This award winning, fully CGI image is a great example of when to choose CGI over traditional methods and opened a lot of peoples’ eyes to the possibilities of using CGI beyond automotive advertising. Here, CGI allowed an idea to become reality, turning a modelmaking ordeal into relatively plain sailing.
The concept was to show just how much energy could accumulatively be saved by using Tide, since it washes well at cooler temperatures: the executions were depictions of clear energy-guzzlers that you could power with the equivalent amount of energy.
Before the ship itself could set sail, the individual Tide pack was accurately 3D modeled and textured.
Then, initially using very basic geometric shapes in place of the pack (like Tide at 30 degrees, basic shapes use less (computing) power than complex pack models, so are faster) numerous angle studies were performed and cameras and lenses. Further studies were conducted to decide on the best number of packs required to represent each image – it couldn’t feel cluttered, but need to impress with scale.
Modelling the Tide ship before wireframing and visualising the constituent parts.
A fairly soft light was chosen for the campaign in order to lighten up a potentially heavy-looking image: the product, after all, is a laundry detergent and needed to exude an appropriate cleanliness and brightness.
Testing bottle size and formation
The complex process of rendering the image with the many pack shots in place took many hours, due to the sheer amount of 3D geometry involved. The final images were retouched and colour finished, with footprints and people added as a grounding and scale device.
The ads won a Silver Clio, a Silver Lion at Cannes and a One Show Merit.
They also led on to us doing more modelmaking projects such as the ones below:
