Discover how Sons and Daughters director/DOP Mark Zibert and Toronto post/animation/design house Alter Ego seamlessly combine an array of VFX techniques to create riveting but rider-less action in this spot for Cycle Canada, the center piece of a national campaign.

Sebastian Bilbao, CG Lead Alter Ego> “The VFX team used its talents to bring the riderless bikes to life, integrating CG with the help of crowd software Golaem’s new plug-and-play bicycle solution. Every shot had two takes, one with bike and rider, and a close match without bike and rider.

“Golaem provided us with flawless wheel traction and wheel ground contact. We explored several methods to obtain the most reliable motion library possible, and ended up using mostly keyframed motion because the ‘real’ motions had nuances that looked unrealistic without the rider.

“The editor, Saints’ Mark Paiva, kept two synchronized edits going, developing the feel with the bike and rider shots, and using the bike and riderless edit to guarantee clean shots for CG.”

“All in all, the film had 50 shots, including 25 CG shots, four of which used Golaem, and 18 paint/roto shots. Throughout the process, the Alter Ego team also drew from their personal knowledge about cycling, a shared passion in-house, to help make the film more real.”

Watch the finished spot:

Client: Cycling Canada

Agency: Innocean Worldwide Canada

Production Company: Sons and Daughters
Director/DOP: Mark Zibert
Executive Producer: Dan Ford
Producer: Neil Bartley

Post Production, Design, Visual Effects: Alter Ego
VFX Supervisor: Andres Kirejew
VFX: Darren Achim, Steve McGregor, Andrew Thiessen
CG Lead: Sebastian Bilbao
Animation: Eileen Peng, Edward Deng, Rob Fisher, Brandon Fernback
Producer: Caitlin Schooley
Executive Producers: Cheyenne Bloomfield and Greg Edgar
Colour Grading: Alter Ego
Colorists: Wade Odlum, Eric Whipp, Clinton Homuth

Editorial: Saints Editorial
Editor: Mark Paiva
Assistant Editor: Red Barbaza
Executive Producer: Michelle Rich and Stephanie Hickman

Music and Sound: RMW Music
Producer/Music Composer: Mark Rajakovi?
Sound Design: Kyle Gudmundson
Associate Producer: Kristina Loschiavo
Executive Producer: Jeff Cohen
Media Services: Sebastian Biega and Chris Masson