Dark Project Works' first freelance work was for Stroud Switchgear Ltd.
This page tells you briefly about the design process.
Keep in mind that everything created for the project was created by Dark Project Works.
For information on what I can do for you, please contact us via this link.
All fees include free advertising in the form of a page on this site, and animation projects can be output to your required format.
Please ask for details and requirements.
Please note that all viewable movies have been scaled down. All the work was originally rendered to actual DVD resolution. Either being 720x576, 720x480 or 720x450. Whatever your aspect ratio, we'll do our best to make it happen.
Stroud Switchgear Ltd.
Telephone: +44 (0) 1453 762709 Telefax: +44 (0) 1453 751977
Email: sales@stroud-switchgear.com Web: http://www.stroud-switchgear.com/
Dark Project Works/Manalight has been commissioned for animation/design work for the company’s reception. The company has allowed us to express our creative knowledge, and past experience in working for the company, based in Stroud, Glos., UK.
We needed a high resolution copy of the company’s logo. As that couldn’t be supplied to us, we went about recreating it, keeping to the original, and hopefully, not changing it too much. The image on the left was a picture taken from a company calendar, the angle will be slightly off. The image on the right is one we’ve recreated.
Next, we knew around 4-5 minutes of film were needed to be created for the job. A selection of components were sent to us to experiment with.
Logo Lighting
Starting with the lights, I wanted to show how in-depth we could go with such a seemingly primitive object. Every section of the light was then measured and drawn to scale, ready for construction. Even the threads were modelled for realism. Total creation time was 3 hours. The results too, speak for themselves. (click image to view)
REAL LIGHTS CG LIGHTS CG LIGHTS
The short, lasting only a minute, was a hit when viewed by members SSL. (click image to view)
The total time for the work (includes building the light, setting up scenes, render time, audio and sample DVD creation) came to 38 hours 20 minutes.
Curious Creatures
The second animated short needed more components. Seven were created, totalling at only 11 hours. These were only very slightly less detailed then the real world components, though each was still made to exact scale. Image also includes the lights. (click image to view)
CG COMPONENTS
This short was to be a little more “light-hearted”, and so involved three creatures stumbling across various components. This was to be much brighter then the previous short, and contained very detailed and time consuming (for render purposes) transparencies and refractions. Each scene taking hours, days, even well over a week to render. The quality was high, and the character animation, though basic, brings these creatures to life.
This short is complete, below are some screenshots. (click image to view)
A new ending was created. One that truely makes Curious Creatures Stroud Switchgear Ltd.'s own. The images below show the new reworked ending. The above animation shows this new ending. The original "shattered" ending will arrive in the Downloads some day. (click image to view)
Total render time for Curious Creatures, was a staging 3 weeks of day and night rendering! The addition of the new 12 second ending, added another 3 and a half days to the render time.
This short is now complete. It gives, in brief, information about the company (taking from the companies website), while showcasing a mock-up switchboard, featuring components created for the previous two shorts, all coming together. This is to represent a basic switchboard layout, and should not be considered as a "real-world" final product.
The animation came together quite nicely, and once the website information was added, the short came to around five and a half minutes. Much longer than expected, but Stroud Switchgear Ltd., this way get double the length originally expected. Talk about value for money. :)
Below is a frame from this short. (click image to view)
