“Made to Win” Adizero Running Shoe Campaign | Adidas
VFX / Product ｜ 2024
Product ModelingAnimation
Late Studio produced the CG animation for this ad for Adidas HK, handling the 3D CG animation, contributing to the shot concepts, and leading the compositing and sound design. During production, the team also joined the agency and film crew at Hong Kong International Airport for location scouting and on-site shooting, which was a lot of fun.
Adidas runners cross three yellow lines on the airport’s third runway, with several Adidas-branded planes parked behind them.As they run, an Adidas plane flies overhead trailing a “Made to Win” banner and drops the latest Adizero running shoes.A runner catches the Adizero Boston 12 dropped from the Adidas plane.
Pre-Production for the Shoot
As the ad relied heavily on 3D CG effects, Late Studio joined the pre-production planning, discussing the technical feasibility of specific shots with the agency and drawing storyboards for communication and on-set reference.
The first step of pre-production was the storyboard; after several rounds of discussion and revisions with the client, the final storyboard was completed.Branding designs for the plane. The client wanted the logo on the aircraft, so the team designed several options for the client to choose from and refine, giving a clearer picture and direction.
3D Model Showcase
Scenes such as the “CG plane” and the “shoe airdrop” required 3D animation, so the team began building the 3D models of the shoes and the plane before the shoot.
3D model of the running shoe.Turntable of the 3D running shoe.3D model of the Adidas plane.
Creating a Photorealistic 3D Shoe
The workflow for the CG shoe was similar to our earlier AdizeroPro3 project. After receiving the physical shoes, the team 3D-scanned them to capture extensive real volume and colour information and form the overall shape, then rebuilt and refined the details and materials in Blender, creating a 1:1 3D model for the CG animation.
After scanning, extensive clean-up was still needed before the model could be used for VFX.Before and after. Left: the raw 3D scan; right: after refinement in Blender.
3D CG Animation Process
Once the footage was shot, the team brought the prepared shoe and plane models into the plates and started on the CG effects. As before, the animation was made in Blender, including tracking and simulation.
A complex shot: first the plane’s flight and cargo door opening were animated, then the camera move was built to follow the plane (the light-coloured object on the right is the camera). Particles created the scattering shoes, and finally cloth simulation made the banner flutter in the wind.The main animation here is the falling shoes, again made with particles; because the scattering differs from the previous shot, the settings were adjusted accordingly.
VFX and Compositing
The team composited the film in Adobe After Effects, combining the footage, animation and fixes, then refining how the footage and animation blend together.
This shot replaces the background, adds several parked Adidas planes and, echoing the Adidas brand mark, turns the double yellow lines into “three yellow lines”.While the two runners run, a plane flying in the distance was added to heighten the airport atmosphere, along with an extra yellow line on the runway. As the camera tilts to the sky, the plane, banner and shoes animated in Blender were added, and the colour and lighting of the elements and footage were matched.The final shot mainly involved colour-adjusting the shoe effects in the background and adding the final typography provided by the agency.
