Client Overview
Client: Oldcastle Materials
Project Date: July 2015
Objective: Create a 3D animation for AWARE™, an electronic warning system.
Oldcastle Materials, a leading provider in construction and building materials, partnered with Austin Visuals to bring their innovative safety technology, AWARE™, to life through a 3D animated commercial. This project aimed to showcase AWARE™, a system designed to alert workers in mobile work zones, ensuring enhanced safety in hazardous environments.
Project Objective
The goal was to produce a 1-2 minute 3D animation that would demonstrate the functionality and benefits of the AWARE™ system. Oldcastle wanted to present a clear, visual narrative that could appeal to a sophisticated audience, including potential investors, partners, and customers. This animation needed to capture attention, convey the importance of workplace safety, and explain how AWARE™ operates in a way that is both informative and visually engaging.
Challenges & Solutions
Austin Visuals faced several key challenges in bringing this project to life. Here’s a look at the main obstacles and the solutions Austin Visuals implemented.
1. Complexity of the Safety System
The AWARE™ system involves multiple components and technical processes, making it essential to communicate the system’s mechanics in a straightforward and compelling way. Oldcastle required that every aspect of the animation accurately reflect the system’s technology without overwhelming the viewer.
Solution:
Austin Visuals approached this challenge by collaborating closely with Oldcastle during a thorough creative development phase. The team conducted in-depth meetings to understand the intricacies of AWARE™, enabling Austin Visuals to break down the complex elements into clear visual segments. By establishing a clear visual roadmap with detailed storyboards, Austin Visuals ensured that every technical detail was simplified yet informative, creating an animation that audiences could easily follow and understand.
2. Achieving a High-Quality, Engaging Visual Style
The animation needed to be professional, visually engaging, and impactful. Oldcastle aimed for a high-quality, polished look to reflect the innovation behind the AWARE™ system and convey trustworthiness to its viewers.
Solution:
Austin Visuals offered three package options—Bronze, Silver, and Gold—each with varying levels of detail, texture, and realism. Oldcastle chose the Gold package, which included the most realistic lighting and textures, extra scenes, and even facial animation for characters to increase viewer engagement. Austin Visuals applied advanced texturing and lighting techniques to create a more cinematic feel, which made the animation visually striking and aligned with Oldcastle’s brand standards.
3. Time Constraints and Resource Management
Given the tight deadline, Austin Visuals needed to manage resources efficiently and ensure consistent communication with Oldcastle to keep the project on track.
Solution:
Austin Visuals applied “rush job pricing” to account for the intense timeline, ensuring that both human and technological resources were allocated optimally from the start. The project was divided into two primary phases: Creative Development and Animation Production. Austin Visuals coordinated with Oldcastle to secure quick responses and approvals, keeping the project moving swiftly through each phase. By setting clear checkpoints and a structured schedule, Austin Visuals delivered the final product on time without compromising quality.
Project Approach
The animation project followed a structured, two-phase approach to ensure clarity, quality, and efficiency.
Phase I: Creative Development
This phase focused on defining the visual approach, developing the script, and creating the storyboards. Austin Visuals collaborated closely with Oldcastle’s team, exploring different concepts to achieve the most engaging representation of the AWARE™ system. The storyboard stage was essential for aligning on the visual direction and narrative structure, allowing Oldcastle to visualize each segment of the animation before production.
Key activities included:
- Concept Exploration: In-depth discussions with Oldcastle to refine the project’s script and ensure it aligned with their marketing goals.
- Storyboarding: Detailed sketches and initial visuals that mapped out the animation’s sequence, giving Oldcastle a preview of the final product’s structure and flow.
Phase II: Animation Production
Once the creative foundation was set, Austin Visuals moved into full production. This phase involved 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, and animation. The team worked meticulously on each asset, ensuring that each object, background, and character detail met the high standards required by Oldcastle. Key production steps included:
- 3D Modeling and Texturing: Developing high-quality models and applying textures to create a realistic visual experience.
- Lighting and Cinematic Effects: Setting lighting to enhance depth and realism, resulting in a more immersive animation.
- Final Animation and Editing: Completing the animation with text overlays, graphics, and audio to polish the final product, ready for broadcast or digital distribution.
Deliverables
- Storyboard and Concept Development: Initial sketches and a finalized storyboard that outlined each step of the animation process.
- High-Quality 3D Animation: A complete animation, optimized for clarity and engagement, that effectively demonstrated the features and benefits of the AWARE™ system.
- Enhanced Cinematic Effects: Additional depth-of-field and lighting effects that improved the animation’s realism, capturing the audience’s attention from start to finish.
Results & Impact
The finished 3D animation delivered by Austin Visuals met Oldcastle’s goals of effectively communicating the functionality and benefits of the AWARE™ system. Through a combination of high-quality visuals, accurate representations, and engaging animation sequences, the video highlighted Oldcastle’s commitment to safety and innovation. The project’s success opened doors for Oldcastle to showcase their technology to potential partners, investors, and customers with a clear and compelling narrative that reinforced their brand’s reliability and forward-thinking approach.
Conclusion
The collaboration with Oldcastle Materials demonstrates Austin Visuals’ expertise in delivering high-impact, commercial 3D animations for technical and safety-focused industries. This project underscores Austin Visuals’ commitment to clarity, creativity, and quality, producing visuals that effectively communicate complex messages and capture audience interest.
If you’re ready to elevate your brand with custom 3D animations that engage and inform, Austin Visuals is here to help. Fill out the contact form below to get started on your next animation project, and let’s bring your vision to life with high-quality, impactful visuals.
