If you appreciate the power of data-driven animation you’ll love this new view of history tracking the births and deaths of 120,000 people from 600 BC to the present day: “using them as a proxy for skills and ideas, the map reveals intellectual hotspots and tracks how empires rise and crumble.” [Watch]
When Melbourne digital artist Andy Thomas pushes beyond his insanely intricate print work into motion, he creates what he calls “audio life forms” – complex and unexpected particle-driven 3D abstractions reacting to sound.
In this latest piece called “Nightingale and Canary,” he visualizes bird call recordings found in the archives of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum.
Thomas’ toolkit includes 3ds Max, Realflow, Quantum force, Fume fx, Krakatoa, Frost, Phoenix fd, V-ray, After Effects, Photoshop and Zbrush. [Watch]
Patrick Clair and his prolific studio Antibody continue rolling out smart, clean, striking work at a record pace. Check out their four latest projects including the promo for WXD Wired By Design, “a two-day live magazine exploring the intersection of culture and design” presented by Condé Nast: [Watch]
MPC say they channeled Samuel L Jackson, John Travolta, Michael Jackson and Beyoncé to choreograph the moves of a funky 15-foot African bull elephant strutting the streets of Vancouver for Money Supermarket thru Mother.
MPC 3D Supervisor Fabian Frank: “The biggest challenge was creating an elephant that could pull out the moves with the best of them, yet was also believable and true to life. We solved this by ensuring his dance moves stayed within the realms of what a real elephant could do.”
“The second challenge came with integrating the elephant into the shot footage. Matching the interaction between Graeme and the elephant were key, so Graeme was tracked and rotoscoped back into the shots – using select takes to perfectly match the elephants walk cycle.”
Watch the VFX Breakdown and the finished spot below:
Agency: Mother
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Guy Shelmerdine [Watch]
Spot your favorite childhood sneaks in this animated tour thru 43 years years of Nike history showcasing 200 shoes in two minutes courtesy of I Love Dust sister company Golden Wolf in London. Produced directly for Nike EHQ. [Watch]
Never played World of Warcraft. Never will.
But thank the gods and the hordes of fans who do, giving Blizzard the motivation and the cash to produce head-snapping cinematics like this one for the game’s latest expansion pack called “Warlords of Draenor.”
It seems Garrosh Hellscream has “escaped through the Dark Portal and forged the orc clans of old into a terrifying war machine known as the Iron Horde,” but we all know narrative is not the point – we’re here to get sucked down the rabbit hole of infinite rendering detail, the impeccable lighting, sweeping scale and blazing action. And then watch again.
FYFI: Duncan Jones’ World of Warcraft feature is now in post and due for release in 2016. [Watch]
