The Innovation of CG Car Ads with Punctum Images CEO Jakub Vlček

When it comes to advertising in the automobile industry, the freedom provided by 3D renders is paramount to a successful campaign. The limitations of live-action film shoots – the unpredictability of weather, budget, and time constraints – are all but non-existent when it comes to full CGI productions. It is now the norm for agencies and renowned car manufacturers the world over to seek out the creative freedoms provided by CGI.

One studio that exemplifies the successes of this type of production is Prague-based studio, Punctum Images. With clients including Dodge, BMW, Skoda, and Subaru, Punctum is no stranger to crafting innovative campaigns and promotions for anything automobile-related. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Punctum CEO Jakub Vlček to discuss his studio’s recent work for Dodge, the importance of Autodesk software in their pipeline, and the importance of CG productions like theirs in the product visualization and advertising industries.

Could you introduce yourself?

My name is Jakub Vlček and I am the CEO of Punctum Images. Punctum Images is a Prague-based CGI studio. Our core business is automotive, but we also have clients from other areas. One of our specializations is full CGI motives where everything is computer-generated, which is being used more and more by automotive clients. We can be seen as a combination of arch-viz and automotive CGI studio. We use many techniques from arch viz to create nature scenes, cities, and houses. And also lots of methods from automotive to build product-perfect cars. We have to pay a lot of attention to details because realism always depends on the most minor details, even more, if we render the static images for print which often have about 20k resolution.

The studio's latest CGI film for Dodge is very impressive! What was it like being given so much creative freedom with the brief? Is this common from your clients?

Thank you! The client wanted to test our abilities to create a large-scale project in a very short time, including the idea and concept, so he gave us complete freedom, which is not usual. Usually, there is a lot of boundaries we have to respect.

Dodge Charger is especially great at drifting, so we created the abandoned area, away from the main road, where the car could show its best. We wanted to make a very moody short film, so we put in a lot of dust camera shakes, and our sound designer recreated the unique screaming sound of the supercharged engine.

What was the production process like for this project? What Autodesk software is part of Punctum's pipeline?

Our studio workflow is built mainly on 3DS Max and VRAY. We had to spend a lot of time in Phoenix creating the smoke behind cars for this project. First, we created the script and then started building the environment and car rig. After we had a basic model of the environment ready, we put the car in and created the camera and car animations. Then we followed with detailing, texturing, and, of course, making the smoke. We rendered the smoke individually to have more freedom in post-production, which was a good move. The sequences were rendered in 32bit exrs, and compositing was done in Nuke. Final grading and editing was the task for our Davinci Resolve artist.

What were some of the challenges Punctum faced during this production?

The biggest challenge was the timing. We had 5 weeks for the whole production of the 30-second video and 5 still images which is not much if you don't have any concept in the beginning. It required a lot of planning and testing to avoid going back and forth. But in the end, we made it and delivered the results in time.

How has the pandemic affected the studio's workflow/creative process?

In the end, it didn't affect our workflow that much. We all got used to working from home over the remote desktop and communicating online. We managed to be almost as effective during the pandemic as before. The bigger problem was the social aspect. The team needs to see each other in person and discuss things even if they are not work-related. I really hope that these times are coming back.

What do you consider some of the biggest advantages of a CG automobile advertisement over live-action?

The reasons are apparent, compared to traditional photo production, full CGI has many advantages, we don't have to face the weather conditions, we can choose any light, atmosphere and most importantly we can create any location we want. The level of software available today, textures or hdr maps, is so high that it's no problem creating 100% photorealistic scenery.

CG can be very efficient and mostly also cheaper than real-life shooting. But it always depends on the job. As I mentioned already, the most significant advantage of CG is creative freedom and flexibility, but when it comes to footage with people, CG still has its limitations.

The situation with CG people is improving rapidly, we have seen a huge step forward with Metahuman, but these people are still not 100% convincing and cannot totally replace the real actors. But perhaps we just have to wait. I think these times are coming relatively soon.

What advice do you have for other 3D artists who may just be starting out in their careers?

Don't wait for a paid job to show your best. There are thousands of hours working on an unpaid, portfolio, and non-commercial projects behind each great artist. The reason is simple, you need some training-field first to learn, make mistakes, and develop. Once the real job comes, you have to be ready and confident that your skills are there and ready for the job.