The Shallows loved SMAP’s style in another artist’s music video, so when it came to “Honestly,” Jamie expanded on some of that video’s themes with a dystopian twist: “[We] tickled ourselves with the idea that picking something up in the street could cause an apocalyptic flood. Just wanted to seed that idea, so that when folks see odd things on the street they might wonder about it.”

What came out of it was this, their first fully-animated video, smoothly combining 2D characters in a 3D world:

Jamie: This idea was made possible by Video Copilot’s Element 3D plugin being released recently, which has meant it’s possible to bring OBJ files into After Effects and work with them in 3D space.

Working mainly with After Effects (and distressing the models a bit in Blender), the video incorporates numerous TurboSquid models that help lend a cool, grungy twist to the 3D cityscape. In detailing the set, Jamie made the most out of his budget:

“There is so much great stuff available out there, but I honestly always come to TurboSquid first, as the models are almost always exactly what I need, and a lot of it is affordable or free,” he says. “I would love to pay for more expensive models more regularly, as they are stunning and totally worth the investment, but most of the time, budget is a big issue for clients. We’re trying to make high production value films on low budgets, and TurboSquid models have definitely helped with that over the years. ”

Though he has been tinkering with film and animation since his college days, Jamie also teaches himself animation techniques to bring his vision to life. When it comes to working creatively within time constraints, he says, “It saved me sooo much time to be able to use these models. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it all in the time that I had. Modeling all these amazing models would’ve doubled the time it took to make the whole thing, and I’m not even sure I could make half of them!”

You can hear more music by The Shallows (for free!) on their website. And if you’d like to keep up with more of Super Mega Action Plus’s work, you can keep an eye on their growing portfolio, where they are working on a full length film called Out Loud.

See if you can spot the many models that appear in the video! Check out the full list below.

Antenna by mindcandy

Air vent by 0phaedrus0

Fire escape by zachloar

Door by Fworx

Double doors by Fworx

Bricks by Mega3D

Lowpoly building by ERLHN

Garbage can by Alan Smithee

Broken satellite dish by My3DGuy

Debris by dammie09

Dumpster by Foxgguy2001

Low poly trash bags by ZivixLLC

GTO Judge by Skywalker113

Blinds by Jalousie

Shelf by PancakeMan96

TurboSquid has a wealth of simpler models that customers love to buy: ordinary forks and spoons, hairbrushes and combs, cups and saucers.

Until now, artists who create these models were reluctant to put them in our CheckMate Certification program because of the price floors of $39 for Lite and $49 for Pro. For this reason, we’re now allowing prices of $19 for CheckMate Lite, and $29 for CheckMate Pro. These price floors apply only to simple or plain models of certain types such as silverware and fruit, the kinds of models that can’t reasonably be priced at $39 or $49.

We’re glad that artists who create these models will now be able to join CheckMate, and reap its benefits of higher sales and happy customers.

How to set a price as $19 or $29

As with previous price floor changes, you can’t use the new pricing right in the Publisher–you need to get an inspector review before the price can be changed. This will ensure that prices remain appropriate and competitive at TurboSquid.

1. Publish your model and submit it for certification at one of the price tiers allowed in the Publisher ($39 for Lite, $49 for Pro).
2. After your model passes certification, open a support ticket with the subject “CheckMate Price Change Request”. Include the Product ID for the product you would like changed, and to what price.
3. Based on comparison with similar models on the TurboSquid site, an inspector will review your request and change the price if appropriate.

Price change requests are processed once a week, so please allow our inspectors time to review your request.

What does a day at TurboSquid typically look like for you?

My days at TS vary. On the marketing side, I write newsletters, handle our social media accounts, and help to make sure our site shows up in search correctly.

On the design side, I make infographics and ads, help to pretty up the website, and Photoshop Nic Cage’s face onto our manager’s pictures sometimes.

Basically, it’s my job to make sure TurboSquid is always reachable, approachable, and visually appealing.

What’s your favorite thing about working at TurboSquid?

Can I have three things?
1. I get to make fun, engaging content for a fun, engaging company, that’s seen by lots of people– it’s kind of what every graphic designer wants to do.

2. I have total access to the massive 3D model catalog, so getting to use the models in my design work is a real luxury. I could seriously spend hours perusing the catalog. (And sometimes I do! For work.)

3. My third favorite thing about TurboSquid is every single thing about TurboSquid. I know this is a total cheater answer, like asking for infinite wishes on your third wish, but whatever. I’ve worked in New Orleans for a long time, and the TS office is easily the most positive, employee-friendly workplace I’ve ever encountered. When I started, I was pretty sure I’d joined a cult, because about 5 people told me within the first week that it was the best job they’d ever had… and if it IS a cult, I’m completely happy to drink the kool-aid / eat the cereal / wear the tentacles. I love it here.

So, what do you do when you’re not in the office?

I like challenging myself to do new things– I’m a tattoo junkie, I’ve played a few instruments, I cook and write, and I’m trying my hand at sewing. But drawing is where my heart is - I do illustration work on the side, mostly for myself, but I sometimes get hired to draw things for other people.

That’s a lot of hobbies!

It sounds like I’m never bored, but honestly, I think my main hobby is just watching Hulu (current obsession: Korean dramas), or The Sopranos, which I watch, marathon-style, every single summer… sometimes twice.

We love to ask: what’s your favorite model on the site?

This sumo wrestler by KrusTaCio is SO GREAT and so weird. I hope this artist ends up working in animation production or something.

And a random question to wrap things up: what’s on your bucket list?

I kind of have a reverse-bucket list of musicians I need to see in concert before THEY die.  I saw Carole King a couple years ago (she was amazing), and I still want to see Brian May, Roy Harper, Van Morrison… um, I’m pretty much 26-thousand years old.

We are beyond thrilled to have Kate as a part of the team. She has really added panache to our posts across various social channels, emails and blog posts. To see examples of how Kate has made use of the thousands of amazing 3d models made by our artists, check out our Tumblr page.  And if Kate’s lamenting over how much she loves working at TurboSquid didn’t sell it for you, check out her inspired infographic depicting “A Day in the Life of a TS employee”, then swing by our jobs page to see where you might fit in at the Squid Shack.

Click the image to view this infographic depicting “A Day in the Life at TurboSquid” designed by Kate Voisin.

The tool was created to help artists with all aspects of preparing a model for submission.

• The rendering tool allows for easy turntable creation.
• Tools preps wireframes and renders to easily pass inspection.
• The fixing tools include “one click” options to remove Ngons from your model, remove isolated vertices, perform a batch rename and loads of other features that will make fixing your model incredibly easy.
• The script also comes with its own installer and a comprehensive help section to answer any questions about the many features in the script.

There are fast scene inspection tools which will show problems in your scene which can be used as a good guide, but the Official CheckMate Script for 3ds Max is what the CheckMate Inspectors used when working with models.

CheckMate Resources

CheckMate Tools Available for Download (including the new POPA_3D script)

CheckMate Pro Specifications

CheckMate Lite Specifications