Will.i.am hologram in Selfridges

SquareZero and Musion, the world leaders in holographic content and projection, began two months of spectacular retail experiences to help mark the global launch of will.i.am's new endeavour, the i.am+ camera range. SquareZero, who are specialists in 3D digital animation, created the content for the i.am+ launch. A Musion EyeCandy™ Lite holographic display was located in a specially designed area of the London department store. Branded to match i.am+’s styling, EyeCandy has been showing holographic i.am+ products beside floating questions directed to shoppers.

The iconic music artist has long been an advocate of hologram technology and in partnership with luxury retailer Selfridges, is using SquareZero's leading holographic content experience to raise the profile and impact of his new camera collection.

Will.i.am's team sent us the endorsement "Well done Ish to you and your team!! The client loved it and it looks stunning in store! Squarezero are making Xmas dreams come true :)"

IVCA Nominations

The IVCA Livecom awards are in January and SquareZero have submitted our Dita von Teese hologram. The projection content was entirely conceived, directed, animated and post-produced in house.

Showgirl Hologram for Christian Louboutin's 20 year retrospective at The Design Museum - by SquareZero for Christian Louboutin.

The two categories we have been nominated for are Cultural and The Arts and Heritage

SquareZero have been lucky to receive four IVCA awards previously:
LIVECOM 2010 Award for Innovation
LIVECOM 2010 Award for International Entertainment
Gold IVCA winners 2010 External Interactive Media
LIVECOM 2007 Award winners for Innovation

Merry Xmas

 Our annual Xmas animation - this year designed and composited by Sarah Klan with 3d animation by Amit Vadher. Enjoy as our front door gets sprayed by the naughty little spray cans.

SquareZero has a new Xmas tree !

We are all very busy working on jobs under NDA so here's a nice picture of Lauren decorating our swish new xmas tree to fill the festive gap.

M+W hologram, behind the scenes.

Another little contribution from our team behind the scenes in the making of the Morecombe and Wise hologram ! Working late on hologram productions can bring out all the dance moves.

Click the pic to watch on YouTube

Eric 'n Ernie dance again

Last Friday Chris Moyles performed with comedy icons Morecambe and Wise at the fund-raising event for Children in Need. The late comedy duo were brought back as HOLOGRAMS to dance to their signature tune Bring Me Sunshine alongside the DJ.

SquareZero were called in by Musion to assist in getting the production of the holograms finished in time for the deadline which was slipping behind schedule. Putting together our expertise in holograms, vfx compositing, extensive resources and skilled team we rescued the project from a sticky predicament - finishing the project just 12 hours before the show.

As a long-standing Musion hologram content partner it was very rewarding to have worked on the visual effects to create this sequence. Our role included delivering and supervising/assisting Holomedia for the BBC on this project.

We are proud of our strategic partnership with Musion. Together we have now successfully delivered well over 50 holographic projects including previously the resurrections of Frank Sinatra and Saatchi's Paul Arden and many more.

Chris said: “When I was a kid Eric and Ernie were gods, so it’s amazing to be able to dance with them for Children in Need. The charity is one that’s always been close to my heart and I jumped at the chance to do something for it.”

click on the picture below to see the show on YouTube:

Here is a basic breakdown of the creative process involved. Original footage is located of Eric and Ernie performing the song. Sometimes this has to come from different archive clips which then need to be assembled into a whole performance and made to match. Then the the heads of our heroes are carefully cut out from the archive footage. 

Then body doubles of Eric and Ernie perform the song in a film shoot with the correct lighting and costume to maximise the hologram's effectiveness. Choreographing head and body is very difficult and at this shoot the actor's chin went over the collar area at the wrong time in many places - this required our team to paint and repair the section wherever the chin overlapped. Painstaking work.

The footage of the body doubles was then taken into After-effects and Nuke where the heads of the doubles were carefully cut out. Then the heads of the real Eric and Ernie were attached the bodies in a complex process involving tracking the parts together and adding missing sections of neck wherever needed.

Our first app animation launched on Apple-store

The healthcare arm of agency Digitas asked us to make interactive 3d animations for an augmented reality app. The app is designed for Healthcare professionals to engage with their patients by using a unique education tool; the augmented reality 3-D animations show patients with asthma the correct use of the Symbicort Turbuhaler and how it delivers it's drugs into the lungs. 

Augmented reality is a realtime 3d rendering process in which Point your iPad or iPhone at a marker/cube, and a 3-D animation appears in front of you. The 3-D animations can be viewed from all angles by moving the iPad / iPhone around. SquareZero worked closely with software developers Compsoft for the project.

We have expanded our knowledge base to use interactive 3d software Unity and we are looking forward to using it's impressive real time capability on more projects. The app runs on iPhone and iPads, you can buy it here.

click on pic below to watch the app in action:

The app as it appears on the iPad and (inset) the iPhone

Holographic projections showreel 2012

Martini Royale Casting.  click image to play 2012 reel

We provide a unique and dynamic approach to creating CGI animated content which is then presented into 3-dimensional virtual holographic projections which will amaze both clients and audiences alike.

By combining our ability to create cutting edge CGI animated material with a high definition 3D holographic video projection system, a spectacular 3-dimensional moving life-size hologram can appear within a live stage setting. ‘Peppers Ghost’ technology brings dramatic video and film effects to live events, including audiovisual artistic performances, conferences or trade show presentations, retail displays and large-scale digital signage.

We work closely with an AV tech supplier to project the 3d animated content we create for our clients using specially developed foils that reflect images from high definition video projectors, making it possible to produce virtual holographic images of variable sizes and incredible clarity.

Call us now on +44 (0)207 729 8998 to discover for yourself the thrilling visual impact of seeing your work created as 3d holograms for your major product launches, consumer entertainment events, special brand events and VIP celebrity keynote appearances.

SquareZero at the House of Lords

As we have recently become patrons we were invited us to the annual IVCA Fellows awards by the Thames inside the houses of parliament. We had a table with our own guests and a delicious three course meal as some speeches and awards were made. Two of the special guests were the MP for Culture Ed Vaizey and Lord Wei of Shoreditch.  No, we had no idea there was a Lord of Shoreditch either. SquareZero will be making an entry to the IVCA Livecom awards which are announced in January.

Future in Russia

A section of the film dealing with healthcare. Animation by Darragh Mason

Yota in association with Forbes organized Future in Russia an interactive show in St. Petersburg. The show was put together by Musion, Square Zero and Rosegaarde. Yota is a massive mobile phone and telephony company in Russia and this is the second hologram we have made for them using the Musion Eyeliner system.


Over seven years SquareZero have created over fifty holographic events with Musion which must make us the leading provider of content for the system. We have won multiple awards for our work in this area. Currently we are pitching on new hologram projects and we are constantly looking at new applications and designs which will work to give new effects on the holographic stage.

Henry Paul visits the studio

We had a visit from another rugby star today -  Henry Paul, ex New Zealand international and coach for the Russian team dropped in to say hello and check out our work.

This also marks two years this month since we contributed with Musion to the charity fundraiser of UK rugby star Lawrence Dallaglio.

I found a good article from that project:

Square Zero’s 3D Holographic Expertise Helps “8Rocks” Gala Roll To £880K For Cancer Research

Square Zero, the UK’s top 3D Production and Hologram creation company was tapped by Musion Systems and the charitable Dallaglio Foundation to provide crucial holographic and post production services for the star-studded cancer-research benefit, 8Rocks. see full article here.

Another busy September

This month we have been working on a mix of projects - there is a broadcast title sequence, some web branding and 3d augmented reality iphone app. For our Musion content there have been a couple of holographic pitches for international clients as well as some in house development work. Also happening are a series Aftereffects projects for two clients which we will reveal as soon as they allow us.. watch this space.

Studio scrum

Robbie Paul, rugby league superstar pays a visit to SquareZero after making his West End book launch and radio interview. He's the one chewing on one of Ismail's sherbert fountains alongside SquareZero's fellow Kiwi and VFX superstar Jonson Jewell on the far left.

Under New Management

We are excited to tell you that SquareZero is now under new ownership and will continue to provide some great design, animation and production for film, TV web & 3-D platforms.

We will still be delivering a great service from our production studio in Shoreditch, London. Even more importantly we have been able to keep most of the team so you will be dealing with the people you know.

SquareZeros’s new owner is Ismail Hanif and he brings with him a wider team which includes MG Studios Inc and 3D Eye Solutions Inc. This provides us with greater breadth to our offer including experience of Hollywood releases and campaigns.

We will be letting you know more over the coming weeks as some key appointments and further announcements come together at SquareZero.

If you have any questions relating to this change of ownership then we would be happy to answer them so please give us a call or drop me a line.

Olly Tyler MD and founder partner of SquareZero

Sarah, Dave, Jonson, Dan, Olly, George, Ismail with Sherbert Fountains

Over this summer of sports, our talented runner Amit Vadher has been busy working on these striking 3d images of Olympic heroes. Created at SquareZero using Maya he used photo references to pose and render a 3d figure model in this distinctive polygon render style.

Martini Royale

During the last few weeks we created the holographic centrepiece for the launch of a search for the face of Martini Royale.

As hundreds of girls lined up for the live casting, real girls performed alongside our holographic
talent at the press and star studded event at The Design Museum.

See the event here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lAXxDvJehY

Dita Von Teese strips in Laboutin hologram

Christian Louboutin’s sensational retrospective comes alive with a Musion holographic performance from Dita Von Teese

London, UK – On the 30th April, Musion and SquareZero will help mark the beginning of a ten week, spectacular exhibition from designer Christian Louboutin and The Design Museum. Dedicated to design and architecture, the world leading museum will commemorate over two decades of Louboutin’s career in the first UK exhibition dedicated to the iconic shoe designer. With the event drawing on his creative concepts and inspirations, in a thematic rather than chronological format, it will offer visitors a truly unique experience.

The Design Museum has enlisted the help of holographic leader Musion, and SquareZero for content to create the museum’s first ever holographic installation. To illustrate one of his early design inspirations, the showgirl, the ‘queen of burlesque’ Dita Von Teese, will be turned into a three dimensional holographic performance.

Taking centre stage, the breathtaking vision involves Ms Von Teese’s unmistakeable silhouette morphing from an oversized Christian Louboutin shoe before proceeding to dance around the stage. The performance concludes with Dita Von Teese transforming back into the elegant stiletto.

Square Zero providing special effects and animation. A video explaining how the holographic projection was created will be shown alongside the installation at the exhibition.

SquareZero's Najma Bhatti discusses the hologram in the making of documentary

Lana del Rey promo for TV and cinema

SquareZero's latest animation and post has been for the cinema and tv ad for Lana Del Rey's highly anticipated debut album Born to Die.

Produced by Love Commercials, the spot was also directed by SquareZero's Najma Bhatti.

Google Green Search Trends

We were asked by Google Green to make this video to highlight some of the top green searches of 2011. A 3d animation of polaroid style photos was created in Maya by Shyam Vyda and Olly Tyler. The animation managed 450,000 hits on YouTube in just the first month.