50% CGI 45% Photography 5% Post


Approach
While creating detailed, realistic CG flowers can be a challenge, photographing something that can both wilt and melt can be just as difficult, requiring extensive and costly retouching. Using a simple technique, we were able to combine both tools, taking advantage of their respective strengths.

Process
Getting a flower to reflect and refract through CG ice requires the flower to be a geometric object. However, modeling the delicate shapes and intricate details of a flower can be prohibitively time consuming. The solution involved mapping a photographed flower onto a flat geometric plane. Once silhouetted and placed inside a 3D ice cube, the photograph now fully interacted with the reflective and refractive surface properties of the ice. Completing the effect, details like small air bubbles within the ice and puddled water around the product were added.

Result
By combining both CGI and photography, we were able to achieve a level of flexibility that neither could offer by itself. The exact shape and surface qualities of the ice can be controlled without worry of real ice melting. And by using photography, the type of flower can be quickly changed, or the flower scaled or repositioned at will. These combine to offer the art director the impossible - ice that
will never melt and flowers that will never wilt!



Address

Chris O'Riley
306 Briarwood Ct.
New Paltz, NY 12561
Contact

Chris@Chris3D.com
tel (845) 256-8934
News

Be sure to check out our physical models here and here. We can now create physical objects in a variety of materials - wood, plastic or metal.