SHOOT Publicity Wire highlights the animation created by Pixeldust Studios for the exhibit Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World, which opened on March 3, 2011 at the British Museum:
On behalf of client Maggie Stogner, founder of Blue Bear Films (www.bluebearfilms.com) and in association with National Geographic Missions, Pixeldust Studios created a two minute animated film sequence depicting, in detail, the representation of an ancient Afghan “throne.” That film, projected onto an LCD screen, will be seen as part of the traveling “Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World” exhibit, which has just opened (3/3) to the public at the British Museum.
Based on hi-resolution scans of just a few fragments from archaeological remains of an ancient (over 2,000 years old) Afghan throne fashioned from ivory, Pixeldust Studios’ Technical Director (and former Digital Animator) Samar Shool designed and produced a digital representation, including lighting and a rendering style, of what that throne might actually have looked like originally.
Said Maggie Stogner of Blue Bear Films, “Pixeldust’s animated sequence was very complicated and scholarly, and went beyond the scope of what most animation houses would have been able to accomplish. This was the first time ever an attempt was made to reconstruct what this throne might have looked like, with the animation based on old ivory artifacts and a lifestyle depiction of a scene which appeared on one of those pieces. Ricardo, Samar and their Pixeldust team worked closely with UC Berkeley scholar Dr. Sanjyot Mehendale on this project, and certainly understood the high level of quality and accuracy that were vital to its success.”