Mill multiplies the Beautiful Game for Nike

The Mill have developed a groundbreaking new spot for Nike’s Euro 2004 campaign.
The spot, entitled ‘The Other Game’, features Brazilian and Portuguese footballing stars including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Denilson, Figo and Cristian Ronaldo. The spot was worked on by a core team of four from The Mill, requiring over two-months of 2D and 3D post-production.
Lead 3D, Jordi Bares, generated up to 93,000 3D extras through a combination of Motion Capture and Lord of the Rings software, Massive.
Using video footage of real games, Jordi studied the national psychology of both team's fan base to ensure that each 3D fan behaved in a genuine way. He shot test DV footage of footie crowds for additional reference. Using Massive, Jordi gave each fan artificial intelligence so that they would interact correctly with one and other and the environment.
Jordi designed 300 different textures derived from the shoot's extras; when combined they produced thousands of combinations so the same character is never duplicated. Each individual's 'acting' was determined by one of 108 movements generated in motion capture. When shooting the motion capture sequences, Jordi projected real footage against the studio wall so that actors had a reference of how fans behave in crowds.
Fellow lead 3D artist, Hitesh Patel, complimented Jordi's CG extras with football paraphernalia like flags and streamers. Each shot requiring crowd replication was tracked meticulously so that the all 3D elements would exactly match the geography of live-action sequences.
Some crowd replication was also achieved through a combination of 2D and 3D techniques. Crowds were artificially multiplied in 2D by shooting multiple passes of the stadium, from one fixed camera angle, and filling different sections with the same small group of extras.
These passes were then seamlessly joined in Flame to create an illusion of a full stadium.
The Mill faked tens of thousands of fans from a group that, in reality, only consisted of five hundred.
(KmcA)