as product animation, medical animation and equipment animation return results that are mostly 3D animated ‘mini-commercials’ or demonstrations that illustrate a product’s usage or application in a way that more effectively connects with our senses than a live video or a 2D animation.

A Little Engineering and a Lot of Work

Doug Ries — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:21:25 +0000

Often times it doesn’t take an elaborate technological feat to wow us. Just a little ingenuity and some determination will do.

This is a neat piece that was done for MTV Brazil by director Dulcidio Caldeira, titled Balões. It’s 2D animation on a 3D medium powered by a dolly on a track that mechanically bursts the balloons at a rate of about 10 per second. Enjoy!

Our Top 10 Picks For Animated Characters in Commercials

Seth Fair — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:54:54 +0000

Animated spokes-figures that sell brands and products have been a part of pop culture for more than a century. But what makes some hit and some miss? How do we know which will resonate with our target audience? Is it purely luck or is there a formula to creating a winning spokes-figure?

With careful consideration of your demographics and the right combination of creative and artist, can you introduce a character that will stand the test of time? Perhaps. Here are some that we like for various reasons:

Planters' Mr. Peanut
Poppin' Fresh, the Pilsbury Dough Boy
Frank and Louie, the Budweiser lizards
Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Nueman
Bibendum, the Michelin Man
Geico Gecko
M & M's candy characters
Coca Cola Polar Bears
Aunt Jemima
Jolly Green Giant

In addition to our ‘like’ list, there are some things that we agree on such as, mucus and athlete’s foot characters are not appealing, scrubbing bubbles are boring, and ducks are downright annoying.

We also encountered a major internal disagreement here at 3DCF - the Hamburger Helper Mitt or the the Arby’s Oven Mitt.

Give us your opinion below!

What It Means to Create an Appealing Character and Why Its Important in Animation

Seth Fair — Thu, 19 May 2011 11:42:09 +0000

If you are creating an animated character for film, literature, branding or training, chances are you will want it to have broad appeal. Any discussion about the appeal of characters in animation should start with a trip back in time to Disney Studios. Using pencil and paper, and without the aid of modern computers but with a keen understanding of how most people connect with an imaginary character, they created magic. Disney understood the importance of character appeal so well that their movies and characters have been loyally consumed by hundreds of millions all around the globe.

From 1934 to 1937, artists at Disney were making ground breaking achievements in animation. These achievements opened up a new cinematic art form and and changed animation from using ad-hoc gimmicks to time honored principles. In 1937 Disney animation released the very first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. With this new art form came a set of rules called the 12 basic principles of animation, which says that to produce memorable and believable animation, you must understand all twelve principles. The twelfth animation principal is appeal.

Disney animators and legends Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston wrote about the animation principals and the formulaic approach they helped create in their landmark 1981 book, The Illusion of Life. They wrote that “appeal is anything that a person likes to see”. Obvious? Maybe. Important? Of course, because as they also wrote, “[your character] should have appeal; otherwise, you will not want to watch what she is doing.”

In advertising - anything we put our heart and mind into - we want people to look at the work we do. Our audience’s sub-conscious will determine whether they like what they see in a fraction of a second. We make the difference between a wasted effort and a wildly successful brand or a viral piece that is seen by millions in a matter of days. In tight budgets design is often jettisoned with marketing, but as marketers we know better.

Appeal includes the character’s appearance - its form, balance and flow. How does the eye follow and understand the character, and is it interesting to watch? It also includes the character’s emotions and reactions - its disposition, attitude and quirks. Is it happy, sad, confident, shy, intense, bored? How does it react to challenges? In all, is it interesting and does it draw the viewer in? Even the way that a character moves across the room can help to create its personality.

Common traits tend to play very well because the more people that can relate to a characters looks, attributes and challenges, the more widespread appeal it will gain. Hamlet is still very popular centuries later because above all he is a character, and he has feelings and experiences with which we can relate even today. Obviously if you are creating a character for your brand you will likely want to skip the dark and tragic elements and focus on the brighter attributes, such as wit, humor, kindness and intelligence. But consider your audience first and foremost; your goal is to capture and hold their attention. If you do that you’ll have a winning piece.

Implementing 3D Animation Is More Affordable Than You Think

Seth Fair — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 05:34:17 +0000

Producing a piece involving 3D animation can have a variety of cost factors; hardware, software, sophistication and staff all will play a role. Today’s technology allows us to create visual effects and unprecedented detail that were unimaginable just a few years ago, and at an increasingly faster rate.

There is no doubt that computing technology has dramatically changed our lives. Our desktops, laptops and hand-helds become more powerful with each year passing. Looking back to 1969, the guidance computer for Apollo 11 was 12 inches by 2 feet and weighed 70 pounds with a 2.048 MHz CPU. This computing power is now housed in a modern day calculator.

A long term trend was predicted and described in Moores Law, which states the number of transistors computer manufacturers will be able to inexpensively place on an integrated circuit will double each year. This trend has held true for the most part over the past few decades. As a result computer power has grown at an exponential rate. This trend is expected to continue for another five to ten years before the limits of physics come in to play.

As we dream of what computers will be like in ten years, new processing technologies will likely allow us to continue along an accelerated path of improved computing power.

Moores law has been linked to other factors in computer construction such as price, processing speed, and memory. Computing technology that was once limited to large corporations with big budgets is now available to the mass market. This is true with 3D technology as well. SGI IRIX computers in the late 1980s sold for $45K to $100K and accounted for over 50% of the 3D Computer market. Today high end computers for 3D graphics are in the range of $4K to $8K and are considerably more powerful.

High-end 3D animation software is coming down in price as well. Software which once cost tens of thousands of dollars now can be purchased for under $4,000 and at the same time is becoming more sophisticated and able to manipulate millions of polygons to render hyper realistic images. This allows artists to be more productive and given the freedom to create breathtaking images.

Still one of the major factors in creating 3D animation is personnel cost. This is highly dependant on the type of project you are undertaking. Regardless, if you compare creating a 30 second 3D animated commercial to a 30 second live action commercial at comparable quality you will almost always enjoy considerable savings working with 3D.

A 30 second animation can be completed with fewer than 10 people. A live action crew will normally require double or triple the staff. A live action film crew has cinematographer, assistance, actors, makeup artist, set designers, lighting artists, location scouts, costume designers, prop builder, producers, managers, and much more. A task that can be handled by one or few in 3D takes many different people with very different skill sets for a live action production. This has a tremendous effect of the production cost and speed at which it can be produced.

Next time you think about your advertisement or film project, do not forget the cost savings 3D animation can bring you.

Making the Leap to 3D Animation: Why to Use 3D in Your Marketing

Seth Fair — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:59:48 +0000

In our last blog post I talked about ways that you can use 3D animation and graphics to enhance sales, marketing and training, making them more engaging, exciting and effective. Leveraging 3D animation is much more affordable than you may think. So in this second installment I’ll offer some reasons to use it that range from cost savings to quick deployment to flexibility. These will benefit your organization in the near term and limitless creative options will provide a game-changer in the long run.

Customize
There are huge advantages to creating a proprietary character. The Geico Gecko will never ask for a raise, demand to renegotiate his contract or have a horrible sky-diving accident. He will not seek a movie career based on the popularity of his character’s advertising campaign. For film and commercials, you can create iconic characters that become great assets without risk of losing them or watching their personal sense of worth outgrow your budget. Design something that is intrinsically appealing and unique; you’ll get a great deal of value from it.

Interact
Using 3D, there is a wealth of information that can be communicated in a small space and an interactive dimension increases learning and customer experience. Create a sales tool that your prospects will want to interact with and it becomes a magnet for your brand. The result will be more informed consumers and more buying customers.

Integrate
Your 3D assets can be used over and over. They should be applied across medium - web, mobile, broadcast, print, social media, sales and training material - so that your investment is maximized. Good campaign planning can save you hundreds of development hours through the reuse of these assets. You will have much more versatility than live action and will stretch your investment.

Imagine
If you can imagine it, you can probably put it to 3D animation. Create visually attractive concepts that capture your viewers’ attention and more effectively communicate your message. Anything is possible and you can greatly increase the connection you make with your audience without crushing your budget.

Create
Present unique virtual environments for movies, games, products, presentations or classrooms. Use your creation to entertain, sell, teach, learn, innovate collaboratively, communicate and network, interact with and present information, and manage real-world systems. The possibilities are endless and the benefits can be substantial.

Whether you’re doing film, games or corporate sales material, think about the impact you want to have and work with a firm that can help you identify a budget and create a plan. We can help you with everything from conceptualizing and planning a project to executing just a segment in support of a larger project. Give us a call for some ideas.

Making the Leap to 3D Animation: How to Use 3D in Your Marketing

Seth Fair — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 21:32:23 +0000

Did you know that 3D animation is all around you? It makes advertising more engaging, exciting and effective. But does your organization know that it can use this 3D technology in ways that increase sales and improve your customer relationships? In today’s economy you need your marketing dollars to do more with less. People are plugged in more now than ever and you need to find ways to cut through the clutter and get noticed by potential customers.

In our next two blog posts we’ll talk about incorporating 3D animation into your website, advertising and other marketing efforts. First, the HOW:

Customize Your Spokesperson
Capture attention with a unique character that your target market will respond and relate to. Creating a character that appeals specifically to your potential customers can have a lasting impact. Add attributes to your spokesperson or character that will connect with your target audience. 3D animation has been successful in selling fast-food, candy, snacks, insurance, toys, sports and automobiles. Leverage your ability to create a personality for your brand to sell your product or service.

Enable Interaction with Your Products Virtually
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what would a 3D rotating image be worth? Wouldn’t it be great if everyone could virtually hold your product in the palm of their hand? You can illustrate product features in your online store almost as if your customer were looking at it in your physical brick and mortar store.

You don’t need to have a store in every city to show your wares, but even posting multiple images from different perspectives will not provide the feeling of discovery as those images are just a static snapshot in time. Build a 3D virtual product that will allow visitors to turn it around, push buttons, show additional information through video and audio, and even watch it operate.

Integrate to Stretch Your Budget
Plan a long term strategy to integrate a smart campaign across several different mediums, because you can port your animation from TV to web to mobile device without making major adjustments! You can even use your assets with print, presentations and interactive media. By taking your advertisements to different mediums, you increase your reach.

Use distribution such as YouTube and Vimeo, social networking like Twitter and Facebook, and spread your message through networking. Turn your message into a mobile application or game that can be downloaded from the Apple store and the Android market.

Go Beyond What is Realistic
Visual effects that have long been a staple of the movie industry can also be applied to 30 second commercials. The technology and software we have now outperforms even what was available five years ago in its ability to create environments in the digital realm and blend them with live action footage. The end result is you can wow your audience and achieve the impossible because you’re no longer restricted to what is realistic.

Create a Total Immersion Marketplace
Interactivity and immersion will lead to increased user engagement. You want to interact with your users in a unique way as they experience your product and message. So create an environment or a game on your website - an area that immerses your audience. This allows you to define all aspects of the space and engage with your audience as they explore who you are and what you do. Here is a great video showcasing what is possible with augmented reality.

3D animation and interactive multimedia is becoming more prevalent and consumers will soon expect this type of information as they shop online. According to Forrester Research (November 5, 2009), consumers prefer 3D product images to online product videos.

Use of 3D video is economical as it is creative. Own your assets and minimize the cost and risk factors associated with the director, camera, crew, lights, actors, agents, weather, equipment, scheduling conflicts, multiple takes, editing crew, etc.

Next time I’ll talk about why using 3D, and these strategies specifically, is good for your marketing and your bottom line.

Plugged in and tuned out in today's new media landscape

Seth Fair — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 04:37:58 +0000

Your audience is drowning in media. They are consuming more news and information, entertaining themselves with TV, video, music, radio, etc., and communicating with friends and co-workers through myriad social media channels. One report from CBS News says that the average American consumes 5,000 ads each day. Other reports put that number much lower at around 150 ads per day. Whatever the number is, there is no denying the crowding media landscape. And, as shown in this eMarketing.com survey, people are consuming more media now than they were three years ago.

With so much media buzzing around us, it is difficult to get our advertising message seen and absorbed. Your audience is plugged in, but they will tune you out in order to cope with the increased inbound messaging. The battle for attention is much more challenging in today's media landscape than it once was; so what can you do to still get your message across?

You first need to deliver something of value to your target audience. If what you deliver is perceived simply as an advertisement, it will be glossed over or tuned out immediately. The average user is served 150 to 5,000 advertisements daily, they can easily do without yours. Grab your audience’s attention by teaching them something or entertaining them. Even better, entertain your audience while teaching them about your product or service.

So what is the best way to do this? Cut through the boring competition and make a splash. Use 3D animation in your commercials and on your website. Everyone is familiar with blockbuster movies like Men In Black, Avatar and Independence Day, but many organizations do not know how they can apply this technology in ways that increase sales and improves the relationship with their customers.

Add 3D animation to your advertising toolbox; it allows for a limitless range in visual expression and removes the boundaries of the physical world. 3D animation and visual effects pick up where the capabilities of cameras and graphic design end.

Create new and eye popping elements to capture and keep your audience’s attention. Use interactive product models and demonstrations on your company’s website for sales tools and product education. If you incorporate these strategies, you will have a greater chance of cutting through the clutter to get and keep your audience's attention.

Different styles of animation, which one is right to use?

Seth Fair — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:21:59 +0000

Animation has many different flavors, and in many ways you can pick and choose your favorite. When you hear animation today, what style do you think of? Does 3D animation come to mind like Pixar who brought you Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and The Incredibles? Or do you think 2D animation like Disney or Warner Brothers who brought you many of the animation icons we know and love?

South Park started out as cutout animation in its early years, moving paper around under a camera, but eventually moved to using the computer to save time. They are using a combination of 2D and 3D tools.

With different techniques available, is there a better one to use? Honda with their Honda Mr. Opportunity commercial decided to used 2D animation. They could have easily used 3D animation. Would it be more effective? The Geico Gecco has been incredibly successful According to a USA Today weekly poll, 24% of the audience really likes the character a lot.

Some in the industry say that 2D animation is dead. Lets look at a clear example why some may think this from November/December 2009. Princess and the Frog (2D) vs Avatar (3D). We know who won this battle. People flocked to see the 3D animation feature Avatar which grossed $749M domestically. The Pricess and the Frog barley squeaked over the $100M mark for domestic sales. The audience has moved on to newer and flashier things. All time movie box office results shows the same with movies with rich visual effects and 3D animated films at the top.

I love 2d animation, but I have learned over the years that 3D animation has so much flexibility as well as eye appeal. 3D has a wider application to be used in both cartoon animation and visual effects as well as corporate communications, motion graphics, architecture, and medical animation. You also with 3D animation have the ability to re-use characters and environments in much more efficient ways. This saves time and allows for re-use of work in future projects. Stay posted to future blog posts as the topic of asset re-use is one we will be visiting again.

What role does the TV AD play in a crowding media environment?

Seth Fair — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 06:05:40 +0000

Memorable TV moments frozen in time. Remember the Energizer Bunny commercial in 1989 or Budweiser Croaking Frogs premiering during the 1995 Superbowl? Or perhaps you remember the defunct Pets.com sock puppet advertisement prior to the dot com burst in 1999? TV has created memorable icons over the years but are they still creating memorable ones today? Today TV competes in a larger media environment competing against the Internet, video games and mobile devices. What role does the TV play in an era where social media, mobile devices and on demand entertainment dominate our daily attention?

With massive changes happening in the media landscape, with social media and on demand videos and entertainment, it may seem like TV is on its way out, but the data just doesn't support it. Things are definitely changing, but it appears that TV/video has remained important and relevant. eMarketer.com released a survey of “Share of Time Spent per Day with Major Media by US Adults, 2008-2010”. The survey showed that daily media consumption is going up but the TV and video consumption is staying steady at 40% (4hrs and 24 min per day). This is the largest segment of time dedicated to media next to the Internet at 2.5% (2 hrs and 35 min per day). Click here to see the survey results.

What does this mean for advertisers? First, that TV and video is still playing an important role in daily consumption of information and advertisement. But second, and possibly worrisome, is their consumers attention may be thinning as users are consuming much more media and multi-tasking more. It is getting harder to get heard amongst all the noise, and it is important now more than ever to structure your message in such a way to get noticed.

Advertisers are already investing significant amounts of money on ad placement. Ad placement can range from several thousand dollars in off peak hours and local stations, to hundreds of thousands in prime-time national network. Lets also not forget the price tag in the millions during the Superbowl. While ad placement is the “location, location, location” argument, we must not forget that the ad placement is delivering a message and this message is what will get the user to act. You first need to capture their attention, and you can only do that with a unique and memorable production.

There are many ways to create a unique and memorable advertisement. Through creativity, technology and intelligent planning you can rise above the noise. TV and video provide a powerful branding vehicle to be able to deliver a clearly communicated message to millions of people. This will continue to be around in some form or another in the coming decades and we should not forget its importance. With the Internet the next big media segmentation, there natural link between the two. Social media sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter help with low cost video placement and streaming. The technology also allows for the ability to track reach to make the case on return on investment (ROI).

The future for TV and Video is bright. With all the technology and change within the advertising industry, we must remember that we are communicating ideas to people. There should be no reason to limit yourself in the production of an advertisement in ways that can hurt this message. With today’s technology, we have the ability to create limitless visual effects, and characters. You can take people and characters and put them in sistuation and places that only exist in the minds eye. By carefully constructing this message, you can use the technology as a tool to communicate your idea without limits and get noticed by entertaining the viewer. TV and video are here to stay, lets deliver quality.

Integrated animation advertisement on YouTube

Seth Fair — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 22:49:28 +0000

This is a fun and exciting example of how animation can be integrated into a youtube site to create a unique advertisement. The result is a compelling advertisement that people want to share and talk about. Check out this clever form of interactive advertising on Youtube for Nintendo Wii’s Wario Land Shake It! below.

Our community section

Seth Fair — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:52:44 +0000

This community section will aggregate our activity on Facebook and Twitter as well as our blog. We plan to add more communities, and you can expect to come to this site to see where in the online communities we are at and whats going on with 3D Character Factory. We encourage you to follow us on Twitter and Facebook and participate in our online discussions. We look forward to an exciting year ahead!