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Virtual Marketing
You need a product shot of your company’s
latest sports drink for an upcoming national advertising campaign. Unfortunately, the
product is still being manufactured and the packaging isn’t printed, yet. Your largest
retail channel partner needs to see how your new sports drink, in all twelve flavors,
is going to look on their store shelves, before they’ll place their order. Your web
team needs a ten second animation of the drink product, snowboarding alongside a
big sports celebrity at the Winter Olympics. Did you say snowboarding?
The solution is 3D rendering. Widely used
by product manufacturers to develop everything from automobiles to consumer
electronics, household and food goods,
3D rendering has greatly reduced product
development timelines and budgets. 3D rendering enables designers to explore
multiple design options, quicker and more accurately, without the expense and time of
physical product mock-ups.
So how does 3D rendering help market
your sports drink? Photo-realistic
renderings of products and product
packaging enables manufacturers to
market their products through print, broadcast, and Internet media, helping build consumer interest while the products are being manufactured.
An example of complex packaging graphics wrapped around a 3D wireframe model of a flexible package complete with lighting, shadows, and a background.
3D rendering also enables the creation of ‘virtual’ point-of-purchase displays and photographic planograms. Merchandisers can visualize exactly how the product will look in the package, on the shelf, and in the store, maximizing product placement prior to stocking.
What is 3D Rendering?
3D rendering is the process of creating a computer-generated, three dimensional photo-realistic model of a physical object. Normally, this is done using any number of 3D rendering software applications designed specifically for this task. The process requires several distinct steps – modeling, texture-mapping, lighting, scene layout, and rendering.
Modeling creates a wireframe model of the physical object by plotting a series of three dimensional data points. The term ‘wireframe’ comes from the look of the model, which consists of a series of thin wire-like lines, forming small polygons and creating the outline of the object. Once created, wireframe models can be manipulated to their change shape, size, proportions, and other details.
Texture-mapping wraps texture around the surface of the wireframe model to simulate material the object is made of (wood, plastic, glass, or metal) and its finish (reflective, opaque, or transparent). Textures can be scanned into the computer and imported into the 3D rendering software, or created artificially using programs such as Adobe Photoshop.
Texture-mapping also includes the application of graphics to the model (for example, the label on the sports drink). Electronic mechanicals of the graphics are imported from other software applications such as Adobe Illustrator and applied to the product model over the surface texture.
Similar to the sports drink, the bottle above was created, using Maxon Cinema 4D software, by starting with construction of a wireframe model.
The wireframe of the bottle then had a semi-transparent glass surface texture-mapped to its surface and the label graphics applied.
The final result was a rendering of several different point-of-purchase displays, including the one shown here.
Lighting simulates illumination, shading, translucency, reflection, refraction, and/or shadows to make the model appear photo-realistic. Almost any type of lighting situation can be simulated with current 3D rendering software.
Scene layout positions the object in relationship to the point-of-view, similar to composing a photograph. The angle-ofview, distance of the object to the point-ofview, and simulations such as perspective distortion and focal distance can be controlled by the software.
Rendering is the final step in this process, which all the effects are calculated by the software to create a final representation of the object. The image can be rendered in low resolution for web, high resolution for print, or as a series of frames to create an animated sequence of the object.
Sport Drink Example
To better understand 3D rendering’s benefits let’s examine the sports drink example from the beginning of this article. An artist would start by using a 3D rendering software application to create wireframe models of the bottle and bottle cap. The artist often begins by importing a CAD file with the basic product dimensions into the 3D rendering software.
Once the wireframe is complete, the artist texture-maps a simulated plastic surface around the bottle and bottle cap. The drink bottle in this example is made from a clear transparent plastic, while the cap is made of an opaque colorized plastic. The artist can even simulate liquid in the bottle. Advanced 3D rendering software is able to simulate the physics of complex objects as a volume of liquid or cloud of gas.
After completing the basic plastic bottle, cap, and liquid contents, the artist wraps the label graphics around the bottle. Lighting, shading, reflections, refractions, and shadows are then added, completing the bottle’s photo-realistic appearance. Finally, the artist composes the scene and lets the software crunch the data to render a final image.
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3D rendering also provides residual value. Once a wireframe model is created, it can be easily modified to create infinite variations of the object. Any variable can be altered – color, texture, size, lighting, and scene layout without recreating the underling wireframe object. 3D rendering eliminates costly photo re-shoots and image manipulation to change the original image of the product. Multiple objects can be rendered together or combined with other objects and backgrounds, to create complex scenes. |
Examples of the same product in two different pointof-purchase displays. Using 3D rendering, the product manufacturer’s retail channel partner can visualize how the product will look in their store before placing an order.
Again, using the sports drink example, if there are other flavors that need a product shot, the artist can create them using the software to change the color of the drink liquid and bottle cap, and to wrap each different flavor’s label around the bottle. Let’s say the marketing team decides the plastic bottles need a pebbled, easy-togrip finish for an athlete’s sweaty hands. The artist creates a new bump map of a pebbled plastic finish and re-applies it to the wireframe surface of the bottle. What, the designer changed the label for the third time? Imagine that. Just import and wrap the revised graphics to the surface of the bottle then re-render the image.
Blurring Reality
Like photo-manipulation, 3D rendering is blurring the line between reality and computer-generated imagery. Often, 3D rendered objects are combined into existing photography and video, creating amazingly realistic results. 3D rendering software allows the artist to replicate lighting, position, scale, and movement to exactly match the scene into which the model is being added. It’s no longer even necessary to have the actual product available for the photoshoot or video production; it can be added afterwards.
Terminology
Bump Mapping - Adding a raised, 3D tactile texture effect to a texture map, which increases the realism of 3D objects. (Source: http://www.guru3d.com)
CAD - Abbreviation for Computer-Aided Design. Software that is used to create precision drawings in two or three dimensions. (Source: http://www.archivists.org)
Photographic Planogram - A schematic drawing of fixtures that illustrate product placement. With 3D rendering technology, it is possible to create a photorealistic planogram. (Source: http://retailindustry.about.com)
Point-of-View - The position from which an action or subject is seen. The position of the ‘virtual camera’ to the 3D model in a scene. (Source: http://omni.cc.purdue.edu)
Resources
3D rendering and its application for packaging design and advertising is still a rather specialized. You can start with these following resources:
Autodesk, makers of Maya 3D software
Autodesk, 3D for the 2D World Brochure
Esko-Graphics, makers of ArtiosCAD 3D Software
Maxon, Cinema 4D Software. Lazer’s personal choice of 3D rendering software
HIGHEND3D. A site dedicated to 3D rendering
3dRender.com, Jeremy Birn's website, Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios
Tutorial Outpost
3D Studio Max
Graphics.com - Drawing a New Course in a 3D World
Wikipedia®, the Free Encyclopedia
Some other great websites, with cutting-edge 3D examples, tutorials, and software reviews:
http://www.3dtotal.com
http://www.3dlinks.com
http://www.galleryof3d.com
http://www.3d-resources.com
http://www.tutorials3d.com
Gary Stafford is the
President of Lazer Incorporated. As a premier graphic communications
provider, Lazer specializes in digital imaging, design and
mechanical layout, electronic prepress, catalog and packaging
development, Digital Asset Management (DAM) and service,
service, service.
Email: garys@lazerinc.com
Company Profile:
Lazer Incorporated
Company URL:
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