One week. One concept. One trailer-sized promo. Pixeldust built a 3D animated launch video for TMGcore's OTTO data-center platform that plays more like an action movie than an ad.
Texas-based technology company TMGcore was launching OTTO, its line of super-efficient data-center platforms, with technology being used by U.S. defense branches such as the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force. The promo had to match that grand potential, and the concept and final delivery had to happen within a single week.
Pixeldust answered with a CGI promo built entirely in a real-time Unreal Engine pipeline: superhero camera moves, buildings rebuilt in 3D from photos, and an epic drop from space, closing on the line “The Evolution is here, the sky is no longer the limit.”
How we made a CGI action trailer in a week
With such a tight turnaround, Pixeldust leaned on its efficient Unreal Engine pipeline to move multiple shots from rudimentary blocking to final CGI, with all the bells and whistles, in record time.
The team drew inspiration from cinematic Marvel superhero camera moves and the classic superhero landing. Complex camera moves, photographic lens effects, motion and lighting effects were all built in real time with the power of Unreal’s Sequencer.
The other challenge was creating 3D buildings from photographs, without any live-action shots. Pixeldust used Maya to break the flat photo geometry into three-dimensional blocks, then piped it back into Unreal Engine for final compositing. The technique made the building shots far more dynamic and realistic.
The team also experimented with lenses and angles at both human and macro scale to create distinct shots and keep the action engaging.
Pixeldust introduced OTTO with an epic drop from space that would make even Iron Man proud. The video then widens to a worldwide perspective that shows OTTO connecting devices around the globe, reaching into inner space and then outer space, and ends with the phrase “The Evolution is here, the sky is no longer the limit.”
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