Absolut Demist
Client: Self-initiated
Year: 2023
Credits: Concept, direction, design, motion and sound design by Virtual Vacuum
Music by Serge Cuadrado
Challenge: Mix classical animation, dynamic simulations, and techniques such as vertex maps, hair dynamics and UV mapping to represent a playful bottle demist situation.
CONCEPT
I wanted to imagine the mechanics of some sort of hypothetical cleaning machine, whose only purpose would be to demist the iconic bottle while revealing its brand. The aim was to use nonsensical humour together with an elegant chilled atmosphere in order to uplift the experience of this product and its branding. A machine that would be so unlikely to exist and which limits the absurd, aims to be a great catch for human connection with the product.
KEYWORDS
Brand identity, play, tasteful, high-end, reverie
Absolut Demist Final result
PROCESS
This project includes different techniques. Most of the animation is created with dynamic simulations, starting by the falling bottle which reaches the conveyor belt and moves forward with it. Every time the belt stops, classical keyframe animation takes place, when the machine’s arms move and spin. Both the roof and vertical brushes include hair dynamics, which follow those arm movements. On the other hand, the cleaning or demisting process takes place through vertex maps, which are used for transitioning the two different textures overlapping on the bottle (the texture of the misted up botte and the texture of the UV mapped bottle without mist).
Viewport sequence
TEXTURE
I experimented with different looks and textures before finding the right one. I even tried to have mud instead of mist, fascinated by all the possibilities. Every aspect required different tests, the humid environment, the length and quality of the brushes' hair, the lighting, the mist…
Different tests from the whole creation process: Mud instead of mist, different textures for defining the environment and how it reflects, finding the right mist texture and feeling, playing with space reflections, hair and colour quality.
Texture UV Mapping of the bottle
PHOTOGRAPHY
I was aiming for the viewer to be an active participant of this story, so I went for a single camera movement with no cuts. The “voyeur” camera moves as an observer through a single path.
Front view
Top view
LIGHTING
The main lighting of the scene is composed of four downlights, three of them have a warm colour temperature on the right side, and another one on the left side of cold colour temperature. Besides, there is one cold spotlight focusing on the bottle’s logo, and a square spot on the background doing a cold wall grazing effect (half-sphere shaped)
Front view
Top view
POST-PRODUCTION
For the final look, different passes were exported separately from the sequence, and added in the right proportions in order to produce the final look. The following images show the passes used:
1. Illumination
2. Atmosphere
3.Indirect specular
4. Reflection
5.Object buffer (mask for the bottle)
6. Refraction
After mixing the image sequence with the passes in the right proportions, together with other color adjustments, the final look is produced.
These two images show the look before and after post-production.
