01 / 07 · THE STUDIO · CLIP
A 3D studio, built inside an advertising agency.
I grew Saatchi & Saatchi LA's 3D and VR/AR practice from a single role into a 40-person profit center serving Toyota and Lexus.
The idea was simple: build every vehicle once, in 3D, and let the whole agency draw on it. This is the studio's 2017 reel.
02 / 07 · THE VIRTUAL GARAGE · CLIP
Every Toyota, as a maintained 3D asset.
The studio described itself as the only full-service virtual garaging and 3D studio based within an advertising agency.
The whole product inventory, kept current: every colour, trim and wheel, feeding print, film, the configurator and VR.
03 / 07 · THE VIRTUAL BACKLOT · CLIP
Locations built once, shot again and again.
Scanned and built locations let a vehicle be placed, lit and re-shot without leaving the studio.
The same assets fed data-informed work at volume: one scene, many vehicles, many versions.
04 / 07 · VR AND REAL TIME · CLIP
From rendered frames to a real-time engine.
By 2016 the studio was shipping real-time work: The Impossible Quest, a virtual-reality drive for the Prius Prime shown at TechCrunch Disrupt, built with MediaMonks.
Footage: real-time capture from the studio's 2017 reel.
05 / 07 · DRIVELAND · CLIP
A Kinect game for the auto-show floor, built in 30 days.
Driveland ran on the Toyota stand at the 2012 LA Auto Show, then at Detroit and New York: the fleet's 3D assets turned into something visitors could play.
| Year | Work | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Prius iPhone app; first studio 3D for broadcast | App, CG |
| 2012 | Driveland, a Kinect game built in 30 days for the LA Auto Show | Interactive |
| 2013 | Driveland at Detroit and New York; Toyota Collaborator | Interactive |
| 2014 | Configurator imagery and 360° tours; Mirai reveal | CG |
| 2015 | VR pipeline; the lobby as a virtual showroom | VR |
| 2016 | Build & Price imagery; 100,000 personalised RAV4 ads; The Impossible Quest | CG, VR |
| 2017 | Mirai campaign CG; the studio at its largest | CG |
06 / 07 · THE YEARS · LOG
Seven years, one fleet.
From the studio's archived site and the trade press of the time.
| Item | Publisher, date | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Studio capabilities | Saatchi & Saatchi 3D, archived 2017 | Open ↗ |
| Quadro VCA success story | NVIDIA, May 2016 | Open ↗ |
| The Impossible Quest | Toyota newsroom, Sep 2016 | Open ↗ |
| Take the newest Prius for a virtual spin | Engadget, Sep 2016 | Open ↗ |
| CG Garage podcast, episode 82 | Chaos, Aug 2016 | Open ↗ |
| Driveland | Saatchi & Saatchi 3D, archived 2015 | Open ↗ |
07 / 07 · SOURCES · LOG
Where this is on the record.
The studio's own site is gone; these links go to archived copies and to the partners and press that covered the work.