Culver City-based visual effects house Zoic Studios transports sports enthusiasts straight into the action in the :30 Kinect Sports Rivals spot “You” for Microsoft out of Antfarm. In the spot, two live action competitors are facing off against their avatar counterparts, when the wall of reality is smashed and the spot launches into thrilling gameplay. The recently released game is the next generation of the popular Xbox franchise, Kinect Sports and includes Bowling, Soccer, Tennis, Target Shooting, Wake Racing and Climbing and allows players to scan themselves using the Kinect system and create their own custom avatar. Zoic handled the effects and color correction for the live action intro section of the spot as well as the :90 trailer.
Zoic Creative Director Levi Ahmu led a team to craft an environment that would feel like an infinite void that was both sophisticated and robust. After fine-tuning the spatial renderings, the team went to work to match the movements of the character models (taken from in-game renderings) through motion capture with those of the actors. All of the rending was completed in VRay with animation and motion capture done in Maya, compositing done in Nuke and the human/avatar transitional moment created in Cinema4D.
Credits:
Client: Microsoft
Senior Marcom Manager: Michael Rivera-Dirks
Marcom Director: Taylor Smith
Brand: Kinect Sports Rival
Title: “You”
Agency: Antfarm
Executive Creative Director: Matt Bretz
Producer: Jordan Godfrey
Production Assistant: Justin Moreno
Creative Director/Stills: Lonnie Silberling
Production Company: Primary Elements
Director: Frank Borin
Producer: Rick Brown
Production Supervisor: Mike Suzuki
Director of Photography: Danny Hiele
VFX: Zoic Studios
VFX Executive Creative Director/Co-Founder: Chris Jones
VFX Executive Producer: Ian Unterreiner
VFX Producer: Nathan Occhipinti
VFX Creative Director: Levi Ahmu
VFX Supervisor: Ryan McDougal
Technical Supervisor: Derek Crosby
2D Lead: Phillip Broste
About Zoic Studios
Zoic Studios is a visual effects company based in Culver City, California, and Vancouver, B.C. Our team has a proven track record of success, crafting innovative visual experiences for film, television, advertising, video game and interactive projects.
“Visual Evolution” is our mission: to advance the story, art, and technology of the moving image. Masters in the fields of design, animation, compositing, and production management, Zoic’s reputation attracts rising talent and encourages a strong work ethic.
Zoic prioritizes research and development in service of constant creative growth, from in-house virtual production to real time rendering using game engine technology.