Times Square Smartwater Ads
A 3-week project in Unreal Engine 5 for Ad Agency VML.
Smartwater - the Need
Fast Turnaround Times
A 3-week turnaround was needed for this Smartwater project. Traditional rendering methods using Redshift with Cinema 4D was too slow for these 4k animations, so an alternative solution was needed. Enter in: Unreal Engine 5.

Realtime Client Review
Utilizing Game Engines for Reviews
Clients could directly interact with lighting, shadows, reflections, and more while on calls with Unreal Engine. Since Frame Generation is near instant, creative direction was taken to the extreme with vast amounts of options and iterations on this project.

Real-World Exposure
Holiday Season
The ads gained visibility to hundreds of thousands of people, appearing in even a Times Square new year's broadcast. Over the next couple of weeks, the ad would be played hundreds of times on the billboard.

Takeaways
-Client iteration is great for satisfaction from both parties.
Often times, art is never finished, only abandoned. By getting as many review cycles and live reviews as possible, the client was able to make changes in real time, leading to higher satisfaction and more control in creative direction.

-Unreal Engine 5 is the future of virtual production and motion graphics.
With a short deadline, shortcuts have to be taken in order to make tight deadlines for Cinema 4D and other traditional rendering engines. Utilizing realtime game engines can pump out visuals fast without sacrificing quality.

-Structure ads around events with live viewership.
With so many eyes watching the countdown clock, the gigantic billboard is prime real estate for all things related to ads.

Project Context
Motion Design, 3D Design

Client
Smartwater
VMLY&R

Duration
3 weeks

Programs used
Cinema 4D, Unreal Engine, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects
Cinema 4DOTOY Octane RenderPhotoshopPremiere ProIllustrator
Thank you!

Other work:

Head in the Clouds
VCD Poster
Bar.
UX Design
Automotive/Interaction Design
Porsche Virtual Dashboard
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