As with the shows they bookend , TV commercials have grown increasingly elaborate in recent years , compressing Hollywood-grade cinematic action into 60 seconds or less . One of the premier producers of Hollywood standard advertisements is the German-based Unexpected , which has been outputting stunning work since its founding in 1999 .
Over recent years the team has produced a bold and propulsive high-stakes racing advert for Saudi Arabian mobile carrier ZAIN , and an epic crowd containing Shrek , the Smurfs , Ghostbusters , and LEGO creatures as they welcome a family to a sprawling new Dubai Parks and Resorts theme park .
“ Our specialty is action-driven pieces with lots of motion and creating stunning worlds ,” says Unexpected CEO Alexander Kiesl , who oversees the commercial department and all visual effects produced . He also co-directs projects with fellow head of VFX , Steffen Hacker .
“ Most of our commercials are a mix of live-action and animation , which means we have a lot of motion capture requirements . That ’ s where Xsens is massively beneficial .”
Building character
Unexpected relies on Xsens ’ inertial motion capture technology to produce large and thrilling visuals , often within the tight budgets and timeframes that commercial projects carry .
“ We like working on digital characters a lot – and that ’ s why we first turned to Xsens ,” Kiesl explains . “ If you want to have believable animation within the timeframe a commercial production gives you – and that ’ s a very short timeframe – it makes sense to move forward quickly . Xsens motion capture gives you that option .”
Unexpected has performed mocap work for its commercials for over a decade , and previously relied on optical motion capture sessions at an external facility .
Unfortunately , they team lost a great deal of time and budget committing to that process , including a day for travel and a few days afterwards to sift through the data and find what they needed to bring a project to life . That could mean upwards of a full working week at times , which is painful when you only have three-four weeks of post-production on a commercial .
And then Unexpected encountered Xsens .
Life-changing technology
Kiesl calls Xsens Unexpected ’ s “ life-changer in terms of animation and motion capture ”.
Bringing motion capture inhouse has dramatically trimmed down the time commitment required for this critical part of the creation process , which means Unexpected can create work of the same quality in a fraction of the time .
“ We immediately bought a suit after the first demo of Xsens ’ technology – it was such a
. mind-blowing experience ,” says Kiesl . “ Having the freedom to do it wherever you want and whenever you want is priceless .”
A typical capture session for Unexpected now lasts about 30 minutes – a drastic reduction from the week-long shoots they once experienced . The team ’ s animators can set up their mocap actors with the suits and , without delay , can capture the movements they need for the current project .
It ’ s fast and effective – not to mention fun – and Kiesl says the data is so solid that Unexpected ’ s animation team doesn ’ t need to do any cleanup
Broadcast Beat Magazine • www . broadcastbeat . com • 47