Also a pretty slick interstitial…

The 2011 update to the NFL GameDay Morning package includes an entirely new open for the popular Sunday morning show. The new open features live action shots of the show’s on-air talent interacting with virtual, holographic displays. We shot the sequence on the set of NFL GameDay with Rich Eisen, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Steve Mariuchi and Marshall Faulk. Obvious inspiration came from the great work in “Tron: Legacy” and “Minority Report” and our previous work on the package for NFL GameDay which you can see here.

Big Machine is an award winning visual production company founded in 2003 by Steve Petersen and Ken Carlson. BMD has produced visuals for everything from: film titles, advertising, tv shows, games, multi-screen experiences and mobile devices.

Credits

Big Machine Design
Director/Creative Director: Ken Carlson
Senior Producer: Matt LeBoeuf
Producer: Nyenye Kitchings

ESPN Open 2011 from Joyride Creative on Vimeo.

ESPN College Basketball Promo Package from Joyride Creative on Vimeo.

ESPN Open 2011 Credits

ESPN was looking for a new way to dramatize the Open Championship golf tournament in its 140th year. They also wanted to celebrate and feature the notoriously difficult St. George’s course known for its blind spots, fickle seaside weather and one of the deepest bunkers in the game. Drawing on the lore of Saint George who was beatified for slaying a dragon, we decided to imbue the rolling green landscape of the course with an almost mythological power to turn the tournament into an epic battle between man and nature. Since dragon slaying and golf both involve hitting a big green thing with shiny metallic sticks, it just made sense.

Client: ESPN
VP Creative Serv: Jon Achar
Sr Creative Director: Bill Schreitmueller
Supervising Producer: Geoff Bird

Joyride:
Exec Producer: Chris Gargani
Creative Director: Aaron King
Writer/Producer: Lauren Muir
Head of Production: Katie Larkin
Art Director: Steven Harper
VFX Artist: Paul Todaro
VFX Artist 2: Dom Amatore
Maya Artist: Lee Mylks
Compositing: John Stanch
Editor: David Gargani

 

ESPN College Basketball Credits

ESPN wanted to create a “home court” venue for college basketball, where all of the teams come to compete under ESPN’s roof. To start, we designed a logo lock-up that incorporates the ESPN logo into the “O” of Home Court, which is featured on both the floorboards and the bottom of the jumbo-tron. This logo was then disseminated to the show packaging team to ensure consistency across the channel.

In order to promote every possible match-up in one venue, we created team banners that function as dynamic ensigns over the field of battle. Authentic lighting and details including dust in the air, fabric textures in the flags and a crowd alive with excitement all adds up to make the package a total slam-dunk. If you look really closely, you can even see our staff cheering on the sidelines!

To make the package versatile enough for versioning spots over the course of the season, we made match-ups in a modular fashion with team banners that can be swapped out to feature nightly match ups, projectors that beam highlights onto billowing screens and the jumbo-tron itself comes alive with animations featuring the night of the week and game line-ups. Multiple versions of these shots make for a highly editorial style, easy customization and help keep the ESPN brand ahead of the game.

ESPN
Jonathan Achar: VP, Creative Services
Ryan Campbell: Sr. Dir. Marketing, Creative Svcs.
Jeff Gonyo: Sr. Dir. Sports Marketing
Alexander Green: Assoc. Director, Sports Marketing

Joyride
Exec Producer: Chris Gargani
Creative Director: Aaron King
Art Director: Steve Harper
Producer: Bennett Lieber
Head of Production: Katie Larkin
Designer: Jorge Peschiera
Designer: Adam Levine
Designer: Patrick Arrington
CG Artist: John Magabunda
CG Artist: Michael Schaeffer
CG Artist: AJ Kolb
Composite Artist: Ryan Gotilla
Composite Artist: AJ Kolb
Composite Artist: Rodrigo de la Parra
Composite Artist: Aras Darmawan
Roto: Anna Hieronymous
Music: Brian Aumueller

HBO “I Still Have A Soul” from Paradise Square Films on Vimeo.

Design and Concept: Eric Diga
Production Director: Eric Diga
Post-Production Direction: Bernard Ong
Producer: William Craig
Executive Producers: Jeff Wilson, Tom Vodick, Bob Vorwald
Producer/Editors: Ryan Johnson, Andrew Lennie
3D Lead: Michael Kislovsky
Motion Design/3D: Bernard Ong, Michael Kislovsky, John Long, Eric Diga

Brand consultancy and creative agency Troika has teamed up with longtime client ESPN to redesign the network’s blue chip college basketball programming. The package, which was last branded six years ago by Troika, will be rolled out through all of ESPN’s college basketball coverage, including College Gameday and men’s and women’s game coverage. The package hits air during ESPN’s first televised college basketball game of the 2011-2012 season.

ESPN’s aimed to revamp their college basketball package by bringing to the forefront the fanaticism, tradition and excitement that is unique to college basketball. To deliver an innovative, ownable design aesthetic, creative inspiration was taken from museums; elements were created with sculptural qualities as if the package were unfolding on the walls of a gallery.

Troika developed the package around the concept Mayhem, an immersive, abstract interpretation of the college basketball experience that takes a mixed-media approach by melding multiple elements of college basketball into single design elements. The culmination of the design concept is in the newly redesigned ESPN college basketball logo, which mixes textures of a hardwood floor, rubber basketball, nylon net, glass backboard and plastic shot clock to epitomize the college basketball experience.

Mayhem also informed the design for men’s and women’s game coverage, College Gameday, and ESPN’s college basketball franchises, including opens and a robust navigational toolkit. The artistry inside Mayhem was original dreamt up through pencil sketches by capturing an abstract, sculptural environment. This living, moving gallery of stories, fanatical fans and game elements take viewers into the passion and anticipation of the big game by featuring well known college basketball traditions; crazy student sections, hand made signs, and team colors.

Said Gil Haslam, Creative Director at Troika, “We really wanted to deliver the emotion and passion that compresses and eventually combusts during the big game. Mayhem served as the solution, and gives ESPN a unique, highly recognizable look unlike any other college basketball package on the air today.”
In all, a team of 29 designers, animators, creative directors, writers, editors and producers from Troika developed ESPN’s college basketball package, which was built in After Effects, Maya, and Cinema 4D. The package will hit air on November 11th during ESPN’s coverage of the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic.

 

Production Credits
Executive Creative Director Dan Pappalardo
Senior Executive Producer Kristen Olsen
Creative Director Gilbert Haslam
Creative Director Whit Friese
Executive Producer Connor Swegle
Producer Claudina Mercado
Associate Producer Eric Zapakin
Associate Producer Trevor Steadman
Writer Craig Cleek
Art Director Heather Kim
Art Director Neng Tea
AD/Designer Seton Kim
Designer/Animator Marcello Patrela
Lead Maya Animator Cory Strassburger
Lead Maya Animator Robin Roepstorff
Animator Jun Kim
Animator Glenn Suhy
Animator Tristan Maduro
Animator Hao Cui
3D Modeler Gene Arvan
3D Modeler Nick Smith
3D Modeler Troy Williamson
Animator Cody Smith
Animator Steve Strassburger
Director/Photographer Alain Vasquez
Assistant Editor Jeff Hayford
Design Assistant Andrew Shin
Design Assistant Katherine Meng
Design Assistant Debbie Huang

Fuimos contratados por Injaus/Turner para el desarrollo del pack grafico del clasico programa de boxeo: Combate Space. El Concepto del pack fue representar los golpes con la tipografia del logo como si fueran verdaderos boxeadores.

We were hired by Injaus / Turner for the complete develop of the graphic pack for their classic box program, Combate Space. The basic concept was to represent the box hits with the typography of the logo as if they were real box fighters

CREDITS
CLIENT: Turner
ART DIRECTION: Lucas Machione, Diego Fernandez.
3D MODELING, POST, DESIGN & ANIMATION: Juan M. Codó – Christian H. Segura
MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN: BANDA ORIGINAL – Hernan Espejo.

London 2012 Animation

Blur has really outdone themselves with this new robotic, futuristic, Fox NFL intro. Great job Blur!

Also, Dime Magazine has some nice behind the scenes footage. Check it out.

Via Collider

This film features star players Ferdinand, Park, and Giggs of Manchester United in a surreal football game for Smirnoff & JWT. Daniel and producer Nicholas Wrathall mounted the 5 day shoot in Manchester above and below the water. Shot by Alex Lamarque, Edited by Lorin at Collider, Post by our friends at Animal Logic and sound by Nylon.

NFL “Football Freakonomics” 2011 Show Package from Eric Del Greco on Vimeo.

NFL FieldPass from ECHOLAB on Vimeo.

Great new work from Echolab, nominated for Promax BDA Best Use Of Original Music or Sound Design 2011! Congrats.

Awesome Adidas spot with Derrick Rose.

Via The Inspiration Room (a great website, be sure to bookmark)

The D Rose 2 campaign was developed at 180 Los Angeles, by Executive Creative Director William Gelner, Creative Director Gavin Milner, Creative Director Grant Holland, Copywriter Dave Horton, Art Director Matthew Woodhams-Roberts, Head of Production/managing partner Peter Cline, Producer Natasha Wellesley, Planning Director Matt Johnson.

Filming was shot by director Stacy Wall via Imperial Woodpecker, with director of photography Joost Van Gelder, senior executive producer Doug Halbert, producer Mary Livingston, production designer Pablo Tregebov, stylist Paco Delgado, casting director Cecilia Bayonas.

Editor Paul Watts at Rock Paper Scissors with executive producer Carol Lynn Weaver, producer Cassie Hulen, assistant editor Chris Urmston, assistant editor Anton Capaldo Smith.

Post production was done at The Mill by VFX supervisor Ant Walsham, Flame artists Ant Walsham and Gareth Parr, compositor Will Voss, CG artist Ed Hicks, colorist Adam Scott, head of production Ben Hampshire, producer Sue Troyan.

Sound was produced at POP Sound by mixer Jeff Payne, assistant mixer Ben Freer, and executive producer DJ Fox. Music was produced at Elias Arts by composer Kenny Segal, creative director Dave Gold, executive producer Ann Haugen. Sound was designed at 740 Sound Design by lead sound designer Eddie Kim, executive producer Scott Ganary, producer Adrienne Alexander.

Brand consultancy and creative agency Troika has teamed up with Sportsnet, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc., on a fully-integrated brand campaign across all five of the sports media entity’s platforms: tv, radio, digital, mobile and print. The brand offering, which includes a new logo, tagline, animation and graphics package, and theme music is set to launch concurrently with the start of the 2011-2012 NHL season.

Rich and multidimensional, the brand offering is designed to engage sports fans and provide a single source that delivers fans the content they want, whenever, wherever, on a local, regional, national and global level.

The overhaul began with Troika teaming up with Sportsnet’s in-house Creative Services team to evaluate their internal brand communication and develop a consumer tagline. Research was conducted through two-day on-site brand audits to build consensus from key department leaders and establish brand goals. From this intake, Sportsnet’s brand strategy was fundamentally shifted by establishing five attributes to support the new Sportsnet vision: visceral, excellence, robust, engaging and Canadian. These brand pillars are communicated through the new consumer-facing tagline, “Fuelled By Fans.”

A brand identity was built, beginning with a redesign of all Sportsnet logos into one cohesive system. The conceptual platform behind the creative, “Conduit,” was anchored in the network’s new position by visually fuelling the fan’s excitement through professional passion and spirited storytelling. The concept takes viewers on a journey through intricate circuits and light to build excitement and illuminate stories that are most relevant to fans in each region.

This concept was implemented across all aspects of the Sportsnet on-air identity. A new promotional system and insert system, including menus, lower thirds and transitions, was created to bring Sportsnet a cohesive set of navigational and in-game tools. Game packages, anchored with the home team’s oversized logo, were produced for 5 teams: Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators. The network’s daily news show, Sportsnet Connected, was also redesigned with the creative rooted in the “Conduit” design concept.

Gil Haslam, Creative Director at Troika, noted, “We wanted to take Sportsnet from a well known Canadian broadcast brand to a finely-focused multi-platform sports brand. The ‘Fuelled By Fans’ platform and subsequent creative execution built from this position allows Sportsnet to become an easily recognizable brand no matter how it is consumed, whether it be television, print or online.”

The Sportsnet audit, reposition and rebrand was a 10 month process that included a team of over 25 creative directors, writers, editors, designers, animators and producers from Troika. The project was built in After Effects and Cinema 4D and launched on Monday, October 3rd.

Production Credits

Executive Creative Director Dan Pappalardo
Senior Executive Producer Kristen Olsen
Creative Director Gilbert Haslam
Creative Director Whit Friese
Executive Producer Connor Swegle
Producer Jason O’Leary
Producer Taline Ghazarian
Associate Producer Chris Hill
Production Coordinator Chet Patel
Writer Craig Cleek
Writer Charlie Short
Designer/Animator Marc Juon
Designer/Animator Maziar Majd
Designer/Animator David Perry
Designer/Animator Brian Hwang
Designer Seton Kim
Designer Matt Lehman
Designer Federico Reinfeld
Designer Fraser Davidson
Designer Daniel Garcia
Designer Michael Arcangeli
Animator Jun Kim
Animator David Glicksman
Animator Jahn Hancock
Animator Greg Reynard
Animator Ted Gore
Editor Joe Denk
Junior Designer Vanessa Koch
Junior Designer Assist Michael Arcangeli
Design Assist Andrew Shin

ESPN: World Series of Poker from Charlie Company on Vimeo.

BTN: Football Fix from Charlie Company on Vimeo.
BTN: Anthem from Charlie Company on Vimeo.

DESAFÍO CHAMPIONS 2011-2012 / Madrid from Kotoc on Vimeo.
DESAFÍO CHAMPIONS – Octavos de Final from Kotoc on Vimeo.
ESPORT CLUB – Careta – TV3 | Kotoc from Kotoc on Vimeo.

Buick Human Highlight Reel “Alan Page” :30 from Steele Films on Vimeo.

The Buick Human Highlight Reel in partnership with the NCAA shines a light on former NCAA student-athletes who have given their all on the field and now find a way to give even more to the causes that matter most.

This episode features NFL Hall of Famer Alan Page, a graduate of Notre Dame. Quarterbacks, criminals, the justice system, and racial equality: Alan Page has tackled them all.

Director: John Stewart Muller
Producers: Laura Boersma and John Stewart Muller
Production Coordinator: Kirsten Noll
Cinematographer: Frederick Schroeder
Editor: Ben Waters
Motion Graphics: Aric Avelino

For more great work, go to http://www.steelefilms.com

Buick Human Highlight Reel “Alan Page” from Steele Films on Vimeo.

loyalkaspar have branded the 24/7 University of Texas ‘Longhorn Network’ with a great collection bumpers, opens, navs and a bunch more. Pretty awesome work, and I’m sure it was a blast to work on. Be sure to check out loyalkapar’s site for full read, including how they came up with this awesome look.

NFL on Fox 2011 from Süperfad on Vimeo.

Awesome work from Süperfad.

Working with our old friends at FOX Sports Design, the promo package for this year’s NFL season conjures up an epic rocket-powered football and the FOX broadcast booth as mission control. A cinematic blend of live-action footage directed by Will Hyde and impactful 3D animation and compositing sets the stage for the launch of another explosive season of the NFL. And did we mention our new employee Cleatus the Robot? 3…2…1… Render!

Client: FOX Sports
Agency: FOX Sports Design

Production Company: Superfad
Director: Will Hyde
DP: Steve McGehee
Production Designer: Jason Puccinelli
Line Producer: John Gomez
Executive Producer: Chris Volckmann

Post Production: Superfad
Executive Creative Director: Will Hyde
Creative Director: Izik Roitman
Art Director: Loren Judah
Lead 3D Artist: Matt Guzzardo
Lead Modeler/Texture Artist: Adam Rosenzweig
3D Generalists: Ian Mankowski, Andrew Butterworth, Anton Tokar
Lighting: Russ Wooton, Julian Fitzpatrick, Anton Tokar
Simulations/FX: Phipat Pinyosophon
Lead Compositor: Joel Voelker
Compositors: Paulo Dias, Lu Liu, Paul Barkshire, Paul Cantor, Allen K. Lau, Erik Rasmussen, Anton Tokar
2D Animation: Justin Pae
Editor: Ryan Haug
Colorist: Joel Voelker
Producer: Michael Kaufman
Executive Producer: Chris Volckmann

Sound Design: John Buroker

• Stereoscopic 3d Sports Graphics
• Quickly change player assets in After Effects
• New Physical Render Engine
• 3d Athlete (Character) Animation
• & Render Queue

What’s new in C4D R13
Well lots of things, you can find a full feature list on Maxon’s site. I’d like to focus on some of the things that can work well for sports graphics. This is by no means a comprehensive article, just my thoughts on the new release.

Stereoscopic 3d
It remains to be seen where 3d will fit into our media consumption. With the popularity of 3d movies and the increased sales of 3d televisions not to mention the recent 8 year Monday Night Football/ESPN contract signed with a provision for 3d content. It’s safe to say that 3d will be in our living rooms, for quite some time. If you’re an artist creating mograph for a jumbotron the odds of creating stereoscopic content for your big board (and the subsequent glasses for 20,000 fans) may be slim, but the odds of you working for a company that produces 3d content for broadcast in the future could be high if you’re familiar with the process. Maxon has made it simple to work with and render to many types of stereoscopic 3d.

After Effects Exchange
While loading C4D renders and .aec (after effects compositions) have been working for a few versions now, Maxon has added support for 29.97 renders and stage objects.
That means your C4d lights, cameras and solids come into AE. Adding null place holders is essential for when you need to quickly swap a photo of a recently traded player without having to re-render from C4D.
Some playing with this revealed that adding a external compositing tag to some mograph text, yielded a null object in after effects for every letter! Pretty cool.

Physical Render Engine
A whole new render engine that can create truly photo realistic results. Not only will your work look better but if set up properly can render faster. Better looking renders means, better looking work.

Character Rigging
Rigging a character for animation in R13 couldn’t be easier. Recently at the Chicago C4D meetup Chris Schmidt demonstrated how simple it really is to rig a character for animation. Think of the possibilities of having your entire team of players animated in an in-game opener video. Worried your 3D characters won’t look realistic enough? See Physical Render Engine above.

Crazy Idea: You know those football programs where the studio hosts stand on a mini football field in their suits and mock up a play? Fake tackling each other. Well, I think we’re just a few football seasons away from seeing 3d recreations of plays and possible outcomes. Instead of Terry Bradshaw tripping over Howie Long, you could have really nice animations of potential plays.
Take a look at this work from Troika. Not saying it was done in C4D, but imagine easily animating and rendering 3d athletes during a LIVE game for broadcast. Crazy?

Render Queue (not new to R13)
Just like the render queue in After Effects that you know and love plus you can still work in C4D while it’s rendering. This is a pretty useful feature. I tend to create a in-game feature, render, then re-purpose the elements for another board of a different size. Then queue that project up, render, and work on the ribbon boards. So when I’m done, i’ve got 2 or 3 projects for the same feature almost done rendering.

Another really cool feature is selecting a camera to render from in your project, but from within the render queue. That means you can have two cameras with different cam animations in the same project, queue them up, hit render and come back in the morning to pick your favorite.

If you like articles like this, let me know and I’ll do my best to write some more.

Also, big shout out to my buddy Greyscale Gorilla for always keeping us informed about C4D, AE and all things awesome. If you don’t know, this is an unbelievable resource.