Aerial weapon animations for ZDF

The history of aerial warfare is the subject of a four-part ZDF documentary series: from World War I and the first use of hot-air balloons to high-tech jets and drone warfare.

For this series, we developed 3D animations that show what real footage cannot: explanations of technical functions such as radar, depictions of air attacks for which no archive material exists, and schematic visualisations of attack strategies.

Our challenge in this project was to produce twenty-four animations on a minimal budget and to develop an animation style for them that meets ZDF’s quality standards despite these constraints. We met this challenge and also developed a realistic look as part of the style development for an introductory animation. Both styles are shown in the images below.

You can watch the entire production here in the ZDF media library.

Client

ZDF info

Tasks

Digital Marketing & Content

3D & Motion Design

Storyboard: a story in pictures

Simple images are used to sketch what content the animations will show and in what order.

Arrows indicate the direction in which the camera moves and how – i.e. whether it pans, moves in a straight line or in an arc.

Compared to the actual animation, changes can be made quickly at this stage.

In the next step, the storyboard serves as the basis for rough preview animations (animatics) before the final animations are produced.

Pfeil deutet Auftrieb des Heißluftballons an

Pfeil deutet Kamerabewegung an Heißluftballon vorbei an

Storyboard-Bild mit Pfeilen, die Flugbahn andeuten

Finding the right style for the animation

The style in which the animation will later be implemented is developed in parallel with the storyboard.

Finding the right style involves choosing a colour scheme, the type of illustrative or photorealistic style, and the desired emotional effect on the viewer.

Different styles are suitable for different purposes – whether for education, entertainment or scientific presentations.

A minimalist schematic style was developed for ZDF that was well suited to the sensitive and technical subject matter and allowed a large number of animations to be created in a budget-friendly manner.

drei verschiedene Stil-Varianten der Flugzeuge

A variety of animations

One style, 24 animations and many impressions: from aerial pursuits to map views, trajectories, technical explanations and terrain operations, a wide range of topics were visualised.

The animations were supported by graphic elements such as arrows, lines, symbols, highlights and more.

The slider shows a selection of impressions from the various animations; a more comprehensive overview follows below.

View aus Cockpit auf gegnerischen Flieger

Bombenabwurf Perspektive aus Heißluftballon

Style development for the intro animation

At the start of the project, the plan was to develop a photorealistic style for an intro animation to have an emotional impact.

For this task, our 3D team created various test clips in real recording quality. These were not broadcast on television, but they illustrate the diverse applications of 3D.

Learn more about 3D