NICKELODEON
BUMPER
✷
A short bumper animated in Cinema 4D.
CLIENT
NICKELODEON (MOCK PROJECT)
PROGRAMS
AFTER EFFECTS + CINEMA 4D + ARNOLD
ROLE
ANIMATOR + DESIGNER
DURATION
3 WEEKS
THE CHALLENGE
Create a summer bumper to play between commercials on Nickelodeon. This animation should be appealing to an audience aged 2-17 and create excitement for the brand.
KEY POINTS
Focus on Nickelodeon logo
0:05 duration
Colorful and attention-grabbing
16:9 aspect ratio
PROCESS WORK
⦿ TIP: CLICK EACH IMAGE TO VIEW IT IN EXPANDED MODE
✦ CONCEPT ANIMATICS
I started by drafting two distinct concepts and pitching them to my director. These short previs animations were extremely useful for visualizing the final product. After careful deliberation, we decided to move forwards with the summer direction.
✦ production
Next, I proceeded with modeling the bumper and developed color studies to better determine how the final lighting and texturing should look.
The most challenging aspect was the umbrella which required a unique rig to close and open. Certain elements such as the accents and popsicle drips were animated similar to frame by frame animation. Instead of interpolated movement, I created a set of unique models and toggled between them to create the illusion of movement.
✦ compositing
Once the animation was complete, I compiled everything together in After Effects and made a few polishing touches. Most notably, I added a vignette and cast shadows to make everything feel more cohesive.
LEFT: First pass texturing
RIGHT: Final pass texturing + compositing
Footnote: Detail Work
I faked a 2D cell look for the umbrella shadow in 3D using a flat plane of geometry with a darker color than the background. To finalize the effect, I made two renders: one with the shadow and one without.
During compositing, I layered the shadow render on top of the render without a shadow. Afterwards, I cut out the bottom with a feathered mask to create a gentle falloff! I repeated the same process with the sphere, this time masking each shadow manually frame by frame to create the same effect.
Render With Plane
Wireframe
Render Without Plane
Final Composite
Render With Shadow
Wireframe
Render Without Plane
Final Composite
