Main Elections Coverage Intro	Quicktime l 15sec | 1 of 3. Elections bumper	Quicktime l 10 sec | 1 of 3 Elections stations ID's

Synopses

Foreground Image was approached by Rogers Communication Television to create a spectacular and dramatic broadcast image that communicated the significance of the 2004 Canadian Election Campaign coverage. All the Canadian media outlets were scrambling at the time to define their own image. The two places that over-the-top and glossy image are appropriate are in Sports graphics and election graphics, so I decided to utilize the cold raw power of 3d generated imagery.

Elections bumper | "You are watching Rogers" | 15sec | 1 of 3.
Elections stations ID's | "Rogers Television" | 10 sec | 1 of 3.

Treatment study

Softimage XSI advanced; a high-end 3d animation package for the project, proved to be a pleasure due to the caliber of images that it can render.

The job required creation of a significant number of elements, 22 English and 22 French counterparts, some with 3 different time lengths. The grand total of compositions comprised about 50 individual sequences.

The nature of 3d modeling facilitates creation of repetitious elements. Once the model is completed, it can be applied to any media and used infinitely. 3d modeling is particularly valuable when creating movement, transitions and other compositions where models are used a number of times in different configurations.

The main challenge of any serious 3d animation project is time versions render quality. This factor directly affects what the 3d artist can and cannot do! Compromise by the designer is always part of the process, particularly in the case of 3d animation. The largest challenge that had to be overcome with the Rogers Federal Election project was the versioning that was expected throughout the approval process. Accordingly, a balance had to be attained between a achieving high level of visual complexity and avoiding overtaxing the software and hardware used in the rendering process. Rendering times for some scenes were about 8-16hrs for some areas and only a minute for others, so the planning of the animations and concepts had to be thought out carefully to avoid costly re-rendering time.

All in all, though the time and effort devoted to planning and carrying out a 3d animation project are significant, the process of the Rogers Federal Election Project was extremely rewarding and the product visually striking, not to mention pleasing to our client.