One of the true tragedies of CG motion design is the quantity of beautiful R&D visuals that don’t make the final cut. The solution of course (which, in our opinion should be legally mandatory) is to assemble an extensive exploration reel.

Luckily for 3D fans, the design and animation crew at Loop took the time to gather and edit their procedural design experiments generated during production for LA-based apparel brand Bella+Canvas and their new Heavyweight Collection.

Alex Mikhaylov, CD at Loop: “Our work captures Bella+Canvas’ intricate cutting edge production process from cotton balls to stitching garments, resulting in highly detailed and nuanced animations. The task was to elevate a highly technical process into something visually compelling and design-driven.
 

“We used a mix of software, mainly 3ds Max/TyFlow and Houdini but in the end, it really came down to the talent and persistence of the team to make it all work.”

 
“Cotton balls are not something you see often in CG due to their complexity, millions of strings entangled together in a very condensed structure, something that is hard to recreate in 3D software, but after a good dozen rounds of R&D we got there.

“The primary challenge was creating the animated 3D geometry for the extreme macro shots of the cotton processing, string twisting, dyeing, sewing and stitching into garments and finished clothing pieces. We used a mix of software, mainly 3ds Max/TyFlow and Houdini but in the end, it really came down to the talent and persistence of the team to make it all work.”

Watch the finished spot:
 

 
 

 
Client: Bella+Canvas

Production: Upperline
EP: Zach LaPlante

Production: The Ballon Corp.
Director: Joe Lafleur
EP: Colin Hudock

Design/CG: Loop
CD: Alex Mikhaylov, Max Chelyadnikov
EP: Max Chelyadnikov
Art Director: Alex Mikhaylov
3D Artist: Dmitriy Paukov, Artemy Perevertin, Filipp Gorbachev, Max Chelyadnikov
3D Modeler: E. D. Satan
Compositing: Max Chelyadnikov

Sound: Zelig