AFCG Archives - Effects

Nissan - Snow Angel

Client: Nissan

Agency: Chiat Day

Post: Black Logic

CGI: AFCG, Inc.

A still frame from an AFCG generated snowstorm. The Nissan logo in the foreground was not created by AFCG, but is a live action film element.

This effect was originally created by another company, (sorry... don't know who, but they did a beautiful job), shooting a large table top model with a motion control camera. AFCG ended up being asked to replace the existing "snow angel" with a new one, and to add a Nissan truck plowing around as if it were carving the giant angel out of the snow.

We started by using several frames from the motion control shoot as texture maps for a nested zoom. We then replaced the existing snow angel with our CG version and composited it over the new motion. The truck was simply an overhead still frame that was texture mapped to a grid and animated over the surface of the snow.

Animated tire tracks and partical system sprays of snow were added to integrate the truck into the environment.