6FootMedia, a multimedia company

Client:
Aquaproducts

Synopsis:
Create a cutout of the company's product, and bring it to life with flash interactive animation.

• View the animation
  Click on the link to view the product cutout animation

Goal

We were asked to demonstrate the sophisticated aspects of a robotic pool cleaner.  We determined that the best way to showcase this product was to make a cutout of it.

Process

We took a working unit and cut the outside cover in order to expose the areas we needed. The exposed edges of the cover were painted in white as a marker for later image processing. We then photographed a whole unit and the cutout unit in identical angles, and loaded the images into Photoshop. The result was then adjusted for brightness and contrast so that when the cutout is viewed, the internal workings are bright and easy to see.

Bringing it into flash

The cutout view is simply layered behind the "intact" product. Clicking on the "cutout" button, exposes this underlying layer.

The zoom feature allows the user to view an enlarged portion of the product with a virtual magnifying glass. With a little actionscripting, we were able to dynamically "unmask" a portion of a blown-up version of the cutout, in the area of the magnifying glass. ActionScript determines the current center of the magnifying glass, since it behaves as a "bubble" viewer that moves around a spheric version of the enlarged product. Ultimately, it adds to the realism of the magnifying glass.

Credits

ActionScripting: Tiran Dagan
Interface Design: Adrienne Rodgers