Advent Calendar 2023

When designing the key visual images, we needed to consider the need to create an image for each of the four versions of the Advent Calendar. Additionally, we had to ensure that these images could be adapted to various cropping options. All of this had to be done while maintaining consistency across all the different versions.

Since making the whole environment in CGI had no benefit apart from a slight creative control advantage. The decision was made to shoot the environment and add all the content on the table using cgi. Rituals chose a lovely location to shoot, Slot Zeist. This had the added benefit of connecting the key visual assets with the film assets.

The advent calendar and products were modeled to scale using 3Ds Max, the additional assets were modeled in Cinema4D. Shading, lighting and rendering was done using 3Ds Max+Vray.

We wanted the visuals to give you a sneak peak into the beauty and calmness that's waiting for you behind each of the 24 doors.

We initiated the village design process by sketching out the layout. Using a few calendars, we physically placed houses on a large sheet of paper. This method allowed us to swiftly experiment with various configurations and establish a path for Raymond to navigate through our village.​​​​​​​

Upon receiving the initial draft of the custom-made music, we started working on the animatic. To asses shot length, we filmed ourselves performing various actions which could als serve as a reference for the character animation department.

Just as with the primary visual elements, we aimed to ensure that each shot could seamlessly adapt to all four different calendars. Despite the film's main version lasting 45 seconds, we essentially built a shot library for each calendar, enabling the backend system to effortlessly generate diverse shortened and cropped versions.

We wanted every scene in the video to capture the warmth, togetherness, and eager excitement that defines the holiday spirit.

For all the films, shading, lighting, and rendering were executed using Redshift in the Aces color space, providing us with extensive control and options for a broad range of freedom in compositing.

Nuke was the tool of choice for all compositing, allowing us to construct a custom pipeline tailored to this project. Leveraging various AOVs and light passes, we could swiftly and effortlessly adjust and tweak specific elements without the need for 3D re-renders.