Still of Vince the Virus looking at giant question mark

Vince the Flu Virus

Read the project write-up This is the technical write-up

As a responsible supplier of content to the medical and pharmaceutical industry, we follow the ABPI Code of Practice, as managed by the PMCPA. We also follow the wishes of our clients, so whilst we cannot show the final animation, we can show some of the creative process of animation production. We hope you can get a sense of how a project evolves and some of the considerations we go through as we collaborate with agency and client. 

This is not intended for promotional purposes. 

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Character exploration of Vince the virus in rough sketch form

Everyone loves the antihero.

During the design stage we took the core elements that Evoke and the client liked from a heritage campaign - texture, teeth, nose and shape and we explored physics, form and expression with a series of sketches. 

It was great fun developing Vince's personality and as the only character to feature in the story, it was vital that he could hold his own with plenty of stage presence. We love his villainous charm and cheeky ways!  

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From sketch to 3D build.

Before we rig and pose a character in 3D we will always render a greyscale at various angles for the agency to sign off. The greyscale turnaround is all about shape and form, not expression - which is why he's in a pretty neutral pose compared with the earlier round of sketches. We don't texture, light or rig a character till its greyscale form is approved. After which, the character will really start to come to life!

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Character colour and texture artwork of Vince the Virus
A still of Vince the virus at the 3D Build stage, rendered out as a Greyscale at varying angles for the client to review.
Close up of Vince the virus reacting to a neon sign that states 'Free Flu Vaccine'

Production art. The blue print for 3D. 

Production art is colour artwork, worked up to a high level of finish. 

It is what our 3D artists use as reference for building all the props, scenes and assets that are to feature in the animation, which is why we spend time making sure the artwork is as we envisage the 3D to look. It also gives the agency and client an early indication too, so its always an exciting stage to review. Take a look in comparison to some frames screen grabbed from the animation... 

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Production art from the design stage of animation production for Vince the Virus
Frame from the Vince the Virus animation showing picture book
Frame from the Vince the Virus animation showing Vince as a pop up character
Frame from the Vince the Virus animation showing Vince looking at the camera as we're introduced to him
Read the project write-up This is the technical write-up