Learn how anima ALL integrated seamlessly into studio narrativ's workflow to save time creating crowds in the marketing film for London events venue, Olympia
Summary:
- UK-based architecture visualization studio narrativ works on ambitious, landmark projects like the upcoming transformation of Olympia in London, UK.
- narrativ needed to realistically showcase Olympia as the premiere art, culture, and entertainment destination for the next generation
- narrativ used anima ALL to let the viewer experience myriad opportunities Olympia will soon offer in an immersive and engaging way.
- Anima ALL's crowd capabilities perfectly fit narrativ's workflow, helping it achieve its goal and win customer satisfaction.
CGI studio narrativ has collaborated with world-renowned architects, designs, and brands since 2019 to create beautiful animations, virtual tours, and static visualizations. narrativ prides itself on exploring out-of-the-box solutions, breaking industry norms, and always searching for new ways to create visualizations. One of narrativ’s most ambitious projects—and a testament to its commitment to excellence—is its work bringing Olympia Events to life.
Olympia opened in 1886 and has housed exhibitions, concerts, conferences, and sporting events ever since. With new plans to upgrade and renovate the complex, Director Robin Walker and the narrativ team were entrusted with producing a film to showcase the project. Using anima ALL and Corona, narrativ delivered animations that were key to the project’s success, attracting potential investors and key tenants.
Problem: Highlighting how the public will enjoy the new upgrades on a tight deadline
Located in West Kensington, Olympia has been a mainstay for London events and conferences for almost 140 years. Now, Olympia is ready for an upgrade that would make it a cultural destination fit for 21st-century London. Amongst other things, the renovations will include flexible office space, a music venue, a theater, two hotels, and 2.5 acres of public space.
With the renovation still in the planning stages, the Olympia team tasked narrativ with creating a film to help lock in investor support and attract potential tenants. “The brief was straightforward, explains Robin. “Showcase Olympia in its best light and take viewers on a journey through it, but without relying on the old-school fly-throughs that often lack a human touch and a true sense of presence.”
In addition, not only was there a tight timeline for this project of just two months, but narrativ’s film also needed to demonstrate how the complex would function from morning to night—and shine a light on its accessibility from central London.
It was a big challenge, so narrativ teamed up with Chaos to realize their vision of telling an engaging visual story. In addition to taking advantage of Corona’s rendering excellence, they realized that the crowd capabilities of anima ALL would be the perfect tool to add that all-important human element. It would also perfectly integrate into their existing workflow for maximum time efficiency.
Solution: Using products that integrate for a seamless workflow
Anima ALL’s seamless integration with 3ds Max and Corona played a key role in ensuring that the team could work efficiently while maintaining creative control. Using anima alongside these tools, narrativ efficiently populated scenes with people and crowds, maintaining a smooth and creative workflow without interruptions or bottlenecks.
Drop is actually our go-to to begin with. [It] allows us to intuitively add 3D people to our scene exactly where we want them.
Robin Walker, narrativ
While other studios may prefer to add their people models at the end of the project, narrativ includes them from the start of the process. Although this might seem time-consuming, anima’s Drop feature made it easy for the team to add people models directly within 3ds Max. This early integration of 3D people ensured that the human element was an integral part of the project from the beginning. “Drop is actually our go-to to begin with,” said Robin. “[It] allows us to intuitively add 3D people to our scene exactly where we want them.”
When it came time to add crowds and 4D people models, narrativ took geometry they needed crowds for and imported them into the anima app. From there, they created the socialization areas the 3D rigged models will interact in and bring to life the various environments across Olympia, from cafes to walkways, escalators, and theaters. For models featured closer to the camera, narrativ used anima's hallmark models, 4D walking humans, to bring the complex to life. "As long as you have nice 4D models as the first thing your eye catches, the rest just works," says Robin.
We're actually quite quick—adding crowds can take an hour or two! More complex scenarios with paths, escalators, etc., take a bit longer but no more than a day. Anima is super fast.
Robin Walker, narrativ
This fluid workflow not only enabled narrativ to add a human touch to Olympia but also significantly reduced production time. “These films would have taken ten times longer to finish without anima. With traditional methods, we’d have to download individual models one by one, import them into 3ds Max, relink the maps—it would have been a nightmare.”
Instead of spending days and days populating scenes, narrativ have got it down to a fine (and fast) art. "We're actually quite quick—adding crowds can take an hour or two! More complex scenarios with paths, escalators, etc., take a bit longer but no more than a day. Anima is super fast."
Result: Winning investor confidence with storytelling
After receiving the film’s final cut, narrativ’s client was thrilled with the results. The animation takes viewers on an immersive journey, starting in London and moving through the vibrant spaces of Olympia—bustling outdoor areas, hotels, cafes, and office spaces. The journey culminates in a conference, a meal, walking the red carpet, and ending the evening at a concert. By showcasing Olympia’s dynamic spaces from morning to night, the film allowed potential investors and tenants to experience firsthand the vibrant atmosphere the renovation would bring. This powerful storytelling played a key role in securing the necessary funding and attracting tenants, ensuring the project’s success.
Anima ALL’s crowd capabilities made it easy for viewers to blend into the scenes, allowing narrativ’s client to show rather than tell. The added human touch helped immerse potential investors in Olympia’s future, providing a glimpse into how their funding would shape the development or, for future tenants, the type of vibrant community their businesses would become a part of.
Anima ALL has consistently proven to be intuitive and easy to use, allowing us to get up and running quickly without any hassle. The seamless integration into our workflow means we can focus on the creative side of things rather than dealing with a complicated piece of software.
Robin Walker, narrativ
For narrativ, the Olympia project marks the latest success using the tool. “Anima ALL has consistently proven to be intuitive and easy to use, allowing us to get up and running quickly without any hassle,” says Robin Walker. “The seamless integration into our workflow means we can focus on the creative side of things rather than dealing with a complicated piece of software.”
With its ease of use, time-saving features, and smooth integration, Anima ALL has become an indispensable tool for narrativ, ensuring their future projects continue to be brought to life with vibrancy and efficiency.
