The Mill 3D and 2D departments worked seamlessly together to develop a photo-real plant that grows from a seed and forms into a Heinz tomato ketchup bottle.

To achieve this effect, real plants were shot as a series of motion control passes; some of these plates were used in the final piece with both 2D and 3D enhancement. However, for the more tricky shots, a complete 3D solution was applied.

Robert Kolbeins was the lead animator on this project. The first couple of shots you see are completely 3D ?Äì the tomato seed sprouting shoots and the blossoming plant. The following shots are a mixture of 3D, 2D and live action. Lead Flame Neil Davies spent time thickening the stem, giving the illusion of leaves growing and added 3D leaves until Duncan was happy with the shot. It was important to Duncan to keep the piece looking busy, organic and constantly moving.

Towards the end of the commercial the tomato plant sprouts a tomato which turns into a bottle of Ketchup over the course of two shots. This was achieved using a live action plant plate and then tracking the 3D tomato and ketchup bottle together. The biggest challenge on this job was using live action without using time lapse footage and getting the 3D work to sit into the live action and 2D plates. The piece was finessed in Flame. Neil animated the live action leaves, making them grow organically with the leaves, adding pollen and lens flare, all of which completed the realistic look of the commercial.