For the 2012 launch of the new Nexus family of devices, we imagined a playful world of Google services interacting around a stack of devices. Following the success of the first Nexus Playground video, we were then asked to create a series of sequels, each talking about a particular type of experience Nexus can provide to its users.

The films below were originally published inside rich media banners, as a part of Google’s 2012/2013 Nexus: The Playground is Open campaign.

You can also watch these videos back-to-back on YouTube.

Credits:
Google: Nexus Playground
An Autofuss Production
Executive Creative Director: Randy Stowell
Creative Director: Quba Michalski
Executive Producer: Julia Gottlieb
Producers: Micah Gendron, Christine Cheng
Design Director: Ryan Chen
Art Director/Designer: Jarratt Moody, Wyeth Koppenhaver
Animation: Jarratt Moody, Ryan Chen, Jason Kerr, Chris McCard, Ion Lucin
Compositing: Pedro Figueira
Editing: Ian Colon
Music: Lullatone

More info:
http://www.autofuss.com/work/google-nexus-playground
http://youtube.com/autofuss

Here is part two of our year-long project of liquid experimentation (read: splashing oil around the studio). Can you guess what did we actually shoot to achieve these visuals? Drop me a comment below if you think so :)

You may also want to check part 1 of this project.

Credits:
Produced at: Autofuss
Client: Olivari Olive Oil
Agency: twofifteenmccann
Creative Direction: Quba Michalski
Cinematography: Joe Picard
Editing: Ashley Rodholm, Ian Colon
Set Design / Rigging: Andy Vogt, Joe Picard
Post & color: Quba Michalski
Tools: After Effects

It’s a new month (well, almost the end of it) and a new Bowerbirds song time. This time I have used some of the techniques quite familiar to the followers of my tutorial series. The overarching principle remains the same – a video loop revealed by mixing Cyan, Magenta and Yellow inks. It’s quite a jump from the April one and we’re already brewing some ideas for June :)

Credits:
Produced at: Autofuss
Client: Olivari Olive Oil
Agency: twofifteenmccann
Creative Direction, Design, Animation: Quba Michalski
Tools: After Effects

Among many other projects completed last year, Olivari’s Everything Tastes Better in Slow Motion, also known as minimOilisms was probably one of the most fun to create. We were tasked with exploring the world of slow motion macro photography of our client’s olive oil interacting with various substances and objects. In other words, we spent 2 weeks armed with a Phantom camera, splashing galons of oil all over the studio and making everyone hungry with the smell of oil heating up in thousands of Watts of light.

As a result we produced nearly 70 pieces of short, 10 second vignettes – first five of which I can share with you now. More of these will be coming up throughout 2013, as the campaign releases individual “episodes”.

Meanwhile, I’d like to invite you to a little game: can you guess what it is you’re seeing, and how were the shots rigged?

Post your ideas in the comments section, below.

You may also want to check part 2 of this project.

Credits:
Produced at: Autofuss
Client: Olivari Olive Oil
Agency: twofifteenmccann
Creative Direction: Quba Michalski
Cinematography: Joe Picard
Editing: Ashley Rodholm, Ian Colon
Set Design / Rigging: Andy Vogt, Joe Picard
Post & color: Quba Michalski
Tools: After Effects

It’s no secret I am a big fan of infographics, graphs and other behind-the-scenes visuals related to vfx. You might have seen my own captures of various projects, crazy layer stacks or full blown composition graphs on MotionGraphs.

Sander seems to share the same interest and his blog Behind Keyframes now features quite a few of these from various artists, including yours truly. Check it out at http://behindkeyframes.tumblr.com/

One of the ongoing projects I am working on at Autofuss is a “One Year of Little” campaign for Olivari. Throughout 2013, the brand publishes small, cute, often quirky pieces of media through their social channels.

I have creative directed a number if programs for them (more on that soon) – the latest of which is a series of small music vignettes for the band Bowerbirds.

Inspired by the cross-processed photos and CMYK printing, I have developed a visual effect for “digital polaroid”, based on the ink bleed transitions and used it to reveal the video over the course of a three minute song.

Credits:
Produced at: Autofuss
Client: Olivari Olive Oil
Agency: twofifteenmccann
Creative Direction, Design, Animation: Quba Michalski
Design & Animation: Conor Grebel
Tools: After Effects

It’s been a long while since I updated this site. Way too long. I will try to rectify this by uploading some of the videos I have been working on at Autofuss. There’s a lot of super secret stuff going on that I can’t share with you, but some is free to publish.

Nexus Q: Sweet, Smart is a little something something I cooked up a while ago for the launch of Google’s new media player. The product has been shelved, the video never produced, but I still have this kickass test.

This video can also be watched on YouTube.

OK, so the entire Creative Free Agent initiative did not have a chance to last for long. Before I knew it, I was on the plane to the US, ready to begin a new, exciting chapter in my life. It is my pleasure to announce that as of now I am the new Creative Director at Autofuss – a studio I have been a huge fan of for many years.

What does that mean?

First of all, we have decided to shut down imago studios as a commercial endeavor. We had a good run for nearly a decade, but it is time to move on. Cigdem is focussing on her art while I have my hands full with all the exciting projects here, at Autofuss.

Second – no more freelance gigs from me. That goes without saying. Expect tons of new, exciting content coming out in the weeks, months and years to follow. I now have a great team of animators, artists, cameramen, designers and engineers working with me, not to mention all the awesome IRIS motion control robots of our sister company Bot&Dolly.

As for the AE tutorials – I’m sure that after a bit of a hiatus I will be able to come back to recording some new content for QubaHQ Tuts. It may take a while as a permanent move across the pond is not something you do everyday. Before flying here I have sold my rig to a very talented 3D artist, so it is in good hands. Sometime soon I will probably be building a new PC here and getting back on track with the site.

Here’s a long-delayed new imago studios reel for 2012. It includes commercial and independent pieces completed both in-house and as a collaboration with various production companies.

This video can also be watched on YouTube and in imago site.

Dear Esther. I sometimes feel as if I’ve given birth to this island. Somewhere, between the longitude and latitude a split opened up and it beached remotely here. No matter how hard I correlate, it remains a singularity, an alpha point in my life that refuses all hypothesis. I return each time leaving fresh markers that I hope, in the full glare of my hopelessness, will have blossomed into fresh insight in the interim.

Dear Esther is one of these titles that defy our common conceptions about what video games should be. It can be considered an anti-game, or perhaps a game that transcends the genre. Personally I perceive it as an amazing experiment in interactive storytelling.

Released on February 14th 2011, Dear Esther is a re-make of a free Half-Life mod from a few years back. Although it utilizes Valve’s Source engine and a first-person perspective, it has very little else in common with other games running on this technology. There are no guns, no cover system, no sprint button. You find yourself on the shore of a cold English island and are left to roam around exploring the deserted environment in search of a better understanding of who you are, why are you there and what has happened to you in the past.

The story is delivered in scattered pieces of narration triggered as you explore the environment bit by bit. It never really paints a full picture nor provides any definite answers to the questions you may have. Instead, it masterfully sets the mood and deals with emotions rather than with absolutes.

Visually, Dear Esther is a stunning piece. Just like the AAA titles created by Valve, it manages to utilize the Source engine to its full potential, proving once again something I have been always claiming about this particular piece of tech. The Source engine is not nearly as powerful as some of the contemporary heavyweights such as CryEngine or Unreal. It lacks many of the bells and whistles the others have, pushes fewer polygons per frame and often has to resolve into sprite trickery.

It is, however, an engine that does wonders when put in hands of a skilled art director. Based on the concept art by Ben Andrews and designed by Robert Briscoe, the game is a true work of art. It utilizes color palettes that always border on the verge of photo-realism, while maintaining artistic composition and flow. It truly pulls the player in and fleshes out a tactile, believable world filled with immaculate attention to detail.

From the cold afternoon sights of the opening chapter, through stunning cave system filled with bioluminescent flora to the full-mooned night in the conclusion, every step of your journey is a true feast for the eyes. During my first two-hour playthrough I have accumulated a total of nearly 200 screenshots in an attempt to capture and own a piece of this experience.

It is impossible to talk about the story of the game without spoiling the experience to those who haven’t yet played through this title. It will unfold to you at perfectly timed moments as you explore the island, providing the narrative context to the environments you visit. A by-line provided by the studio on the official site, however, manages to set the tone and provide you with an idea of what Dear Esther is about: “A deserted island… a lost man… memories of a fatal crash… a book written by a dying explorer.”

If I was to draw comparisons to other titles, the two that come to mind are “The Graveyard” by Tale of Tales and “Trauma” by Krystian Majewski. By the sheer amount of work put into it by the developers, Dear Ester reaches far beyond the other two games in terms of the experience it provides as well as audio-visual fidelity.

As many innovative works of art in the past, Dear Esther immediately polarized the audience – so you may think twice before purchasing it. For me it was a no-brainer and would wholeheartedly recommend this title to anyone looking for something different in video games. The $10 price should not be considered as the “game’s price tag”, but rather as an “admission ticket” to the interactive installation/experience.

Developed by the Chinese Room, Dear Esther is available for purchase for PC on Steam. According to the offical website, the official game soundtrack by Jessica Curry will be available soon.

• Official website
  http://dear-esther.com/
• Steam page
  http://store.steampowered.com/app/203810/