The Simpsons Jingle
Guillaume Gaillard, Free Lance 3D Artist shares his experience working with finalToon R3 in creating a Channel W9 "Simpsons" TV Spot.
cebas: Firstly, can you give us a brief biography about yourself?
Hello, My name is Guillaume Gaillard, also known as GHIOM.com. I am a French Freelance 3D Artist, and have been working in the industry since 2002. I attended a Classical Arts School and have never worked in a company. I am happy with my self made, freelance situation. Generally, I work on-line with people from around the world, for example, France, Italy, Egypt and NYC… basically anywhere people need my services. My specialty is modelling, texturing, lighting, animations and a lot of rendering and compositing. Usually, I work for Broadcast TV, web and print advertising. I have also worked on films and documentaries such as "Trafalgar," by Fabrice Hourlier, for whom I modeled and textured a lot of very highly detailed boats and objects.
cebas: Can you tell us how you became involved in the production of W9 Simpsons TV spot ?
An agency called me to create a 5 second jingle for Channel W9 TV in celebration of the 2Oth anniversary of the Simpsons TV show. As you can imagine, it was impossible to refuse. I really like the Simpsons and it was my first time creating a TV spot. I only had 3 days to create it. This was different from my usual work, as the rendering style was very specific ... it was a great challenge!
cebas: Which shots in particular were you involved in?
I produced all of the shots. They asked me to create a Channel W9 logo which would eat a Donut, like it was Homer. That was the main idea. It had to be fun, dynamic and look cool.
cebas: What cebas software did you use in the production of the W9 TV spot and why?
The only software I used was finalToon R3. I tried several different rendering solutions in order to obtain the toon render style that I wanted. After trying simple 3D meshes and custom shaders, I found nothing that could beat finalToon. finalToon was the best way to achieve exactly what I wanted within the 3 day deadline, and with the quality necessary to render the spot at 1920x1028. Using finalToon meant that I could be 100% productive from the start. I had no need to create complex shaders which take time to build and render, and which cause issues with deformed meshes.
cebas: How did you use our software to achieve the effects?
I used the finalToon Shader and Render Effect from 3ds MAX. For the ground, I used a finalToon Flat Mirror. I had the possibility to render everything in only one pass, because the scene was simple. However, because finalRender permitted it, I rendered many passes in order to comp everything later in compositing software. finalRender is a great time saver when you are not sure, what your client will ask you to change, at the last minute. With a 3 day deadline, everything which saves time, is a life saver.
cebas: What features in particular helped you to achieve your goal and how?
The interactive update for 3ds MAX Render Effects was very useful. I was able to setup all the toon Lines in no time. The toon Shaders were also very intuitive to setup. Everything was ready; nice reflections and shadows on the ground were perfect straight away.
cebas: What was the most difficult aspect of this project and how did you solve it?
I'm not a Character Animator, so putting Homer's spirit into the W9 logo was the biggest challenge for me. I have done my best to make the logo come alive.
cebas: What was the most fun or rewarding part of this project for you?
I usually work on realistic renderings with an emphasis on lighting and materials. It was fun to work with finalToon R3, as it is so simple to use and very quick.
cebas: What projects can we expect from you in the future? (Assuming you're able to tell us that is)
I'm currently working as a Freelance Modeler and Texturer for a fiction/documentary, "Destiny of Rome," by Fabrice Hourlier. Here is a teaser :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcxm5o_teaser-destiny-of-rome_shortfilms
I am also working on some animated 3D advertisements for the web and TV.
We would like to thank Guillaume Gaillard for sharing his experience with us and the community. Every one is welcome to post his or her best work or samples on our webpage at www.cebas.com. Please join our Galleries and Portfolios and help build a strong community.