This spot won a silver addy in North Carolina in 2007. For this spot I was tasked with creating 3d graphics and compositing realistic steam onto the sandwiches. The sandwiches were shot using robotic motion controlled cameras so that the editor could ramp the speed up and down as desired. In order to be able to control the speed of the motions during the editing, the director couldn’t shoot the shots with steam (usually done with a steam machine) because the speed changes would be apparent in the speed of the steam rising. So he shot steam isolated on a black screen so that I could composite it in later. I then layered several shots of steam onto the sandwiches and animated them to match the motion of the camera in After Effects. This gave the illusion that the speed ramps were actually done in camera.
To create the 3d graphics I was given 2d designs from the MSA creative department and used Lightwave 3d to extrude, texture, light, and animate them. I spent a lot of time creating realistic grungy textures to create an authentic wild-western look. The graphic in the end shot needed to be animated to match the motion of the camera. I didn’t have the luxury of any camera tracking software so I matched the motion by eye and animated it completely in Lightwave.