Client / Transport Design Consultancy, London
CGI photo montage with CGI elements and digital photo retouching
We were commissioned by TDC of London for a short project to create realistic CGI photo montages for design proposals. TDC was working for South Eastern Trains to improve communications graphics on their platforms and across their rail network. A specific element of this re-design was the introduction of new platform signs and an additional lift structure. To illustrate the viability of their design proposals, we were asked to create a series of realistic CGI composite visuals of the station platform with the new design platform furniture in situ.
The first stage was to obtain some good quality high resolution photographs of the area to be modified, after which virtual cameras were created which matched the camera lens used to take the original photo. A virtual 3D environment was constructed which matched the perspective of the original shots.
The platform components were constructed in 3D and given surface materials which imitated the existing structures. HDR photos were used to skillfully create a CGI lighting rig to match the original daylight and environment. The 3D elements were subsequently rendered and were composited onto the original photos, which included colour correcting the 3D elements, addition of shadows, and other photo manipulation. The final stage was to overlay 2D graphics to finish the image.
The whole job was completed in about four days and after being able to see and appreciate the impact of TDC's proposals, South Eastern Trains implemented the new design.
