Near the beginning of this year I was contracted by my old marketing firm, Imagine Communications, to build out some 3D animations for their HVAC client. I wasn’t given the opportunity to meet with the client directly, so I had to base my work on whatever information I could get from the firm. 

Their client, a leader in the HVAC industry, had several conferences planned for this year. In planning for the events, they decided they wanted to show off some new technology, specifically a fan projector, to display a clean and modern looping logo animation. These logos would be stand alone animations, about 15 seconds long, each one centered around a different brand they owned (FLS, IAQ, NEMI, and TABB). In addition to these logo animations, they wanted a longer 3D animation displaying photos sent in from apprentices in the union.

The client didn’t have much in the way of references for me to pull inspiration from, so I decided to focus on one logo animation first and once that was approved I’d carry any style or movement decisions over to the other 3 animations. IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) was the brand that had the earliest conference, so I went to work on a few options, ranging in complexity, for the client to provide feedback on. 

As is with most of my work, the magic started on paper with several rough sketch story boards. 

I wanted to provide a nice range of animation types, with a highly elaborate one taking my full attention. The idea was to have the internal space on the letters be built out of horizontal panels, as a call to the panels on indoor AC vent covers. The panels would open up then slide away, revealing the unaltered logo for a few beats, then fading back into the bar colors to repeat the process. 

Once I had the stage and object movement down, it was time to get the camera just right. I wanted this option to have a lot of dynamic movement to it, so I had several cameras set up to catch the logo at different angles. Once I liked what I had, I exported the videos, moved them into Adobe After Effects, and added any finishing touches I felt were necessary. 

Just in case the client wasn’t a fan of the camera movement, I added a second option where the camera was stationary so that wouldn’t be a factor in deciding between the elaborate animation vs a more basic animation. 

Next was the easy part, two more options that had more basic animation techniques. I made one option with each letter doing a small animation, then a final option that was overly basic with the logo simply rotating. 

So once I was happy with these options, I shipped them off to the client to get their thoughts. Turns out, they really liked the moderately basic option, where each letter has its own simple movement. The only major change was to change the aspect ratio to 1:1 so it would fit better on the fan projector. So, once I got the green light I went to work making similar animations for the other 3 logos. 

While I was waiting on approval for the IAQ animation, I started storyboarding and mapping out ideas for the photo animation. I had a similar thought process for it, where I wanted to provide different levels of animation complexity. I also had to consider a set up that could accommodate many photos, while not moving so quickly that it was disorienting to watch. 

Since the client was still in the process of picking out photos, I decided to use placeholder images to keep the process moving, there was a time sensitive deadline after all.

For the simplest option, I set up the images to revolve in a circle, really basic but still living in that 3D space they wanted. 

One step up from that, I created a sort of photo funnel, that the camera moved around explored, returning to the starting location so that it could easily loop. 

Then, for the last option, I went a little crazy. I built a whole vent system with photos lining the walls and a moving fan. The camera explored the system, taking time to look at each photo before returning to the starting location to allow a seamless loop. 

The client was incredibly impressed with the third vent option. They loved how dynamic it was, turning a simple slide show into an immersive experience, it was nearly perfect save for one small hang up they had. They felt it was unrealistic to have photos inside a vent system. The artist in me was so disappointed, since the vent was the part I loved the most about this option. But, I decided we could still keep the spirit of the option and remove the vent aspects. So I tweaked the scene, added in the photos they had chosen for the projects, made the aspect ratio match the then approved logo animation format, and came back with a revised option that felt like it was in a general metallic area rather than a vent. 

This was exactly the feel they wanted, and after some more small tweaks it was approved! 

I love 3D work, it’s so much fun to design in a multi dimensional space, and animation has always held a spot in my heart. The events the videos were created for ended up falling through, for reasons I was not provided, but the client still has the final files to use for future events or promotional materials. I hope to get more projects like this in the future!