Top 10 Superbowl Commercials 2014

At first glance, we thought that there weren't many "good" commercials this year. But if you look, there were many great gems to note. Here are our Top 10 Superbowl Commercials for 2014. Our criteria? Simple, they have to have some kind of CG or animated element and they must have a high entertainment value. In my classes, it means "laugh factor", the more giggles it got, the higher the score. No. One on our list however, was just plane excellent. Enjoy!
Thanks everyone for your input.
Let's start with No. 10.

No. 10 - H & M David Beckham: I know, the ladies love it.


No. 9 - Jaguar: Villains


No. 8 - Doritos: Time Machine


No. 7 - Radio Shack - 80's


No. 6 - PS4: Perfect Day


No. 5 - Volkswagen Wings


No.4 - Axe: Make Love Not War


No. 3 - Dober hua hua


No. 2 - Kia Matrix - By: Digital Domain


And NO. 1. - Pepsi. This was not an official commercial but it seemed to be the most outstanding thing we saw.

Canadian Pipeline Association by: Embassy VFX

I often have my visual effects and animation students animate a piece that educates. For something as complex as the growth of Canada its nice, simple and clean. It features a clever concept, good camera work and uses depth maps to make the models look small. Nice work.

My Top 10 Superbowl Commercials for 2013

Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials 2013 Three years running....Here are my top ten Super Bowl commercials for 2013. Like previous years, my criteria is as follows: It must have animation or visual effects of some kind, its gotta be memorable and extra points if its got the “dry humor” factor - just make us laugh. Surprisingly, there are no Coke or Budweiser ads that made the list. Let’s start with our honorable mentions, one has no CG in it, but it sure is funny.

 Honorable Mention VW “Get In / Get Happy”


PSY / Wonderful Pistachios


Soda Stream

 Okay - now that I got you warmed up. Let’s begin the countdown...

 10. Kia “Space Babies”


 9. Kia Forte “Hotbots”


 8. Fiat “Sister” - Formerly Skechers "Go"


 7. M&M’s “Love Ballad”

 6. Mercedes Benz “Soul”


 5. Blackberry “Can’t Do”


 4. Milk
 

 3. Beck’s “Saphire” - This one was simply nice to look at. I also appreciate the mashup with the Blackstreet song.

 2. Hyundai “Gather Your Team”


 1. Oreo “Whisper Fight”.
(Whispering) Thanks for visiting. See you next year. Husssshhhhh.

Art of Data: IBM Behind the Scenes

In this presentation, we see how code is used to create imagery that is not only beautiful and unique, but useful. Imagine seeing a heartbeat in a way that is unconventional, but dimensional in a way that is steps above a standard 2D EKG. Everything is driven by numbers and so presentations of this kind can only enhance our understanding complex mathematical concepts by giving all of us new ways to relate to the information. Enjoy! Fire it up!

Design Animation VFX Showreel 2011 by Engine

Oh yeah, hot stuff. Good mixture of CG with cutting edge motion graphics editing, the song helps out in a big way. Be sure to check out their site below. http://www.engine.net.au

Top 10 Superbowl Commercials 2012

Sorry I've been so infrequent in posting. Things have gotten pretty busy, but I'm ready to rock. Below are my top 10 Superbowl commercials for 2012. Surprisingly, Coke and Bud Light didn't make the list, every year, they have been my favorites. My criteria for choosing the best is simple they must have a laugh and or cool factor, animation and visual effects and we won't include any movie trailers. Let's begin with No. 10.


Number 10: Silverado "2012 Apocolypse"
This had potential to go all over the place. Nice detail throughout - they really hit Ford lovers hard.



Number 9: Hyundai "Rocky Theme"
The song was executed brilliantly. The guys doing the "buck a wow" at :34 are hilarious.



Number 8: Toyota Camry "Reinvented"
Reivented Pizza Drapes Awesome!



Number 7: Doritos "Sling Baby"



Number 6: Acura NSX - "No. 1"
This version is longer than what was aired on the Superbowl.



Number 5: M&M's "Sexy and I Know It"
Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle - The best part. If you like the song, you'll like this.



Number 4: Hyundai "Mr. Jensen"



Number 3: Metlife "Everyone"
Where can you see Voltron, Grape Ape, and He Man in one shot? Here...



Number 2: Audi - "Vampire Party"



Number 1: Cars.com "Confident You"
We can't stop watching this ad. And for that, its numero uno.


Thanks for watching! Which was your favorite?

Kia Hamsters w LMFAO

Everybody's Shufflin - Including you when you see this. The new Kia Hamsters rock out against a large post apocalyptic group of invading robots. This commercial is totally hitting a certain demographic...you, the video game lovin, destroy and blow up everythin, action movie watchin, spaceship gunnin, giant robot lovin, laser shootin, party music playin, saggin clothes wearin, wish we could dance, type people (and I didn't even say Kia lovin). In short - fun to watch.

Let's check out the website >>
Be sure to check out the 360 degree views of the interiors and the cars.

Heineken: The Date

Asian Peeps...you'll like this one. Great styling - lots of fun.

The guy is very slick indeed. See which elements in this commercial are CG. If someone could control eels in a tank and had a fancy for me, I guess I'd follow him too. The commercial is fun to watch and goes quickly. Next time though, get an Asian guy to lead.

On second thought, maybe not...someone like me would cook the eels in the tank first and mix them with some sauce.

Audi Robots

Ever see a video on Youtube, and you like it so much that you want to watch it again, but you can't because you don't remember the URL, and no matter what search criteria you type in Youtube (in this case, audi and robot), it doesn't appear. This video is the "one" that I couldn't find.

Now that its here, its going to stay permanently in this blog. Not only is it cool to look at, its unique, it shows great animation, camera work, and a seamless composite (putting everything together). I'm also a sucker for slick white shiny robots.

Let's go for a ride!

Animated Team and Sport Intros

In my animation classes, I advise my students to keep their animations clean and simple. Ambition however, tells us otherwise, leading us into taking on projects that are too large or complex.

A good assignment to help practice simplicity, is to animate an already existing design assembling, holding it for two seconds, then fading out or disassembling.

This will give you plenty of practice of the basics: materials, lighting, shot composition, and timing. Here are some examples centered around sports times.





Okay - These are more complex, still fun to watch, but still keeping the same idea of "assembling". If you like how these look, be sure get a grasp on Cinema 4D, After Effects, and Premiere.