BMW commercial at DVinfo.net

February 17th, 2004, 10:57 PM

has anyone seen the new BMW comercial for their SUV? The commercial is incredible you watch 4 different parts of the same car with the same people in it in 4 totally different locales with no locked camera shot on any of the frames at thew same time. How in the world did they do this?

Rob Zeigler · February 17th, 2004, 11:42 PM

I love wrapping my head around stuff like this, but I'm still working on figuring this one out.

The commercial is for the BMW X3, by the way.

My first guess is that it's a bluescreened motion control shot of the exterior of the vehicle.

CG in rotating wheels and motion blur, and then track the shot and render each of the four seasons as CG backgrounds with the X3 composited into each one.

Bring all four sequences into your favorite post program and use the "X" pattern as a mask to wipe between each background.

One of my favorite parts is the end where the "X" swishes into the "X" in "X3" in a split second...I personally like those kinds of touches in my work, also.

Alex Taylor · February 17th, 2004, 11:44 PM

Any word on a URL to this?

Rob Zeigler · February 18th, 2004, 12:02 AM

Alex,

Not yet, I'll keep my eyes open for you and post here if I find it.

Sharon Fraats · February 19th, 2004, 11:44 PM

If you want to see something really cool check this out.....

http://bmwfilms.com/clap.asp?templat...country=&film=

Rob Lohman · February 20th, 2004, 07:40 AM

Also see this thread on a similar topic. I posted a link
to a site that explains how the Cheetah commercial from
Mountain Dew was done which might give some insights.

Sharon Fraats · February 20th, 2004, 08:33 AM

The site I pointed to have movies that are made by BMW by top directors in the bizz Clive Owen plays the main actor in all the films with guest shots by other actors. It is worth the cruise over to the site.

February 20th, 2004, 12:18 PM

I dont thing the wheels spinning are keyed in due to the fact that the shocks function when the car turns. Also i saw a video advertising the same car on TBS last night that just played the summer shot of the car driving around in some dry grassy hills. This was the same shot you see in the bottom left corner of the commercial.

Rob Zeigler · February 20th, 2004, 12:36 PM

John,

Is it possible then that they took this original summer footage and made it the original plate, then comped in various "seasons" from the original summer plate?

Ted Springer · February 20th, 2004, 10:33 PM

The 4 videos are not identical. Look closely and you'll see some differences in position, movement and whatnot. It is very possible that they shot the same car 4 times with the same people inside, just at different locations. With the way computers can set things up these days, they could have had some sort of computerized tracking dolly/crane contraption that would move along the programmed path. Then it's back to the editing/compositing studio. I can only imagine how much fun that was to put together. It turned out great!

John Gaspain · February 24th, 2004, 02:24 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Ted Springer : The 4 videos are not identical. Look closely and you'll see some differences in position, movement and whatnot. It is very possible that they shot the same car 4 times with the same people inside, just at different locations. With the way computers can set things up these days, they could have had some sort of computerized tracking dolly/crane contraption that would move along the programmed path. Then it's back to the editing/compositing studio. I can only imagine how much fun that was to put together. It turned out great! -->>>

Thats what I was thinking too

Charles Papert · February 24th, 2004, 08:30 AM

The thing is, it's easy enough to motion control the camera, it's another thing to moco the car itself. It would have to travel at exactly the same speed, distance to camera, trajectory etc...looking forward to hearing the real skinny on how this was done!

Rob Zeigler · February 24th, 2004, 08:43 AM

Charles,

Right. Exactly. After watching the commercial a few more times, it was obvious the car was not just sitting there. This one is really perplexing me. : )

Rob Zeigler · February 24th, 2004, 07:28 PM

OK, found an article online that explains (very briefly) what they did.

The article can be found at:
http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cf...003/bmw/1.html

Basically they shot in New Zealand in July so that they could get all four seasons in one place. They used laser measurements (on the cameras I'm assuming) to make sure that the shots were as close as possible. The article says they designed "repetitive movement" so I'm guessing that they planned this one out to the smallest details.

Although they say they didn't want to emphasize on post production, Digital Domain had their hand in this and that tells me right there that there's more work done then we think. : )

Definitely an interesting ad.

Matthew Eastwood · March 8th, 2004, 12:16 AM

awesome commercial, my favorite one out right now.

btw, anyone know the music? i'm guessing it's amon tobin but i cannot locate it on any of his CDs that i have.

anyone?

February 17th, 2004, 10:57 PM	#1
John Hampton Posts: n/a	BMW comercial has anyone seen the new BMW comercial for their SUV? The commercial is incredible you watch 4 different parts of the same car with the same people in it in 4 totally different locales with no locked camera shot on any of the frames at thew same time. How in the world did they do this?

February 17th, 2004, 11:42 PM	#2
Rob Zeigler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 87	I love wrapping my head around stuff like this, but I'm still working on figuring this one out. The commercial is for the BMW X3, by the way. My first guess is that it's a bluescreened motion control shot of the exterior of the vehicle. CG in rotating wheels and motion blur, and then track the shot and render each of the four seasons as CG backgrounds with the X3 composited into each one. Bring all four sequences into your favorite post program and use the "X" pattern as a mask to wipe between each background. One of my favorite parts is the end where the "X" swishes into the "X" in "X3" in a split second...I personally like those kinds of touches in my work, also. __________________ Rob Zeigler http://www.robzeigler.com

February 17th, 2004, 11:44 PM	#3
Alex Taylor Major Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 390	Any word on a URL to this? __________________ alextaylor.org

February 18th, 2004, 12:02 AM	#4
Rob Zeigler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 87	Alex, Not yet, I'll keep my eyes open for you and post here if I find it. __________________ Rob Zeigler http://www.robzeigler.com

February 20th, 2004, 07:40 AM	#6
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Also see this thread on a similar topic. I posted a link to a site that explains how the Cheetah commercial from Mountain Dew was done which might give some insights. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 19th, 2004, 11:44 PM	#5
Sharon Fraats Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: chicago, ill Posts: 190	If you want to see something really cool check this out..... http://bmwfilms.com/clap.asp?templat...country=&film=

February 20th, 2004, 08:33 AM	#7
Sharon Fraats Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: chicago, ill Posts: 190	The site I pointed to have movies that are made by BMW by top directors in the bizz Clive Owen plays the main actor in all the films with guest shots by other actors. It is worth the cruise over to the site.

February 20th, 2004, 12:18 PM	#8
John Hampton Posts: n/a	I dont thing the wheels spinning are keyed in due to the fact that the shocks function when the car turns. Also i saw a video advertising the same car on TBS last night that just played the summer shot of the car driving around in some dry grassy hills. This was the same shot you see in the bottom left corner of the commercial.

February 20th, 2004, 12:36 PM	#9
Rob Zeigler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 87	John, Is it possible then that they took this original summer footage and made it the original plate, then comped in various "seasons" from the original summer plate? __________________ Rob Zeigler http://www.robzeigler.com

February 20th, 2004, 10:33 PM	#10
Ted Springer Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Glendale CA Posts: 328	The 4 videos are not identical. Look closely and you'll see some differences in position, movement and whatnot. It is very possible that they shot the same car 4 times with the same people inside, just at different locations. With the way computers can set things up these days, they could have had some sort of computerized tracking dolly/crane contraption that would move along the programmed path. Then it's back to the editing/compositing studio. I can only imagine how much fun that was to put together. It turned out great!

February 24th, 2004, 02:24 AM	#11
John Gaspain Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: WA-USA Posts: 371	<<<-- Originally posted by Ted Springer : The 4 videos are not identical. Look closely and you'll see some differences in position, movement and whatnot. It is very possible that they shot the same car 4 times with the same people inside, just at different locations. With the way computers can set things up these days, they could have had some sort of computerized tracking dolly/crane contraption that would move along the programmed path. Then it's back to the editing/compositing studio. I can only imagine how much fun that was to put together. It turned out great! -->>> Thats what I was thinking too __________________ The glory of the World passes by.

February 24th, 2004, 08:30 AM	#12
Charles Papert Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 6,810	The thing is, it's easy enough to motion control the camera, it's another thing to moco the car itself. It would have to travel at exactly the same speed, distance to camera, trajectory etc...looking forward to hearing the real skinny on how this was done! __________________ Charles Papert www.charlespapert.com

February 24th, 2004, 08:43 AM	#13
Rob Zeigler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 87	Charles, Right. Exactly. After watching the commercial a few more times, it was obvious the car was not just sitting there. This one is really perplexing me. : ) __________________ Rob Zeigler http://www.robzeigler.com

February 24th, 2004, 07:28 PM	#14
Rob Zeigler Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 87	Got it, finally! OK, found an article online that explains (very briefly) what they did. The article can be found at: http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cf...003/bmw/1.html Basically they shot in New Zealand in July so that they could get all four seasons in one place. They used laser measurements (on the cameras I'm assuming) to make sure that the shots were as close as possible. The article says they designed "repetitive movement" so I'm guessing that they planned this one out to the smallest details. Although they say they didn't want to emphasize on post production, Digital Domain had their hand in this and that tells me right there that there's more work done then we think. : ) Definitely an interesting ad. __________________ Rob Zeigler http://www.robzeigler.com

March 8th, 2004, 12:16 AM	#15
Matthew Eastwood Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Lawrence, Kansas Posts: 40	awesome commercial, my favorite one out right now. btw, anyone know the music? i'm guessing it's amon tobin but i cannot locate it on any of his CDs that i have. anyone?