Christmas E-card | AsiaWorld-Expo 20th Anniversary - Late Studio | Hong Kong Animation Studio

Late Studio created a 2024 Christmas promotional animated short for Expo Bear, the mascot of AsiaWorld-Expo. The 3D animation tells a heartwarming story of Expo Bear building a snowman in a snowy forest and receiving a Christmas present.

ClientAsiaWorld-ExpoAgencyAIO StudioProductionLate Studio

As snow falls, the main character rolls a snowball in the forest, builds a snowman, and gives it eyes and a nose.

After the snowman is done, Santa flies overhead and drops a Christmas present.

The present lands at the main character’s feet with something bouncing inside. When the box is opened, the AsiaWorld-Expo logo pops out.

Finally, on behalf of AsiaWorld-Expo, the main character wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pre-production

Before starting the animation, Late Studio offered the client two written story options to choose from, then drew a storyboard based on the chosen story and edited it into an animatic, giving the client an early sense of the visuals.

3D Models

Before animating, the team first builds the 3D models needed. This time the client provided the mascot’s 3D model, so the team mainly modeled the other objects in the story and added a Christmas outfit to the main character based on the client’s design.

Christmas E-card | AsiaWorld-Expo 20th Anniversary

The main 3D models and 3D background used.

3D Animation Process

With all the 3D models ready, the animation stage began. The team used Blender for the 3D work and animated the characters in Blender, bringing the main character to life!

Besides animating the main character, the team also designed the lighting for each shot to get the best look.

3D work-in-progress vs. final animation: Part 1.

3D work-in-progress vs. final animation: Part 2.

3D work-in-progress vs. final animation: Part 3.

3D work-in-progress vs. final animation: Part 4.

Compositing

The team used Nuke and Adobe After Effects for compositing: the finished animation and scenes were rendered first, then all the elements were brought together in Nuke to refine the lighting, atmosphere and detail, and to better blend the characters with the backgrounds.