2016 was a great year for REWIND, a content production agency working with bleeding-edge technology. We spoke with them about two of their projects – a 360 degree video for the Rolls-Royce 103EX car, and a global launch film for Red Bull Air Race 2016.

Read more about REWIND, Rolls-Royce and Red Bull!

 

ABOUT REWIND

You must get asked to bid on a lot of projects – what draws you to one over another?

At REWIND we have developers and technicians with multiple skills. We like to take on projects that not only look like they’re going to allow us to create something amazing but will let us try out new approaches, new software or hardware. We love to push the boundaries and relish a challenge! 

Everyone has their own pet idea or project they’d like to work on, so if a potential job comes along that would allow us to incorporate that idea we really jump at the chance. Having fun and enjoying what we do is important to us and it’s great when we get to work on something that satisfies our inner nerd!
 
 
 

ROLLS-ROYCE 103EX VR

For this video, REWIND used Corona Renderer to create all the interior and exterior shots of the car (environments and particle effects were added separately).
 

What were the challenges in creating this video?

As it was a 360 degree video, there was the additional footage that needed rendering, so we had the challenge of longer render times / file sizes to deal with, but nothing that we hadn’t R&D’d beforehand.

 

How was it working on this project?

Being geeks, it was a bit of a dream come true for a lot of the team. They got to spend hours working with the CAD data we were sent to create a realistic, useable asset. It was hugely important to the client that the car was represented in the best way possible, therefore the lighting setup to highlight specific details on the car was key.

Links

REWIND Project Page:
rewind.co/portfolio/rollsroycevr/

Rolls-Royce official website:
www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/en-GB/103ex.html
 
 
 

RED BULL

 

Other than the pilot, what else is real world footage?

Nothing, everything else is digital! Good VFX work should not stand out, it needs to blend effortlessly. When you stop trying to pick out the faults and embrace the piece as a whole, that’s when you know you are doing your job right.

 

What were the biggest challenges faced in integrating the real world footage and CG elements?

Lighting to ensure that the amalgamation of all CG and live action elements work together harmoniously, so our VFX work becomes impossible to spot. That’s the beauty of good VFX work. We had an excellent VFX supervisor and DOP on set,  both instrumental in ensuring that the studio was set up and lit correctly and all the necessary plates were taken to aid the CG pipeline.

 

Any particular techniques you used to achieve that level of detail for the plane?

We didn’t use any particularly different techniques as such, obviously it was important to reference and replicate the plane as closely as we could. The usual VFX pipeline applied, so each of the scenes was rendered with multiple passes to give the team the correct amount of control to ensure each scene was brought to life fully.

As a result, render wrangling and scene management was key to ensure that nothing got missed and we had a seamless pipeline through the compositing process.

Links

REWIND project page:
rewind.co/portfolio/rbar_launch_2016/

Red Bull Air Race page:
www.redbullairrace.com/en_GB/video/martin-sonka-announces-red-bull-partnership
 
 
 

REWIND ON CORONA RENDERER

What advantages did Corona Renderer bring for you for these projects?

Both productions had quick turnarounds and therefore managing and implementing client feedback quickly and efficiently was key to achieving the deadlines. Using Corona meant everyone’s lives were that little bit easier as we were able to tinker and tweak things accordingly due to its iterative rendering environment. This was hugely helpful with looming deadlines!

 

How did you discover Corona Renderer?

We have known the chaps over at Corona for a number of years so it’s been on our radar for a while. We just needed the right project to road test it!

 

Any tips you have to share on getting the best out of Corona Renderer?

It works very well for high-end visualisations, when you want realistic lighting and reflections. We also make sure to use Corona lights as often as possible instead of emitting the light from complex materials/surfaces to ensure we get the shortest render times possible.

REWIND
rewind.co