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3D Animation

3D Animation

Stuff The British Stole: The Tea Leaves China

Stuff The British Stole: The Tea Leaves China

Stuff The British Stole: The Tea Leaves China

/// Overview

/// Overview

For season three of Stuff The British Stole, "The Tea Leaves China" tells the history of British tea smuggling. We told the story through traditional ceramic art, using the curved, reflective surfaces of porcelain teacups as the canvas. The look had to keep the hand-drawn feel of the 2D illustrations while matching the cinematic lighting and material realism of the series.

For season three of Stuff The British Stole, "The Tea Leaves China" tells the history of British tea smuggling. We told the story through traditional ceramic art, using the curved, reflective surfaces of porcelain teacups as the canvas. The look had to keep the hand-drawn feel of the 2D illustrations while matching the cinematic lighting and material realism of the series.

For season three of Stuff The British Stole, "The Tea Leaves China" tells the history of British tea smuggling. We told the story through traditional ceramic art, using the curved, reflective surfaces of porcelain teacups as the canvas. The look had to keep the hand-drawn feel of the 2D illustrations while matching the cinematic lighting and material realism of the series.

// General Information
Role
Art Director, Team Lead, Look Dev, Lead Animation, Lead Illustration & Compositing
Duration
2 months
Software
Cinema 4D, Redshift, After Effects, ft-UVPass
Credits
Studio: Lafinka.tvProject Director: Andrés Gomez Isaza and Keke Marc RobertsonThanks to: Alejandra Morales (creative producer), David Silva (3D Animator), and all artists involved in the project.Client: BBC / Wildbear EntertainmentCreator & Host: Marc FennellExecutive Producers: Richard Finlayson, Alan Erson, Kate HarrisonProducers: Marc Fennell, Kate PappasDirectors: Aaron Smith, Gary Hamaguchi, Shane Belcourt

/// The Challenge

/// The Challenge

Flat 2D artwork had to wrap around curved, reflective 3D geometry without losing its graphic quality or the realism of the porcelain. Mapping animated textures inside the 3D software made every story change slow and expensive. We needed to separate the 2D animation from 3D rendering and still have them feel like one image.
Flat 2D artwork had to wrap around curved, reflective 3D geometry without losing its graphic quality or the realism of the porcelain. Mapping animated textures inside the 3D software made every story change slow and expensive. We needed to separate the 2D animation from 3D rendering and still have them feel like one image.
Flat 2D artwork had to wrap around curved, reflective 3D geometry without losing its graphic quality or the realism of the porcelain. Mapping animated textures inside the 3D software made every story change slow and expensive. We needed to separate the 2D animation from 3D rendering and still have them feel like one image.

/// The Solution

/// The Solution

We designed Kaleido as a modular, generative identity based on geometric patterns, rotations and color shifts. The video works as both a manifesto and a demo of the brand, showing logo animations, evolving patterns and real applications that express order within creative chaos.
We designed Kaleido as a modular, generative identity based on geometric patterns, rotations and color shifts. The video works as both a manifesto and a demo of the brand, showing logo animations, evolving patterns and real applications that express order within creative chaos.
We designed Kaleido as a modular, generative identity based on geometric patterns, rotations and color shifts. The video works as both a manifesto and a demo of the brand, showing logo animations, evolving patterns and real applications that express order within creative chaos.

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/// The Process

/// The Process

Look development in Cinema 4D defined the porcelain materials: subtle imperfections, specular highlights and subsurface scattering. In parallel, we animated the teacups and cameras, framing each shot to stage the artwork. Instead of applying illustrations as textures in Redshift, we exported UV coordinates with specular, reflection, depth and matte passes. In After Effects, ft-UVPass wrapped the animated illustrations around the geometry, so we could adjust timing without re-rendering. Finally, we layered the AOVs back on top to restore the lighting, glaze reflections and depth of field.
Look development in Cinema 4D defined the porcelain materials: subtle imperfections, specular highlights and subsurface scattering. In parallel, we animated the teacups and cameras, framing each shot to stage the artwork. Instead of applying illustrations as textures in Redshift, we exported UV coordinates with specular, reflection, depth and matte passes. In After Effects, ft-UVPass wrapped the animated illustrations around the geometry, so we could adjust timing without re-rendering. Finally, we layered the AOVs back on top to restore the lighting, glaze reflections and depth of field.
Look development in Cinema 4D defined the porcelain materials: subtle imperfections, specular highlights and subsurface scattering. In parallel, we animated the teacups and cameras, framing each shot to stage the artwork. Instead of applying illustrations as textures in Redshift, we exported UV coordinates with specular, reflection, depth and matte passes. In After Effects, ft-UVPass wrapped the animated illustrations around the geometry, so we could adjust timing without re-rendering. Finally, we layered the AOVs back on top to restore the lighting, glaze reflections and depth of field.