Rhinofx Reworks Radio City Christmas Spectacular

For the second year in a row, New York-based Rhinofx recently revisited their long form, CG animated backdrop for Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular, updating and reworking the piece for the show's current season. Originally developed for showings at the famed New York City venue, the 12-minute HD production created by Rhinofx in 2007, has been readapted into a nationwide tour including shows in more than 20 cities. Collaborating once again with the show's producers, Batwin and Robin, Rhinofx repurposed the CG portion of the show to work with the new resolution and size of the production's huge traveling screens. The revamped show debuted November 7th with performances continuing until January 4th (http://christmas.radiocity.com/nationaltour.html).

To carry the spirit of Christmas in NYC across the country, new screens were brought in, breaking up the huge backdrop screens into portable panels. Adjusting to the new format, Rhinofx repurposed scenes, retooled the bus that tours the city, reconstructed the Central Park imagery, and enhanced the props and trees to further heighten the towering effect of the whimsical Big Apple scenery. To adapt to this year's changes and fit the 25x58 foot screens, Rhinofx completed detailed manipulation of the timing, angles, and speed of the animation, re-synching movement for a seamless connection between the visual environment and the live onstage action.

CD/Director Natasha Saenko, who also headed the original intensive six-month process, once again led the studio's intricate adjustments and extensive repurposing, maintaining the same meticulous attention to detail that drove the success first project. Natasha explains, "This time around, we were really challenged to retain the same precision, while adjusting the entire piece for the new screens and their resolution and perspective. Our team completely adjusted the angles and point-of-view camera rotation to make it work at this new scale-rigging the bus tour of the city differently and repurposing a large portion of the content. We were all thrilled with the output, while working with same imagery and storyline, the show is now opened up to millions around the country."

Rhinofx continues to deliver short and long form visual solutions for both traditional and new media outlets, including recent work for K-Mart, Verizon, and Mercedes, as well as a long line of recent feature films including Soul Men, Ghost Town and The Reader.

The Creds:

Post/Effects: Rhinofx NYC
CD: Natasha Saenko
Producer: Karen Bianca Bisignano
Modeling: Bogdan Mihajlovic
Animation: Sean Curran
Lighting: Tom Bardwell, Veronica Skogberg
Compositor(s): Nitant Karnik, Sohee Sohn
Systems Engineer: Paul Tsung
Simulations: Ivan Guerrero
Production Coordinator: Gerta Xhelo
COO: Camille Geier
Managing Director: Rick Wagonheim

About Rhinofx:

Since its launch in 2000, Rhinofx has created award-winning visual effects, design, and animation for commercials, VFX for feature films, episodic television, webisodic mini-series, and videogame cinematics. The company's principals and artists have also led the industry's exploration into the boundless potential of branded digital content. By cultivating extensive relationships with key brands, advertising agencies, and film/TV studios, Rhinofx utilizes its creative directors and artists to develop and execute powerful branded entertainment to build both identity and awareness. The company's principals include: CD/Director Vico Sharabani, CD/Director Harry Dorrington, CD/Director Arman Matin, CD/Director Natasha Saenko, COO/EP Camille Geier, Managing Director Rick Wagonheim, and CEO North America Zviah Eldar.

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