Newbury Park, CA – May 21, 2009 — The beauty, complexity and delicate strength of a spider web is one of nature’s most iconic displays and is known to be an incredibly challenging image to duplicate realistically through software. Perception, the New York-based studio known for its award-winning motion graphics and animation work, met this particular challenge head-on recently with the help of MAXON CINEMA 4D when its client, Showtime, requested the Perception team create a spider web motif that would be used as the centerpiece for its new season promo spots for the network’s hit show, Weeds. The project comprised several deliverables; a sophisticated broadcast commercial image spot, designed to set the mood for the season and additional season promos, and transitional elements that could be used by Showtime throughout the season to create duplicate promo spots with updated footage for both broadcast and the Web./ Link to promo: http://www.perceptionnyc.com/index.php/work/weeds_spiderweb

The core issue facing the Perception team centered on attaining a realistic looking spider web that would convey the proper organic feel unique to the form. The team’s first step was to search through MAXON’s fully comprehensive online education and training resource, Cineversity, where they quickly found numerous tutorials that helped them come up with solutions to quickly and flexibly model the web’s complex shapes with CINEMA 4D. From there they were able to generate style-frames, also known as still images, which would show how the final piece would look with accurate representations of mood, lighting, elements and the show’s main character, Nancy. Once these core elements were set, the team leveraged CINEMA 4D’s powerful spline dynamics and hair module to create the dramatic “kick� effect against the spider web that closes the spot; resulting in the web architecture gently collapsing in a realistic mix of tension and delicacy as the main character’s world crumbles around her.

John LePore, Associate Creative Director, Perception comments: “My team has been using CINEMA 4D for quite a while now and it’s definitely our 3D application of choice. For this particular project, we were particularly pleased at how quickly we were able to create stunning renders. Being able to refer to the large library of great Cineversity tutorials allowed us quickly create complex elements, right from the very start of the project.�

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