This was an interesting project, We basically handed the Photoshop files off to John and watched him do his thing. Here’s a peak into the creative process behind UFC’ first Papervision site.

keyline2.jpg

ufc84.jpg

UFC 84: Ill Will

Created by Red Interactive Agency, 2008

keyline2.jpg

It Was Time

Papervision man… it’s just lookin’ good. We’ve all been inspired by some of the stellar PaperVision work out there. I see a lot of opportunities to do some really interesting stuff, things that we haven’t even thought of at the time of this writing… how could we resist putting UFCs hat in the ring?

Tunnel Rats download

keyline2.jpg

Layers of Depth watchers divx movie online

You need a foreground, middleground and background… or more. At least 3 layers of depth, so that when the camera is rotated around, either by user interaction or otherwise – Those 3 layers of graphic elements will move in such a way that we’re not accustomed to witnessing in a standard Flash parallax.

If you look at any one of the 3 bout analysis pages you’ll see a prime example. The fighters are the foreground, the 3d “Vs” graphic element, is the middle ground and the environment is the background. In some cases you see John added a fourth element in a heavy-bag, or octagon.

keyline2.jpg

The Fightcard

This section took the most thought but inevitably became our biggest triumph. After trying many different tactics to fake the impression of fighters standing in a UFC octagon like the bouts analysis pages, as a last resort, we decided to try building the arena with papervision planes for every surface, thinking it would inevitably look like crappy 3d or be way to processor heavy to work within a modern commercial website. The floor is a plane, each 8 walls of the octagon are planes, the four walls of the arena consisting of crowd are a plane and of course… each fighter is on his own plane, that faces the camera, no matter where it rotates. This fightcard is a very good example of the quality of the mapping overriding the lack of polygons within a scene to make it appear more complex.

keyline2.jpg

Get Inspired

The secret formula to creating original content is to build on what inspires you. If you see something awesome, don’t be afraid to use it as a spring board for your own ideas – if you’re truly creative, what you inevitably come up with will be totally unique in and of itself. I think Papervision is a primary proving ground for this philosophy because there’s still so much left that’s un-tapped.

keyline2.jpg