3d animation is a great tool for event managers. It allows them to take all their ideas about how a promotional event will look and present a reasonably realistic rendition of it to the client. In the case of this installation set to promote Scotland’s tourist industry, that meant custom-built presentation stands and furnishings, a plexi-glass meeting area in the centre and the unusual overhead construction.
I was given 2d line drawings of some of these features; others were just described to me over the phone. The overhead construction was actually an impossible shape in its 2d form, but with 3d modelling I was able to help show the event managers and their set designer how it would be shaped in reality.
The little figures are basic but are vital for identifying the scale of the overall installation. In event planning, that’s pretty crucial.
This is a 3d event plan for the International Asian Fashion Awards (IAFA) event to be held at London’s Hilton Metropole. There was a lot of detailed information both for the event space and the stage set elements. The event planners were also very specific about lighting, so I was able to find visual references for the particular lights and simulate the effects. I sampled the carpet and the ceiling from photos on the Hilton website, so that is pretty much what the suite looks like.
This ambient piece was projected onto a large wall space and ran on a loop throughout Visit Scotland’s Expo Fusion event. It’s purpose was two-fold. First it would welcome guests – who were from all corners of the globe and hence the multilingual ‘welcome’ – and second it would act as directional signage, indicating what was to be found on the floors above and below.
The unusual brief, described to me as ‘a bit like the old pingpong computer game,’ also called for the inclusion of the sponsor, Glasgow: Scotland With Style. This had me foxed until we put them on the ball itself.
This travelling exhibition hall – the EventStation® Plus by Bacon Inflate – is manufactured using PVC-coated high-performance fabric. A vinyl canopy is then tensioned over the top. This 3d animation was able to show the client Johnnie Walker exactly how their branding and exhibits would look – day and night – within their own custom made version.
This virtual set had a two-fold purpose. Primarily it was to show the client Experian how the various set elements would look in an artificially lit space. Secondarily it would show how the space would be shared with their co-exhibitor Quadro.
The Ingenico set formed part of a trade fair event and was built around a portable bar with plasma screen and computer pod workstations. Part of the beauty of being able to lay out a set in 3d is that it allows clients to be able to visualise all the elements in one place, lit as they would be, and with all their branding incorporated as it would be at the actual event.
This 3d animation for BT had to show how the elements of a travelling exhibition could be stripped down and re-assembled in an indoor space. 3d design really comes into its own when demonstrating how real life spaces can be transformed before entering into a costly construction process.
I'm Greg Moodie, a freelance graphic designer based just outside Edinburgh in Scotland. I've been trading as Funhouse Graphics since 1998 and specialise in 2d & 3d animation with a heavy dash of quirky.
