Architosh Firm Profile Firm, Luminetik 3D Animation and VFX Studio, has provided computer animation and visual effects for two commercials for 'Arm & Hammer'. The two TV spots feature famous New York Yankee Jason Giambi. Luminetik has been featured on Architosh in an indepth Firm Profile article.

TV Spots

Luminetik was called by Aimen Canon, Producer at DJM, to provide computer animation and effects for :30 second and :15 second spots. Alan Yarnoff, Director of Advertising from Church & Dwight and Joey Cumming's Creative Director from Joey Company were looking for a company who could provide photo realistic work for the relaunch of the "Ultramax" product.

VFX Supervisor David Isyomin of Luminetik, who is known for his work on such commercials as the 2001 Clio Hall of Fame winner "Jeep: Snow Covered" and "Volkswagen:Turbonium" provided the expertise on the spots. At the beginning of each spot, Jason Giambi reacts differently to each type of pitch. David and his team helped New York Yankee's first baseman to hit a couple of homeruns through visual effects.

3D Scenes

"First, Jason Giambi was shot in live action, swinging the bat in a stadium background, hitting an imaginary ball. We added the baseball with motion to the shots that followed the special signature swing of Jason Giambi." Remarks David Isyomin. "We used New Tek's Lightwave 3D and proprietary software for such seamless intergration between CGI and live action elements."

In the second scene, Luminetik's design team created an animated background that features a computer generated model of the "UltramaxÓ product. This scene was carefully choreographed with the elements and synchronized with the voice over.

In two scenes, the Joey CompanyÕs creatives felt that having a computer generated product and baseball would give them more control over the composition and style of the elements. In addition it would help resolve financial and scheduling concerns. Luminetik's challenge was to create a photo realistic computer generated version of the redesigned "Ultramax" product and official baseball signed by New York Yankee Jason Giambi.

Mac OS X and the Power of the G4

Luminetik used Lightwave 3D for all the models and for it's incredible rendering engine on dual processor Macintosh G4 gigahertz machines using Mac OS X.

The "Giambi Extra Innings" spots are currently airing now. Luminetik will be doing many more of the spots for this campaign. For more information on Luminetik, visit them on the Web at: http://www.luminetik.com.

Reference Articles

LuminetIK: Macintosh-based 'Silicon-Alley' 3D Studio