05/10/2024
How to train CGI dragon?
Over 160. That's the number of projects our studio, Lagom CGI, has brought to life in just three years. We take the familiar reality â streets, buildings, cities â and flip it upside down with the power of graphic design. It evokes emotions, grabs attention, puzzles, and hooks you in. That's why the number of our projects is ever-growing.
In our blog, we often share the inside scoop on our work on individual projects, but how does this massive transformation of space actually happen?
It might surprise you, but the first thing we do, after agreeing on the idea, is shoot a clip with an iPhone (unless the project requires Full CGI â weâll cover that in a future post). In addition, using a specialized program called HDREye we scan the world around us through the lens of the operator, capturing every angle, to gather a wealth of visual data that we later upload into our professional software. This ensures that the lighting, shadows, and reflections in the graphics are perfectly realistic.
The second crucial stage is tracking. To put it simply, this involves a specialist analyzing the video data to extract information about camera movement and the 3D scene, because the video itself is in 2D. If we simplify it, itâs like laying the hooks that our 3D objects will later latch onto.
Once tracking is done, we add 3D objects to our recreated three-dimensional space. It's almost like Minecraft, but with the settings cranked up to the max. Sometimes we use ready-made 3D models, sometimes we customize them to suit our needs, and occasionally we create them from scratch â as we did for a commercial for the Lenta hypermarket, which we wrote about, or for Saint Mob, which will be featured in our next weekâs post. In such cases, a modeling and texturing steps are added.
Moreover, it's crucial not just to place objects within the scene, but also to animate them so they donât move like cardboard cutouts. Or like the girl from The Ring. This stage involves rigging.
After the motion animation comes Look Development, where we adjust the materials of the scene for the already completed 3D models. Next is rendering, which is the output of the file, and then compositing â the combination of several visual elements. This is where all the efforts are channeled to make the graphics indistinguishable from the real-world video surrounding it.
And, of course, the final touch is sound design. At our studio, we craft the sound for each piece ourselves. Our amazing sound designer polishes everything down to the faintest rustle, the creak of tires, or a chuckle off-screen. We often composes music too, if the project calls for it.
Such a detailed and methodical process is what ordinary 3D graphics entail. Our studio began with three people, and now we have over 20 specialists who can tackle these tasks quickly and with the utmost efficiency. Interested in working with us? Drop us a line at [email protected]