BFX Design and animation studios form part of Blade Works post-production facility in
Johannesburg. “Our primary focus mainly involves visual effects, motion graphics and
character animation for commercials,’ says Shaun Froneman, animation director at BFX.
The team recently created a Transformer Robot for Giant Leaps, the Gamechanger
range of office furniture, which is a modular, versatile and scalable office desk system.
“Director Jonathan Cohen approached us with an elaborate idea of turning a range of
office furniture into a Transforming Robot,’ says Froneman.
“The fact that you can slot different pieces onto the base structure reminded the
director of a Transforming Robot.’
He mentions that the robot concept worked well as it took the idea of the modularity of
the system to a whole new level. “Through being so modular and versatile there wasn’t
a single obstacle city life could throw at this robot that could hinder it from reaching its
goal: which was outfitting any new office with awesome new furniture.’
Froneman comments that a lot of the creative team’s initial time went into character and
concept design. “The nature of this project meant that the design needed to be very
precise. In the end the whole robot was from the ground up with to-scale parts from
the furniture range.
“Another huge challenge was to rig this complex robot we built to be able to move freely
without geometry overlapping! After the rigging, we tracked our shots, created 3D
cameras and then spent time on getting the robot’s performance nailed down.’
One more intricate animation shot was the final transforming shot. “Once we were happy
with the performance, we matched lighting and rendered it all out for composting and
grading,’ says Froneman.
He adds: “In total the project spanned more than four months of which we spent the
bulk in animation. We had three animators working on the project full time and then
spent two weeks compositing and grading it.’
All the animation was done in Autodesk Maya and XSI, while rendering was handled with
Mental Ray and Arnold and the initial compositing was done in After Effects. The final
compositing and grading was done in Nuke and Flame.
Froneman says that the process of creating something that didn’t exist from scratch
and breathing life into it is incredibly rewarding. “With that the unique challenges each
new project brings and the interesting ways we can overcome these challenges. We get
to push the boundaries on a daily basis. How can that not be rewarding?’ The
Gamechanger commercial was created by Froneman (animation director / animator), Mills
De Carvalho (lead animator), Rayn Lloyd (animator), Jeanette Thom (animation
producer), Jean du Plessis (lead compositor), Michael Henry (compositor) and Nic
Apostoli (colonist).
BFX Studios has also worked on animation projects such as Hyundai i20 Visualiser
(Jupiter Drawing Room), the Fake or Real Campaign for DStv, Vodacom Rooftop
(DraftFCB), Gory Story for BFX, Vodacom Retail Campaigns, SuperSport boxing
campaigns and KFC Turbo, to mention but a few.
Gamechanger can be viewed on https://vimeo.com/channels/bfx/69688166.
