SAN FRANCISCO - Radium, with offices in San Francisco and Santa Monica, recently completed editorial and visual effects work on a new Lugz spot featuring NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Kevin Harvick. The "NYC RPM" commercial highlights Lugz's new Harvick-inspired line of Rally shoes and calls attention to the Lugz Web site, where visitors can find out information on the shoes and on Harvick's No. 29 team.
Radium (www.radium.com) co-founder/creative director Jonathan Keeton directed the CG-heavy spot, which was produced by Roaring Tiger. The commercial shows Harvick remotely controlling the No. 29 car from the rooftop of a New York City building as it crosses over a bridge and speeds through the city, finally ending with a tire-smoking doughnut.
Of the spot's 32 shots, 28 were CG, including the race car, rooftop backgrounds and debris. Animation was created using Alias Maya, Mental Ray and Renderman. Discreet Inferno was used for visual effects. Alan Chimenti served as editor on the project with Mahoko Kuramasu assisting. Aladino Debert was lead CG artist, with Tom Briggs, Chris Briggs, Val Sinlao and John Baker serving as animators. Jais Lamare at Bobine handled the color correction. Tom & Andy handled sound design and the final mix.