Edit 1 Unveils Its New Cast of Characters

Responding to the changing demands in the advertising industry, Edit 1 -- NYC’s pre-vis boutique’ led by owner/ECD Michael Zimbard -- has unveiled its next generation asset library. This includes a new “cast” of visually appealing and more ‘relate-able’ characters, an expanded set of virtual environments, as well as an updated collection of modernized wardrobe and character accessories, all with an emphasis on helping agencies and brands receive more reliable market research data during testing.

“When focus group audiences view a pre-vis spot, having a more natural and relatable look to all of the components in that commercial helps eliminate distractions that can take them out of the story,” Zimbard says. “Our goal is to make the core idea of a spot the deciding factor in how consumers respond, which in turn provides more accurate test scores.” 

Zimbard notes that while establishing an overall new ‘look’ was key, it was also important to be able to adapt to the needs of a specific project.  To that end, Edit1’s new character animation library offers clients various options – from photo-real animation to more illustrated, stylized looks – depending on the concept.

Edit 1 has taken its new asset library a step further thanks to an enhanced 3D workflow ‘under the hood’ and a substantial investment in new technology.

“Our new pipeline is now a lot more flexible,” Michael Donovan, Edit 1’s Executive Producer says. “Combining our ability to make faster modifications, along with the overall elevated quality of the characters and assets in a spot, clients not only get great final results, but the smoothest process getting there.”

Zimbard adds, “Since I took over the company in 2011 we've upped our game significantly to enhance every aspect of our 3D process. In addition to creating proprietary tools that allow our artists to work faster, we’ve also invested in new inertial motion capture and markerless facial capture technology to animate more natural-looking character movement and reactions.”

That investment seems to be paying off for Edit 1’s clients, including agency Publicis Kaplan Thaler and Proctor & Gamble who recently came to Edit 1 with two new Scope campaigns.  Edit 1’s enhanced asset technology helped offer the agency the ability to make fast changes to character look and overall animation throughout the production process.

“We were able to show them a lot of creative possibilities before making a decision,” Donavan adds. “The icing on the cake was that the test scores came in so high for both campaigns that it created an internal debate at the agency over which spots to produce full-up.”