The Lunz Group
We were approached by the Lunz Group and tasked with creating a short, photorealistic opening sequence for their ambitious Bonnet Springs project. As the Lunz Group is an architectural firm, they already have the expertise and tools to create 3D visualizations, but they wanted to open their video on an uplifting, natural tone.
We were given a very short window to complete this project, and all animation and lighting were completed in under one week. We used Houdini to scatter instanced trees and grass, but only within the camera view. This enabled us to very rapidly create an expansive environment that did not have too much impact on render performance–a critical issue under such strict deadlines.
The butterfly was animated by hand in Maya and saved out as an Alembic cache for easy exchange with Houdini.
The whole shot was rendered using Redshift, and all 3D effects were done in camera to optimize turnaround time.
While not strictly realistic, the butterfly’s wings were given some emmisive properties. This made for a nicer looking shot, with the butterfly brightly standing out from its environment and better capturing attention.
You can see the full Bonnet Springs tour video here:
We really enjoyed working with the Lunz Group on this project, and we are looking forward to visiting the park!