Star Wars Rebels, Guardians of the Galaxy, Wonder Woman - Funko 'Pop!'

Last year we provided a veritable horde of characters, vehicles and creature rigs for Funko Animation's 'Pop!' stylised animated shorts and product teasers.  In 2017 we have continued this run, providing such notable characters as; R2-D2, Luke Skywalker, Captain Jack Sparrow, Wonder Woman, Rocket, Baby Groot & many more.

Based on the popular Funko collectible figure line, these simple large-headed characters are all built using our in-house automated stylised rigging pipeline, ensuring quick and reliable turnarounds with flexible animation controls.  We also provided any additional prop and accessory rigs needed, as well as scripts to help support seamless switching.

Thanks to Funko Animation for working with Flex Animation on these fun characters.  Animated shorts and teasers featuring our rigs can be found below:-

Legion of Collectors: Wonder Woman Trailer:

Smuggler's Bounty: Star Wars Rebels Trailer:

Marvel Collector Corps: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Box Trailer:

Star Wars Smuggler's Bounty: 40th Anniversary Box Trailer:

Marvel, DC & Star Wars - Funko 'Pop!'

In 2016 we supplied a vast array of characters, vehicles and creature rigs for Funko Animation's 'Pop!' stylised animated shorts and product teasers.  Based on the popular Funko collectible figure line, these simple large-headed characters are built using our in-house automated rigging pipeline, ensuring quick and reliable turnarounds with flexible animation controls.  The rigs included notable characters; Marvel's Deadpool, DC's Batman and Robin, and Star Wars' Han Solo with Tauntaun and many more.

Thanks to Funko Animation for working with Flex Animation on these fun characters.  Animated shorts and teasers featuring our rigs can be found below:-

Smuggler's Bounty: The Empire Strikes Back Trailer:

Spellbound:

Chimichangas, featuring Deadpool:

Legion of Collectors: DC Legacy Teaser:

Marvel Collector Corps: Super Hero Showdowns Teaser:

Marvel Collector Corps: X-Men Teaser:

Donna Summer: The Ultimate Collection

Earlier in 2016 we were engaged to create an end to end commercial for client SJW films, promoting a brand new CD collection for Donna Summer's greatest hits.

We supplied previsualisation of the commercial, allowing the client to chop and change as they saw fit.  Once approved, neon beams that fly towards camera were modelled and rigged in 3D to recreate feeling of past CD sleeve artwork, then timed & animated at each track.  Light fog and stars were added to give more depth, along with rare archival footage of Donna overlaid.

On the left is source postcard artwork from past CD release, while on the right is the animated test created at Flex to replicate the look

Special thanks to Sophie Wardle and the team at SJW films for working with us on this exciting project.

Donna Summer: The Ultimate Collection full commercial is currently airing on UK Television & can be viewed via the link below:

https://vimeo.com/189783759

Harrods A Very British Bear Tale Christmas Advert 2016

Earlier in 2016 we were engaged to provide five simple character rigs for an animated short as part of Harrods Christmas campaign.  All made use of our in-house rigging toolset which allowed quick turnarounds on the assets required.

Special thanks to Mainframe London for engaging us on the project and David Matthews for working with us and quickly learning the ropes on our in-house rigging toolset.

Commercial can watched here:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2_UCq-RrIw

Anatomy Next Website & NEW Book 'Head & Neck' Anatomy

Back in July 2014 I was really impressed by the book Anatomy for Sculptors, an excellent human anatomy resource for 3D artists.  For me the breakdown of the muscle forms from many angles and in different poses was great to see.

So I was really pleased to hear Uldis Zarins and Sandis Kondrats have been working on a new volume that focuses on the neck and head.  With facial rigging being one of my specialisms, this was of huge interest to me.

Anatomy Next kindly granted me advanced preview access to the e-book and it is a fantastic resource.  There are extensive breakdowns of the facial muscles and their movements, along with an in depth look at the human skull and vertebrae.  For a rigger who enjoys facial rigging I am devouring this book, it's brilliant.  What I like about these books so much is the focus on areas of deformation that come up again and again in rigging, and clearly show how the deformation works.

It's also worth checking out their website if you haven't already.  Anatomy Next is a continuation of anatomy4sculptors.com website with more interactive content and digital tools for artists.

David Cowles Brooks

Flex Animation's first animated short 'Rise' in development

We're very excited to announce our first in-house project!  'Rise' will be Flex Animation's first animated short from Director and founder David Cowles Brooks.  Originally conceived in 2013, Rise will focus on Clarence as he struggles with the worst morning in history.

"Clarence enjoys one of those unique mornings.  The kind you dream about where you can't reach your goal.  Ever." - David Cowles Brooks on 'Rise'.

RSC's Tempest Digital Apparition

Last year we worked with the Imaginarium Studios to deliver a digital apparition of RSC actor Simon Russell Beale.  This forms the first time the RSC has incorperated digital avatars on stage with actors.

Special thanks to Imaginarium Studios for working with Flex on this very exciting project.  You can read more in The Telegraph who have featured an article on the upcoming production.

COLDPLAY - Adventure of a Lifetime Music Video #AOAL

Flex Animation in collaboration with Imaginarium Studios recently delivered full facial rigs for the band of CGI Apes featured in Coldplay's brand new music video 'Adventure of a Lifetime'.  Flex also delivered the full 25 facial animation cleanup shots for the hero Ape driven by Chris Martin, bringing the motion data closer to his original performance.  This video represents the very first single on what is reportedly Coldplay's final album.

You can watch the full video here.

Special thanks to Imaginarium Studios and Mathematic for working with Flex on this very exciting project.

Lead singer Chris Martin in capture gear at The Imaginarium Studios London

View Conference 2015

Flex Animation is proud to be an official media partner for View Conference 2015, Italy's international computer graphics conference.  The event runs from 19-23 October in Turin. This year's guests include:-

• Christopher Townsend, VFX Supervisor for" Avengers : Age of Ultron "
• Jorge R. Gutierrez, director of "The Book of Life" by ReelFx
• Kim White, Director of Photography, Inside Out, Pixar Animation Studios
• Michael Rubin, Senior Innovator at Adobe Systems
• Michael Kurisnky, Production Designer for the animated movie " Hotel Transylvania 2" by Sony Animation
• Erik Nash, VFX Supervisor for " Night at the Museum : Secret of the Tomb" by MPC
• Glenn Entis, Computer Animation and Video Games Pioneer
• David Misch, Author and Comedian

Check out the View Conference official website for more information & to book your attendance.

Horlicks NutriQuest

In March we enjoyed teaming up with London's Ground Ctrl to provide over twenty stylised rigs for GlaxoSmithKline's latest Horlicks marketing campaign.  Flex Animation delivered full body and facial rigs for all hero human characters, as well as range of custom vehicle and prop rigs.

Akin, Omair, Ida and Damien fight to keep children nourished in NutriQuest

The campaign promotes the new iOS & Android platform game through a series of CG teaser trailers.  The characters can also be seen posed grinning on Horlicks packaging, collectible tokens, interactive website content, social media and online marketing.

Rigged characters appear on official Horlicks beverage products and iOS/Android compatible collectibles

With the number of rigs required in such a short turnaround, we relied on our in-house rigging toolset to automate the build process.  Consistency across our stylised human rigs allowed animators at Ground Ctrl to transfer animation from character to character and re-use poses and keyframe data.  We also utilised our own truck rigging toolset to provide vehicles with physically correct auto rolling wheels, engine noise attributes and path controls.

For the facial rigs Ground Ctrl animators opted for ergonomic 'on-the-face' controls that would drive intuitive face shapes as they were pushed in various directions along the planes of the face.  We automated any functionality requests, condensing the features of some controls for quick posing, and applying them across the board for all the assets.

Dr Greedy schemes from inside the hijacked Horlicks factory

The official trailer can be viewed here.  Special thanks to Ground Ctrl London for working with us on this fun and fast paced project.

Terminator Genisys : Threat has Evolved

Back in March we very quickly turned around this Terminator T1000 rig for Bristol based interactive marketing agency Play Nicely.  It was to be utilised in marketing events worldwide where participants could stand in front of a projected screen and visualise themselves as a T1000 liquid metal robot.

The rigged asset had to be compatible with the Unity game engine.  We utilised our in-house rigging toolset to provide the T1000 ready for animation whilst driving a Unity compatible rig. 

A short but sweet project,  you can see the event here http://terminator-hub.staging.playnicely.co.uk/.  Special thanks to Play Nicely for working with us.

The T1000 rig met Unity specification and had a custom Maya rig for animation

Anatomy of a CGI T. Rex - T.Rex Autopsy (National Geographic Channel)

Early in 2015 we rigged a fully anatomically accurate T. Rex for the National Geographic Channel's 'T. Rex Autopsy' documentary.  The brief was to keep the musculature lean, so particular care was taken to bias the flexing of the muscles against the secondary jiggle.

Below: a breakdown of the T. Rex rig built using our in-house toolset at Flex Animation.  Credit to Jonathan Symmonds for the source walkcycle for this breakdown.

Animation puppet

Skeletal and muscle volumes

Skin simulation and flexing

Result

T. rex Autopsy

Early in 2015 we were tasked with bringing a full size T. rex to life for an upcoming National Geographic Documentary.  The rig involved detailed anatomical construction from the skeleton up, and made use of our in-house muscle toolset for jiggle and flexing.  We will share more following the premiere - June 7 at 8pm on the National Geographic Channel

Article from the Daily Mail UK - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3085562/Dissecting-dinosaur-Scientists-carry-autopsy-life-sized-Tyrannosaurus-Rex-replica-solve-mysteries-huge-predator.html

Combatabots Trailer

In December 2014 Flex Animation created rigs for two unique hero characters and their off-road truck for a promotional trailer by Kids Cave Entertainment.  Both the characters and the vehicle were built using our custom in-house rigging toolset.

The truck wheels interacted with custom input ground geometry and the chassis of the vehicle could be gimballed on it's supsension, with automatic secondary engine rumble movement on the hood and bumpers.  Special thanks to Axis Animation http://www.axisanimation.com/ and Dean Wright http://getwrightonit.com/ for working with us on this short yet fun little project.

2015

Well, it's been a busy time for Flex Animation.  Since starting in 2014 we've worked on a huge scale asset for an upcoming National Geographic documentary, we've provided characters for a new multi-platform franchise akin to Disney Infinity, and just recently we were involved with digital marketing for an upcoming Sci Fi blockbuster.  The work has been varied and fun.  Looking forward to sharing our year in the near future...

Ealing StudioS

One of our latest clients is based at the historic Ealing Studios in London.  Established in 1938, it is always a pleasure to collaborate with such a significant facility, home to 'The Ladykillers' (1955) starring Alec Guiness and Peter Sellers.

Our in-house work continues to expand, and excite!  More to come...

Flex launch

It's an exciting time for Flex animation!  Teas are brewing, anatomy books are being thumbed through, pencils are scribbling, code is being debugged and digital assets are being built.  The latter half of 2014 promises to be an exciting time for Flex.  Our showreel is coming soon - watch this space!