Kao Attack: 3D Animated Short

Together with Dentsu X, we helped audiences discover the mysteries of Stinky kingdom and learned how to fight back the bacteria with Kao Attack.

 Let's see how we did this.

The agency already proposed a story to the client before reaching us. We received the storyboard and started to develop the characters and the environment. The main characters are bacteria.

The initial idea of the environment was a desert. It must be extremely hot and dry. We made some options in terms of styles.

Then we thought deeply.... and proposed another idea. We suggested creating an environment that combined both desert and fabric.

Well, do you want to live in this peaceful world? This is just the same place, but it is very much better after trying Attack.

There were some scenes that took us a lot of time to develop and render, especially the 24-hour scene in which we had to create a crowd of bacteria.

Animatic is a must in every 3D project.

Dragon and Fairy Legend: Animated Shorts

Every culture has a story about where they came from and how they came to be, and we - Vietnamese people have stories like that. Dragon and Fairy Legend: The Untold Story tells a story about our Vietnamese ancestors. The story is about the origin of popular beliefs that the Vietnamese are descendants of Dragons and the Fairy. The story was told many times in Vietnam, but in a quite boring way. Now, we reinvent the story and tell it in another way that no one has ever expected. Through this short film, we infused historical and spiritual values with the hope to nurture the young Viet's love for the country, awakening their pride for origin. In addition, we hope that people will have a stronger belief in the Vietnamese Animation Industry through the breakthrough techniques being used in this film, comparing to the general Vietnamese Animation Industry. This animated short film could be considered as the first well-crafted animation in Vietnam so far. We are proud to present this to the community all around the world.

Enjoy the film here

How we did it?

It was such an amazing journey when we went back in time to explore our origin.

LAC LONG QUAN

Lac Long Quan is the protagonist in the film. He is the king of Vietnam in Ancient Time. In the legend, Lac Long Quan is the dragon who eliminates all the Ancient Monsters.

AU CO

Au Co was a young, beautiful fairy who lived high in the mountains. One day in the form of Lac Bird, she travels to Xich Quy (the country before Vietnam) and gets caught in a giant storm caused by Ngu Tinh (Fish Monster).  Then she is saved by Lac Long Quan and falls in love with him.

Lac bird and Dragon are the true forms of Au Co and Lac Long Quan in our fairy tale.

The Monsters

NGU TINH

In the Eastern sea, there appears a giant fish, called Ngư Tinh (Vietnamese for "fish monster"). This fish has lived for centuries, with the size of its mouth, it can consume a ship with 10 fishermen at the same time. Whenever the fish swims, waves can reach the sky, drown multiple ships, all the people passing through the area were all eaten by the fish. Ngư tinh lives in a big cave under the sea, above the cave is a huge mountain that divides the sea into two areas. In the movie, Ngu Tinh attacks Ac Co and is slain by Lac Long Quan.

HO TINH

Ho Tinh (Fox Monster) in the movie has 8 tales and lives in a deep cave with Moc Tinh (Tree Monster). Her ability is transforming to human form and controlling animals. This character adds humor to the film. 

MOC TINH

Moc Tinh (Tree Monster) is the big boss in the film. He is a giant tree who lives on Earth for so long. In order to save humans, Lac Long Quan has to defeat him. 

The environment

Full Credits:

Client: BITI’S
Creative Agency: REDDER ADVERTISING
Content Advisor: Dương Trung Quốc

Key Production House: REDCAT MOTION
Director: Leo Dinh
Screenplay: Lê Thanh Nga, Trần Thái Minh, Phạm Vũ Việt Dũng
Art Director: Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Chi
Lead Animator: Leo Dinh, Phạm Quang Nhật Minh
Producer: Trần Hồng Phúc, Nguyễn Xuân Bích Ngọc
Editor: Trương Duy Ninh
Special Effects: Leo Dinh, Nguyễn Hoàng Anh, Trương Duy Ninh
Character Design: Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Chi, Đào Kim Phụng, Tô Anh Tuấn, Trần Thị Phương Thảo, Võ Quang Bi, Mai Thị Tuyết Trinh
Storyboard: Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Chi, Đào Kim Phụng, Tô Anh Tuấn, Trần Thị Phương Thảo
Background Artists: Mai Thị Tuyết Trinh
Animator (2D): Leo Dinh, Phạm Quang Nhật Minh, Nguyễn Hùng Minh, Trương Duy Ninh, Lê Quốc Dương, Nguyễn Việt Long, Vũ Sơn, Nguyễn Tất Viễn, Hắc Ngọc Tâm, Trương Nhật Diễm Quỳnh, Võ Quang Bi

3D animation: FREAKY MOTION
3D lead animator & VFX Supervisor: Nguyễn Hoàng Anh
3D Lead Modelling: Nguyễn Hồng Nhung
3D Modelling: Nguyễn Hà Phương
Texture Artist: Trần Thị Phương Thảo
VFX Technical Director: Đỗ Lê Duy
3D Technical Specialist: Nguyễn Chí Trung
3D Lead Animator: Nguyễn Hữu Đạt
3D Animator: Trần Khôi Nguyên

Sound Production: DIGIPOST

The Happiness Factory

This is a personal project we did in collaboration with Freaky Motion to compare 2D animation vs 3D animation. Then we posted it on our Facebook page and allowed people to vote. Even though we made the 3D animation seem to look better than the 2D version, the number of votes was quite similar.

The behind-the-scenes video is placed at the bottom.

We are quite comfortable with the project. All concepts were done at Red Cat Motion. After the final 2D animation was released, we sent it to Freaky and challenged them to make it in 3D animation. The challenge was accepted and the final result freaked us out. 

Behind the scene

OMO Safari Treasure: Animated Short

In 2017, OMO Vietnam organized a playful event for kids called Safari Exploration. Together with Ogilvy, we created a short animation to promote the event. The video works as an opening story to invite the kids to the event and explore more.

The story: Deep inside the Safari, there is a treasure that keeps all the animals clean. Unfortunately, it is stolen and damages the forest. To save the Safari, the little adventurer with his company has to bring it back.

Enjoy our working process

Characters are the key of the story. We designed characters and presented them to the client before we chose our final hero for the film.

At first we developed this background concept. However, during the design process, we felt the design was not strong enough to capture the adventure concept.

So we work on the new design that captured the deep Safari and apparently, it showed what we wanted.

This is the cave where the treasure is stored. The treasure is the PROMO Product. It is surrounded by beautiful flowers.

In order to save the forest, the little hero couldn't do it alone. He has his companies to help him.

SIG: Animated Short

In 2017, we got an offer from SIG, one of the biggest packaging solution providers in the world to develop a 3D animated music video for them to educate people about their packaging technology.

The challenge: In Vietnam, there are rumors about fake milk, because one product (like a milk pack) can have 2 different packages to contain them. This confuses users and allows rumors to spread out quickly and affects packaging solution providers like SIG.

The truth is it's really hard to fake milk. But when milk is exposed to the environment without getting protected, it will get sour. These packaging solution providers like SIG do not sell the packaging only but they sell the protection. No light or air can get in to the packs, so consumers can store them for an extended period – even without refrigeration and with no preservatives.

Solution: Facing the challenge, we discussed with the client and decided to make a music animation to educate parents and children about the technology behind their packaging to protect the milk.

We humanize all the characters in the video and create a story about a super hero that can protect all the milk citizens in their world.

Let's see how we made this animation

We started with a ton of sketches before producing anything in 3D.

A couple of still frames from the look and feel department.

A storyboard is a must in every video project.