The animation was prepared for the weekly TV show Golica v Živo, taking place live in the studio of Golica TV and in which they present one of the Slovenian popular folk ensembles. Ensembles play live in the studio and talk to TV host about their music and influences.
Our ideas for the content of the animated introductory credits were in the very concept of the TV show. We wanted to use different musical instruments, both modern and ancient or the folk and combine them into so-called “music box”, which should play and moving to the rhythm of the music.
In addition to the well-known musical instruments such as drums, trumpets, guitar, etc., we also included playing on the old folk musical instrument – playing on the washboard, and this has given a touch of old-time. The washboard is more often used for laundry than as an instrument, but it is actually quite versatile, especially for folk and country music.
By focusing on the smallest details of every musical instrument specifically, we wanted to achieve a more realistic image of musical instruments as they are in fact. With a realistic render, we want to avoid the appearance of the cartoon.
3d model Sketch. A raw pre-production sketch of character scale and element positioning.
The process started with a basic sketch. Sketch helped us to foreseen different instruments sizes and how they interact with each other in the final base object. As we completed modeling individual object (design of drums, guitar, a mechanism that enables playing the instrument, etc.) then we have merged them into one project.
For texture, we used just enough shades of red that we achieve old fashioned and that coincided with interior HDR lightning.
Animated objects (engines, tools, etc.) have been rigged together using Scripts and Wire Parameters Controllers, with which we achieved easier animation and later synchronization with the music.
3ds Max Wire Parameters dialog
When we finally managed to rig all musical instruments on a single object, the remaining animation process was quite simple. The whole rig was set on Path Controller that controlled elements like the rotation of wheels and movement of other dynamic objects (flag, wires, etc.). With this kind of setting, we have saved a lot of time. In the final stage of the animation process, we had to synchronize audio background with musical instruments. This has been successfully conducted with a Slider Controllers.
3ds Max viewport with Sliders
Because our animated “music-box” was primarily placed on a white background, we were confronted with the problem of camera depth. Because the “music-box” was the only object in the scene, the camera lost of a sense of 3D environment. To solve a problem, we have added some ground (floor) dirt and some party particles.
Golica v živo intro – MusicBox Occlusion pass
Final base rendering was done with Mental Ray and the Occlusion pass with Vray. Motion blur was added in post, so we also rendered velocity pass. To achieve extra realism with added DOF and motion blur in post-production, we rendered all images as 32bit.
In the final post-production stage, we added just a little bit more red and yellow color, so the wood and other textures turned out more ancient appearance and cozy feeling.
And here is the final render… Enjoy!
