In the old days, and I’m talking about the Renaissance here, art students served as apprentices in the studios of well-known artists — working on real-world projects such as public works and commissions. I’ve always thought that was a good idea so when I heard about college students tackling a real world creative challenge, namely the design of elements for the opening of the Super Bowl, I was intrigued.
An image of CLeatus created by SCAD
In a collaboration between Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and the Fox Sports University program, SCAD students relied on CINEMA 4D to help develop and design the animated opening concepts for FOX Sports Super Bowl XLVIII game day broadcast, which is, according to Variety, the most watched TV show in U.S. history. It was an exercise that not only generated dramatic artwork and animation for the broadcast, but provided the students valuable lessons that will undoubtedly help them in their future careers.
Click here to see a video of the animated opening for Super Bowl XLVIII on YouTube.
Led by Austin Shaw, SCAD professor Motion Media Design studies, a team of 20 students spent ten weeks during the Fall 2013 term providing creative elements for the opening of the Super Bowl based on assets provided by FOX sports.
SCAD has been using CINEMA 4D in the Motion Media Design department for the past 12 years to teach state-of-the art 3D graphics and visual effects techniques. “CINEMA 4D was very useful to the design process and gave the students a winning advantage” said Shaw.
SCAD students at work
Jason M. Diaz, who served as student technical director for the project, explained that during production CINEMA 4D’s character animation tools were especially useful when creating motion tests for the animation of Cleatus, the FOX Sports robot. “We were able to convert motion capture and hand animated data into motion clips using CINEMA 4D’s Motion System with a result that it felt more like editing footage, compared to copying and pasting keyframes in the traditional manner.”
“We are thrilled that CINEMA 4D helped the SCAD student design team tackle the creative challenges on one of the most-watched television programs in the world,” said Paul Babb, CEO of MAXON US.
Whether it’s the sciences or the arts, the collaboration between industry and academia is a win-win scenario for everyone.
