Cutting edge game play meets cutting edge technology this spring as Artifact Design helps the X Games move from IMAX to DVD. Artifact's team designed and animated the intro and 26 navigational menus for the ESPN hit "Ultimate X: The Movie, " available now for home viewing via your friendly DVD player.
Based on the high energy world of extreme sports, the Ultimate X DVD chronicles the highlights and stories behind the 2001 X Games in Philadelphia, while showcasing skateboarding, biking, street luge competitions and more. Buena Vista Home Entertainment headed the transition of the movie from big screen to DVD, while production company 7ate9 led the creative direction of the project. Artifact Design provided electrifying animation for the DVD.
Artifact lent an edge to the project with a futuristic feel. Viewers are introduced to a control room with a bird's eye view of an arena that exudes video game like animated visuals, radical 3D skate, moto and BMX parks. The menus range from the usual scene selection or sneak peaks to athlete profiles, award highlights and trick breakouts and culminate with navigation that takes the viewer is taken on a wild animated ride through the park to each selected menu or sub-screen. Artifact had to design 26 navigational menus for the DVD without the use of language or text.
Also on the roster for Artifact was the recent contribution to a series of broadcast quality 3D environments to Artbeats, a leading international provider of digital stock footage for the film and video industry. Artifact partnered with Artbeats approximately three years ago to provide industry clients with looping, royalty free backgrounds that are sold individually or as sets in NTSC, PAL and HDTV formats, and now adds 28 new 3D animated backgrounds. Each background was rendered at the highest quality ray tracing possible. This resulted in especially lengthy renders for Artifact, but will save time for designers and editors.